15 Cheat Codes So Dumb They Should Be Illegal
PocketEpiphany
Published
12/02/2020
in
facepalm
While using cheats can be controversial, they're a time-honored way to have more fun with your video games. You can do more, experience more, and generally play your games in a whole new way if you're willing to cheat.
Some cheat codes, however, are downright useless. These are cheats that basically make the game worse for everyone involved.
Care to take a trip down memory lane? Here are the worst cheat codes ever made for classic games.
- List View
- Player View
- Grid View
Advertisement
-
1.
DK Mode (GoldenEye 007) The N64 GoldenEye game was famous for its multiplayer, but it also featured fairly insane cheats. These cheats ranged from paintball guns to invisible player modes. The weirdest, and worst, was a “DK mode” that gave everyone giant heads. That may sound pretty basic, but trust us: the last thing this game needs is something to make the characters uglier. -
2.
Disco Mode (Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal) Before the global phenomenon known as World of Warcraft, players had to cut their teeth on games like Warcraft II and its expansion, "Beyond the Dark Portal." Hidden among all the great codes in that expansion was a “disco mode” code that simply played a parody song called “I’m a Medieval Man.” Trust me: even in 1996, this was cringe as hell. -
3.
Killers Cars (Saints Row 2) The Saints Row games generally took the weirdness of the Grand Theft Auto games and really cranked things up to eleven. The perfect example of this is the “Evil Cars” cheat for Saints Row 2. This made cars try to murder you on sight, which is funny until you realize it makes playing nearly impossible. -
4.
Everybody Hates You (Grand Theft Auto III) Part of what makes the Grand Theft Auto games so fun is the “you against the world” vibe. You can make this vibe real with a cheat in GTA III that makes everyone in Liberty City attack you on site. It’s fun for a while, but there is no way to turn it off. That means if you accidentally save your game with this code on, your entire game is ruined. -
5.
Risky Money (Sim City 4) Most simulation-style games have cheat codes that let you go wild with resources. In Sim City 4, there was an infamous cheat code known as “risky money.” It would give you a “free” $10,000 in exchange for an earthquake that might do way more than $10,000 in damage. Once you get used to endangering your citizens for free handouts, though, you now have what it takes to run your own city. -
6.
Giant Lightsabers (Star Wars: Episode III) Star Wars movies have had many adaptations, including an Episode III game for PS2. One code made it sound like you would get enhanced lightsabers, but instead, it gave giant lightsabers to your enemies. Leave it to a cheat code to make you hate Revenge of the Sith all over again. -
7.
Suicide Cheat (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) While Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas had plenty of cheat codes, the weirdest one was a suicide cheat. That’s all it did: instantly kill you. In a game where “suicide by cops and tanks” is so damn fun, we can only imagine this code was made for the most boring players on the planet. -
8.
The Doom Cheats (Heretic) If you don’t remember Heretic, it was a game that looked and played like a medieval fantasy version of Doom (only fitting since it was published by id Software). But if you tried to enter the familiar Doom codes, you were punished. The old “weapons and keys” code now takes away weapons and ammo, and the old “god mode” code actually kills you. -
9.
Exploding Hero (Tomb Raider II) Tomb Raider fans never did get that nude code they wanted, but they did get an “exploding Lara” feature. This wasn’t really a code so much as a series of movements that, if done properly, made her explode into a bunch of blocky pieces. It’s a bizarre feature that will leave even the biggest fan asking, “who the hell wanted this?” -
10.
The Konami Code (Gradius III) It didn’t take long for gamers everywhere to learn the Konami Code. Usually, you could trust this code to do great things in a retro Konami title. But if you enter that code in on Gradius III, you’ll cause your ship to self-destruct. -
11.
Tofu Code (Resident Evil 2) In the original Resident Evil 2, you could unlock a special survivor mode where you played as living tofu. It was fairly useless and completely insane, but Capcom certainly enjoyed it. Why else do you think “the tofu survivor” makes another appearance in the Resident Evil 2 remake? -
12.
“Nude” Code (Silent Hill 3) Pervy gamers were always on the lookout for nude codes way back when. So Konami decided to make it happen with Silent Hill 3...sort of. The catch? The only real difference is that you’ll see Douglas wandering around in his underpants. Hubba, hubba, right? -
13.
Level Skip (The Lion King) Retro Disney games had a reputation for being fun to play but also punishingly difficult. In The Lion King, there was a handy code to help you skip to another level. But once you beat the new level, the game throws you back to the second level. Whether it was punishment or just a glitch, this code was pretty useless. -
14.
All cheat codes (Banjo Kazooie) This list mostly focuses on one cheat code per game. But in Banjo Kazooie, pretty much every code qualifies. That’s because the game forces you to travel to a special location to enter cheats, and codes range from 40 to 55 characters. And you have to spell them on a floor you can barely see. You're limited to using only two of certain kinds of cheats. Use more than that and the game actually deletes your save file, forcing you to start over next time you play. -
15.
Invincibility (Battlefield 1942) Invincibility codes are generally designed to make you feel like a one-man army. In Battlefield 1942, however, there is an offline invincibility cheat that reduces all of your team’s tickets by at least 75%. This pretty much guarantees they die quickly and your “one-man army” game turns into a boring slog.
- REPLAY GALLERY
- 15 Cheat Codes So Dumb They Should Be Illegal
15/15
1/15
7 Comments