Video games are both huge and immersive, and sometimes you can find some secrets that will make you laugh or sometimes will confuse you due to its weirdness. Those secrets are called “easter eggs”; they are a hidden surprise or an extra feature and since the beginning they have been an important part for die-hard gamers. The term “easter egg” was coined by Steve Wright back in 1979 because these secrets reminded him of “hunting easter eggs”.
Today we have selected the best easter eggs in the history of video games, probably you already know some of them, so I hope you enjoy this top.
10. Secret Characters – NBA Jam
Midway was widely known for their Easter eggs in their video games and probably their most famous Easter egg was in the classic NBA Jam from 1993. There were a lot of legends in that video game, but they didn’t stop there; they also added some bizarre secret character. Bill Clinton, Al Gore, former Houston Oilers’ quarterback Warren Moon, Parliament-Funkadelic’s leader George Clinton are some of the secret characters that appear in this video game.
Also, maintaining the tradition, the 2010 entry was filled with Easter eggs and one of those secret characters is ex-president Barack Obama.
9. Chapter Names – Dead Space
Dead Space is one of the best horror games ever made and it’s curious that in the previous top I talked about a plot twist present in the game and today I will tell you about an Easter Egg that will spoil you the twist. If you go and read every first letter of each chapter name, they will spell out the message “Nicole is dead”. What a nice joke, right?
The good thing is that if you don’t care about the chapter names you will not get the spoiler so that is a smart move from the developers.
8. Atari Games – Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
While some gamers are big fans of the Call of Duty franchise, we can’t say the same about retro gamers, but that didn’t stop Activision from inserting an Easter Egg that any retro would love.
On Black Ops 2, on fan-favorite Nuketown map you will find several mannequins and if you shoot their head off within 30 seconds, the Activision logo will appear on a nearby TV and after that you can play some retro games like Pitfall 2, HERO, River Raid in that TV. It’s not a unique Easter egg but indeed is a fun one.
7. Reptile – Mortal Kombat
Any fighting game from the 90s had more than one Easter egg, and those secrets were very difficult to find because the internet didn’t have the answers for those questions. One of those secrets was Reptile in Mortal Kombat 1, where the only way to fight him was extremely complicated.
You have to play Arcade mode and get a double flawless victory on the pit stage without blocking any attack and end the fight with a Fatality while a shadow is over the moon. I mean, is there a need to do these things so complicated back in the day?
6. Arkham City Map – Batman Arkham Asylum
Despite the current acclaim, Batman Arkham Asylum was never a guaranteed success due to previous bad Batman video games… Except for Batman Vengeance, that game was amazing. The thing is that Rocksteady Studios were so confident in this game that they hid a spoiler for the next Batman video game as an Easter egg.
If you go to the warden’s office and blow up a secret wall, you will find a secret room where you can find blueprints for a city-sized expansion of the asylum and the setting for the universally praised Batman Arkham City.
5. A literal Easter Egg – Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
The sempiternal GTA franchise has everything from cops to UFOs, and obviously it is also plagued with Easter eggs. While there are many Easter eggs to choose from, I have decided to select this one because it is a literal Easter egg.
If you go to the VCN building one the northern end of the city you can see an adjacent building with a helipad on top, there you can jump from the helipad through the VCN building’s closest window and you will enter to this room. It is a normal room with a chocolate egg on a pedestal; an ode to all the Easter eggs present in the GTA games.
4. John Romero’s head – Doom 2
Doom in the 90s is the equivalent of Rage Against the Machine in the 90s and while Doom’s popularity can be attributed to its violence and graphic content, we cannot ignore all the cheat codes and secret areas. Doom 2 was way bigger than the first Doom and this sequel hid probably the greatest easter egg of the 90s.
In the fight against the final boss, “The Icon of Sin”, you can enter the “no-clip” cheat code and then enter the demons’ head and you will find the “true boss”. You will find John Romero’s head, Doom’s lead designer.
3. The Dog Ending – Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 2 is a video game that has appeared numerous times in my tops. Regarded as one of the best video games of all time and the greatest horror video game ever made, Silent Hill 2 is a masterpiece, and a masterpiece like this obviously have a great Easter egg.
The dog ending is both ridiculous and funny, as is referred by fans as the “best” ending in the game. In this ending, James discovers a shiba inu dog called Mira who has been controlling all the events of the game. It is great to see a game like Silent Hill 2 embracing humorous topics like this one.
2. Secret Credits – Adventure
The Easter egg present in Adventure is usually considered the first Easter egg in the history of video games, but this is incorrect. Despite that, this secret message is the first one that was referred as an Easter egg, so it is the first video game secret “considered” as an Easter egg.
This secret is accessed by setting the difficulty on 2 or 3 and by retrieving the Gray Dot from the Black Castle catacombs. The player must move the dot along with two objects to the east end of the corridor of the Golden Castle and will enter a room displaying the words “Created by Warren Robinett”.
1. McDonald’s – Moonlander
This one can be argued, but the reason why I placed this Easter egg as the number one is because this one is the first Easter egg in the history of video games. Moonlander was created as demonstration program for the GT40 released back in 1972.
The objective of this game is to land you craft on the moon using the light pen. But if you fly horizontally enough you will encounter a McDonald’s and if you land you craft next to it the astronaut will visit it. It’s not a unique Easter egg, but without it, I’m pretty sure Easter egg would never have existed; the first one, the best one.
