Ah, 🙈the good-old days. No internet. Buggy games. Nowhere to go with questions about an꧅ything. Getting lost, game overs, and losing all of your progression in a single moment was all just a part of it. The dawn of the "auto-save" was decades away. The best you could even hope for was a measly "continue" that would spring you back to the beginning of the level you were on, rather than putting you back to the start of the game. These were wild times, indeed.
Hidden among every Nintendo Entertainment System title were loads of goodies waiting to be uncovered by passionate (and 🐷sometimes bored) game developers. These come in the forms of secret messages or hidden items. The most rewarding of them all was the "hidden level," a magical oasis of fun that was intentionally stowed away among the chaos of pixelated monsters and🔥 tough platforming. Easter eggs, bonus stages, and new-game plus rewards are still prevalent today, but it's hard to truly compare the feeling of finding something new back in the time of 8-bit gaming.
Below is a list of 25 incredibly well hidden, oh-so-secret, levels/areas and rewards that most gamers never found. Either the puzzles were too obtuse or the challenges were too demanding for the player to accomplish. Some of these you might have heard of, gotten yourself, or accidentally stumbled upon during your retro-gaming years.👍 The NES cornered the market for a long time, so let's uncover some of the mystery behind it's bountiful reign of gaming goodness.
23 ꦗ Level Warp 1 (Super Marꦚio Bros.)
The original Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System was a cultural phenomenon. There was no game quite like it, and there would be no game like it ever again. It shook the 2D platforming genre like a bolt of lightning. The game 🌱is known for being very difficult at times, but for the resourceful player you can bypass whole worlds.
In level 1 - 2 if you jump from the moving elevator platforms on top of the bricks ABOVE the pipe and run 🐼🤡right. You will find three warp pipes that will take you straight to later stages 2, 3, or 4.
22 💞 Minus World (The Legend Of Zelda)
The Legend of Zelda is known for it's sprawling map with timeless challenges that kept gamers puzzled for years. There are so many secrets locked away in this game that picking only one is tough. That was until nearly thirty years after its release gamers found that the game was actually supposed to be a LOT bigger due to another half of the map covered up by code. This area sits just below your starting area and can be uncovered by a series of steps and/or hacks. Leave it to pesky gamers to uncover even more mysteries in Zelda.
21 Level Warp 2 (Super Mario Bros.ꦯ)
Just when you thought that the secrets couldn't get any sweeter, Super Mario Bros. gives you yet another level warp. This one can be foun🎃d in world 4 - 2 and will transport to either world 6, 7, or 8. To access this you will need to make sure not run too far into the level or you won't be able to g💧o back.
Located just before a pipe wi🅺th a piranha plant inside, hit the invisible blocks until you find the leaf-ladder and climb up that to claim your prize.
20 ꦅ Second Quest (Castlevania) 🐽
Castlevania has a similar end game as Ghost 'N Goblins if you can actually make it to the brutal end of that long and difficult game. If you manage to beat Dracula the first time you fight him, you will be spit back out into the beginning of the game (keeping your inventory from the end) and forced to play a much more difficult version of Castlevania. It's grueling, and ultimately separates the "chaff from th🐎e wheat" in terms of 2D puzzle platforming. Most players never experienced this because getting here was a total slog.
19 🅷 Bonus Stage (Duck Tales)
DuckTales for the NES was one of the most underrated games of the console's life-cycle. It was full of fun level design and Capcom's patented tight platform challenges. If you can collect enough money, with a "7" in the 10,000 plac🥂e, find Launchpad within a level. He will take you up into the skies for a diamond collecting free-for-all. This is one of those bonuses that a player would have likely stumbled upon by accident if they ever found it at all. Remember, no internet!
18 Level Warp 1 (Super Mario Bros. 2) 🌼
Few games are as wild as Super Mario Bros. 2 for the NES. Famously, America received a different version of the game because Japan's Super Mario Bros. 2 was deemed "too difficult" for us. They took an already existing game (Doki Doki Panic) and slapped Mario all over it. However, all of your favorite Super Mario staples still remain including Warp Pipes!
In world 1 - 3, if you find a "door potion" and run with it (to the right) longe🌄r than most people would have thought to, and throw it atop a pipe, you will be transported promptly to world 4.
17 Secret ꦉRoom (Bubble Bobble)
Hours of fun can be had bubblin' and bobblin' to the sweet sonic tunes of that 8-bit chip. Bubble Bobble was a two player blast from the arcade-past, and it's NES port was a solid addition to any NES cartridge collection. It is very hard, but not impossible, to reach the secret room. You must make it to st❀age 20, 30, and 40 without losing a life. A door will appear and you💃 will be transported to a secret room filled with 36 diamonds and a secret message.
16 Level Warp ✤2 (Super Mario Bros. 2)
Warping to world 5 is totally doable in Super Mario Bros. 2, you just need to know where to look. Upon entering world 3 - 1 you will see a giant waterfall. Intuition will tell you not to jump down it. Do it anyways! Falling down the waterfall will land you on a platform with a door. In typical Mario 2 fashion you will find a potion inside of this area that you will throw on top of the pipe. Enter the pipe and you will be warped to world 5. Pret🗹ty awesome.
15 ꦫ Level Warp 3 (Super Mario Bros. 2) 💯
Continuing your journey throughout the weird dream-like play-scape of Super Mario Bros. 2 will be a heck of a lot easier with a plethora of warps. Luckily for us, there are! In world 4 - 2, (the level with the whales,) if you grab a potion and take it to the pipe half way through the level, toss is on top and go down. You will suddenly transported to worl🔯d 6 where you can continue your journey there. Mario might not have Scrooge McDuck money, but he is definitely rich with hidden secrets.
14 🐈 Hidden World (Metroid)
Metroid is everyone's favorite forgettable Nintendo franchise, always just barely keeping its head above water. Known for it's creepy atmosphere and sci-fi Alien-esque art direction, the Metroid games were all full of bizarre secrets to unlock. None are as wild as the "Hidden World" which was uncovered by gamers way after its original release. This was an unfinished area of the map that was supposed to be blocked off by the development team, but the assets remained in the game. Well, guess what... you🌼 can go there! There's not much to do here, then again, it's always been about the journey- not the destination.