15 Dumb Cheats That Almost Broke Video Games

Who came up with these stupid codes?

By PocketEpiphany

Published 4 years ago in Facepalm

The Game Genie was like magic when it first came out. It let you add on cheat codes to pretty much any game, and suddenly stuff you'd gotten bored or frustrated with became a whole new experience

All the good Game Genie codes usually made you stronger or invincible. But of course, there were some codes that didn't work so well and even made games worse.

In case you were curious, here's the absolute dumbest Game Genie codes ever discovered.

2
Spawn: Not Quite Invincible

If you’re actually playing this Spawn game, you’re probably already having a bad day. But this code might make it worse.

After putting in this code, you’ll discover that some bullets won’t kill you whereas others will. The end result is that you're forced to dodge bullets anyway, rendering the code completely meaningless.

3
Ecco the Dolphin: Deadly Octopus

Ecco the Dolphin is already a game about how weird and deadly the ocean can be.

This code does nothing except make the octopus deadly to you. Good job, you just made the ocean that much scarier.
4
Contra: Can’t Move Your Legs

The infamous difficulty of Contra meant most of us had to pop the Konami code in to get extra lives.

But while extra lives are really useful, this code makes it where your legs don’t move while your characters move. Unless this scares Red Falcon away, we’re filing it under useless.

5
Kirby’s Adventure: See-Through Mode

Kirby’s Adventure was a really innovative game. But this code isn’t too innovative. All it does is render Kirby and his foes as see-through.

It makes the game harder to play, and we can only imagine looking inside a guy who eats everyone who encounters is a really bad idea.
6
Ninja Gaiden Trilogy: Almost Infinite Power

We play video games to feel powerful, and we use Game Genie codes to feel even more powerful. And that’s what makes this code so funny.

It gives you almost (but not quite) infinite power for your special attacks. We wouldn’t want you to get an inflated ego if you had unlimited power.
7
Blaster Master: No Items

Blaster Master is all about finding new items and powering up your tank. With this code, you can't pick up items at all, making it pretty much unplayable.

More like a Blaster Disaster.

8
Home Alone 2: Walk Through Most Enemies

The NES version of Home Alone 2 is already a bad game. And this code makes it where you can walk through most enemies, with one exception.

The vacuum cleaner can still kill you. Tough to feel like an invincible badass when a vacuum is enough to take you out.
9
Super Mario Bros. 3: No Jumping?

Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of the best games ever made. But this code lets you ruin the game with two magic words: no jumping.

You’ll be lucky if you can make it past a single level with this code on.
10
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World: Die More Easily

The NES Simpsons games already have a reputation for being very difficult. But this code makes things worse by making it easier for you to lose lives.

I don’t know who thought of this as a cheat, but it sounds like a great way to make a bad game even worse.

11
Robocop 2: No men in windows

Robocop 2 on the Game Boy graces us with one of the world’s most specific Game Genie codes. The code in question gets rid of the pesky enemies that appear in windows.

And that’s it! This would be like a Mario code that only lets you get rid of one of Bowser’s weirdo Koopalings but not the rest.
12
Road Runner's Death Valley Rally: Birdseed Does Nothing

In this SNES game, birdseed serves to power up the Road Runner. But once you put in this code, the birdseed doesn’t do anything.

Unless you just want to make one of the most obscure licensed games more difficult, I’d skip this one.
13
Super Mario Bros.: Blackface Mario

This code is sometimes referred to the “black Mario” code, and it wouldn’t be bad at all if that’s how it worked. But Mario’s sprite looks more like a man in blackface rather than a black man.

Maybe the real story is that Mario got canceled in the real world for his racist antics before escaping to the Mushroom Kingdom?

14
Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out: No Fights

What if you had a boxing game with no boxing? With this code on, players are returned to the title screen whenever a match starts.

Not only will you miss out on all the cool fights, but you won’t get any tips from Doc about joining the Nintendo Fun Club.
15
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Float On

The TMNT game on NES is already famous for being difficult. This code just makes things worse by making your turtles float to the ceiling when you’re not moving.

It won’t be long before you’re channeling your Raphael and throwing the cartridge in frustration.
16
Rygar: 3-Legged Warrior

Rygar is a pretty confusing game on a good day. But this code makes things even weirder by giving Rygar a third leg.

This doesn’t actually impact gameplay, but I can only imagine it weirds out those bald bearded guys you keep running into.