Daily Easter Egg #28: Nods to the Mushroom Kingdom in A Link to the Past

When Link had to save Hyrule by bravely exploring another world, there must have been some visitors to Hyrule while he was gone. In Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the SNES, there is not one, but two cameo appearances by characters from the Mushroom Kingdom.

In Kakariko Village, Mario must be real important to several villagers, as most of them have a portrait of the loveable plumber on display. 

Also, in Turtle Rock, the classic Mario enemy, the Chain-Chomp, lurks throughout the challenges in the dungeon.

The latter is fascinating seeing as very recently in a new Nintendo Direct, it was revealed that the Chain-Chomp would be usable in the upcoming Zelda game Hyrule Warriors developed by Team Ninja. It's pretty incredible how a subtle easter egg can become an actual thing.

Daily Easter Egg #27: Alternative Gamecube Startup Screens

Oh, the nostalgia...

It is almost impossible to forget the startup jingles that video game consoles have. All of the weekends we spent playing games, and all of the days to come. Every time we start our adventures into whatever worlds we dive into, there will always be the iconic sounds from powering up. Every time I turned on my trusty Gamecube to play the many memorable games of my childhood, I would be greeted by the same tune. One day, by mistake, I held down the Z button on my controller while powering up, and was shocked with the brand new sounds of what seemed like a squeaking monkey and laughter. Turns out, I had found one of my first easter eggs.

Also, if you were to hold down the Z button on the controller on four separate controllers, the Gamecube start up would be that of chants, drums, and a Japanese man shouting. Take a look here!

Daily Easter Egg #25: Fire Emblem: Awakening and Quite Possibly the Smoothest Movie Reference Ever

One of the sleeper hits of 2013 has to be the character driven masterpiece that is Fire Emblem: Awakening. The 3DS title was the defibrillator to the aged franchise that was in desperate need of a good title to be relevant in the U.S. (Ike fighting for his friends in Smash Bros. couldn't keep gamers interested for long). The game was hailed by critics, and the lasting legacy has been pretty immediate.

Being so thick in plot and dialogue, there was bound to be a little elbow room for Nintendo to have some fun with easter eggs for the epic. Today's easter egg is clever little nod to what must be the development team's favorite action flick, Taken. In case you haven't seen it, Taken is essentially every overprotective parent's ultimate nightmare: A secret agent's daughter is kidnapped overseas and thrown into a situation that could nothing short of terrifying. There is one scene in particular that comes to mind to anyone who has seen the film.

When the Avatar confronts Gaius in a.....questionable situation, he begins getting super defensive, and spewing out all sorts of craziness. To the untrained eye, this little gem might slip by, but he makes a reference to Liam Neeson's incredible speech. Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself!

Daily Easter Egg #24: Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Memes....Wait WHAT?!

When a game is made in today's times, it is almost a given that at some point in development, the game designers were sharing a good laugh from something they found online. One of the more popular things of course is the hijinks of memes. Everything from felines yearning for a hamburger with cheese or a scumbag wearing his Yankees cap sideways and informing someone of a real terrible action. One doesn't often get to experience the jump from internet shenanigans into video games, but that's exactly what we're going to find today, in one of the darkest and most unlikely places. Put on your coolest digital shades, we're heading into the world of Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

One of the (probably augmented) legs of the journey has Adam Jensen looking for a hacker that's on the run. After sneaking/rampaging his way through the security, he will come across the work area of said hacker. While examining his set up, there will be a series of sticky notes on display. One in particular, has a phone number and a name (a very awesome name if I do say so myself) with a drawling beneath it. The drawling is that of the "Forever Alone" face on one of the internet's most well known memes. Plenty of fish out there in the sea, buddy,

Daily Easter Egg #22: Conker's Bad Fur Day's Connection to A Clockwork Orange

The resemblance is terrifying

Conker's Bad Fur Day is a rated M game, believe it or not, released for the Nintendo 64 in 2001. This seemingly kid-friendly game had to have disclaimers saying it contained mature content so parents wouldn't buy it for their children! Some of this mature content included an opening cut scene that was inspired by the movie A Clockwork Orange, in which themes of violence, dystopia, and psychological unrest are represented.

To see the both scenes played out side by side, click here!

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Daily Easter Egg #21: Aliens in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

If you've ever played a game from the creative mind of Hideo Kojima, you already know that there are always a wealth of easter eggs scattered throughout his games. Some of them are clever nods to different works that have inspired the game design guru, others are just plain weird. Maybe sometime soon we will explore more of them, but today's easter egg comes from the least expected place it could ever be. Space. The Final Frontier. 

In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, after your epic battle with the frantic killing machine in stealth camouflage that is Laughing Octopus, Old Snake will be prowling through the mountain trails in the blistering sun to track down scientist Naomi Hunter. Things are getting pretty desperate for our aging hero, and he risks losing his only lead if he can't find his target soon.

Once you reach a bend through the mountain, there will be a circular patch of grass that you can crouch  down by. Doing so will trigger a flashback conversation with Snake's old handler Colonel Campbell. He recalls driving home from work and experiencing a light overcoming him and coming to back home.  Judging by the crop circle, it's safe to assume that the Colonel was abducted by aliens. Take a look at this retelling of a close encounter of the fourth kind:

Do you have any memorable Metal Gear Solid easter eggs that you liked, or ones that have stood out from the others to you? Let me know, I'd love to hear them!

Daily Easter Egg #20: Super Mario 64's Stone Tablet in Ocarina of Time

How the tablet appears in Super Mario 64, resulting in the trolling of millions

How it looks in Ocarina of Time

The rumor surrounding this tablet was probably one of the biggest gaming urban legends of its time. Supposedly, according to this tablet which is located in the courtyard of Peach's Castle, Luigi could be unlocked by collecting all the gold coins in the game which number 2401. The inscription on the tablet can be interpreted by some as "L is real 2401", which prompted many to try and collect all the coins in order to unlock Luigi. This rumor is of course false, but many believed it to be true back when Super Mario 64 was released.  The tablet actually reads "Eternal Star", which makes more sense considering there is a statue of one right above it.

This trolltastic tablet can also be found in Dodongo's Cavern in the N64 version of Ocarina of Time (I'm actually not sure if its in the 3DS version or not). I just find it fascinating that yet another element from the world of Mario can be found in Hyrule as well!

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Daily Easter Egg #19: Princess Toadstool's ???, Super Mario RPG

What is she hiding?

So, here I am again with yet another Super Mario RPG easter egg to share with you all! Speaking of sharing, Princess Toadstool (Peach) isn't willing to share her secrets with the player. 

If the player pokes around in Peach's room and finds her ??? before she joins the party, her grandma will try to bribe the player to keep quiet about it. The ??? is located in the back of her room between the fireplace and the chair. If the player finds the object when Peach is a part of the party, she will scold the player for being too nosy and not respecting her privacy. So, what is this hidden item Peach wants to keep a secret? I'll let everyone in the comments speculate as to what this item's mysterious identity is. 

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Daily Easter Egg #17: Pokémon Colosseum's Different Intro Screens

This is the default screen featuring Wes, Rui, Umbreon, and Espeon

This is one of the alternate screens that features Wes, Rui, and cracked out versions of the Hoenn Trainers

And the final screen features the legendaries from Sapphire and Ruby as well as the Legendary Beasts from Gold, Silver,
and  Crystal

Since I'm doing a post about Pokémon Colosseum, I thought I'd post a little secret from the game as today's daily easter egg! Once you start up the game, press start when you reach the title screen. Once into the menu, press B. You'll see one of the different title screens shown above!


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Daily Easter Egg #16: The Wind Fish in Kirby Air Ride

That's obviously the Wind Fish. Normal whales can't fly, don't be silly!

Well, I never thought I'd be finding a Legend of Zelda easter egg in a Kirby game, but video games are full of secrets and surprises, and never fail to surprise me! The infamous Wind Fish from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening can be found in the Frozen Hillside level in Kirby Air Ride. It's not an exact match (it's missing the psychedelic colors, for example), but it looks like the Wind Fish to me, and a lot of sources agree that it is, in fact, the sleeping giant. 

I usually look grumpy when people wake me up too, Wind Fish

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Daily Easter Egg #13: FireRed and LeafGreen's "Buggy" Easter Egg

I think they need to hire a new landscaper...

This area in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen called "Pattern Bush" is located just a little north of Fortune Island.  It's pretty strange looking when you walk through it during normal gameplay, and only bug type Pokémon can be found here. When seen from above, it's pretty obvious that this grass makes some sort of image, or dare I say, pattern. While the trainers there speculate that this area's strange look is some indication that treasure is hidden there, the developers at Game Freak had a completely different intention when designing this area.
As it turns out, the grass is supposed to look like a circuit board from the original Red, Blue, and Green cartridges. And as for only bug type Pokémon being found there, it's a reference to how buggy the original games are. At least the developers can acknowledge that the original games are less than perfect (I'm looking at you Genwunners)!

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Daily Easter Egg #11: Animal Crossing's Alien TV Channel

That's not Gulliver...

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, various shows or "channels" will appear on T.V.s in the game at certain times. If you watch T.V. at 3:33AM on Sundays and Mondays, an alien message will appear on screen. It only lasts a minute, and will revert back to static at 3:34. If you want to see the strangeness for yourself, click here.
This isn't the first occurrence of aliens within the Animal Crossing universe. In both Wild World and City Folk, Gulliver would ride around in a UFO and appear in the player's town.

Gulliver and his crash-landed UFO

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Daily Easter Egg #10: Portal's Cake Recipe

The recipe for Portal's famous "Black Forest cake" appears in fragments in each level

Apparently, the cake isn't a lie—the recipe is right in the game! The recipe can be found fragmented and displayed alongside binary code on the computer monitors in the office levels of the original Portal game. 

The recipe calls for:

• 1 (18.25-ounce) package chocolate cake mix
• 1 can prepared coconut–pecan frosting
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

GLaDOS also recommends that you decorate your cake with various garnishes including: Fish-shaped crackers, fish-shaped candies, fish-shaped solid waste, fish-shaped dirt, fish-shaped ethylbenzene, pull-and-peel licorice, fish-shaped volatile organic compounds and sediment-shaped sediment, candy-coated peanut butter pieces (shaped like fish), alpha resins, unsaturated polyester resin, fiberglass surface resins and volatile malted milk impoundments, an entry called: "How to Kill Someone with Your Bare Hands", 3 tbsp. rhubarb on fire, adjustable aluminum head positioner, slaughter electric needle injector, and cranial caps. Apparently the cake also contains preservatives, including gas and odor control chemicals that will "deodorize and preserve putrid tissue". Yum. 

In reality, however, the cake is based off of one from a bakery called The Regent Bakery and Café not too far from Valve's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Man, now I really want some cake.

Mmm. Delicious and moist.

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Daily Easter Egg #9: Sonic CD's Hidden Message

No, that's not terrifying at all O_O

This unsettling image can be accessed in Sonic CD by entering the Sound Test mode. Players can access Sound Test from the menu screen after it is unlocked by pressing down, down, left, right, A on the controller. Once in Sound Test mode, there will be either 2 or 3 inputs for numbers. If there are 3 inputs, the numbers that will unlock this image are 46, 12, and 25. If there are only 2 inputs, the last 2 numbers will unlock the image.
When the picture is unlocked, the boss music from the North American soundtrack will play. The images in the background are apparently Sonic with a Mario face A.K.A. nightmare fuel. The most unsettling thing about this hidden image is what the text says. When translated into English from Japanese, the top line says, "fun is infinite". The middle line says "Sega Enterprises", and the very last line can be interpreted as "Majin", which is Japanese for demon, devil, or genie. Some also speculate that Majin is a play on one of the developers' names, Masato Nishimura, because he included that signature in other games as well. Whether that's true or not, it doesn't make this hidden message any less creepy. It was removed from later versions of the game as result of it scaring unsuspecting kids, and generally being inappropriate for a game aimed at a younger audience (you know, because it mentions the devil and all). These types of easter eggs creep me out the most because they're so out of place and unnatural. To see the horror for yourself, click here.

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Daily Easter Egg #8: Star Fox's Slot Machine in Space

Yup, that is indeed a slot machine in space

I mean, the idea of a slot machine in space doesn't seem as weird when you compare it to the premise of Star Fox as a whole: talking animals piloting space ships. But, there's no denying that this easter egg is probably one of the strangest Nintendo has implemented in a game to date. If you thought that the slot machine by itself was weird, think again—just getting to it is a trip.
In the original Star Fox for the SNES, there is a secret level that is not shown on the map called "Out of this Dimension". To get to this level, the player must first travel to the Hard Asteroid Belt and seek out a strangely colored asteroid and destroy it.  Releasing from the explosion of the asteroid will be a gigantic space bird, which the player must then fly in to. Once inside this outer space behemoth, the player will fly past planets with faces (this must be where the moon in Majora's Mask is from) and the background in general will be all wobbly and distorted. Paper planes and rod-things are the only enemies here until the slot machine rolls in, bringing with it a chiptune version of "When the Saints Go Marching In". In order to "beat" this boss the player must "pull" the slot machine's lever by shooting it and get three lucky sevens, which will  then cause the machine to promptly self destruct. The staff credits will roll and at the end of them the words "The End" will be all scrambled. The player can shoot and re-arrange them until the end of time because there is no way to exit this level besides resetting the game. This egg is truly one of the weirdest and creepiest ones I've seen, and it's one that is definitely worth seeing for yourself. Click here to watch a video of the level and the boss fight.

"The End" indeed. The End of Nintendo's sanity, that is

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Daily Easter Egg #7: Super Mario RPG Nintendo Character Cameos

Samus resting up for her battle with Mother Brain

Link, the Hero of Hyrule taking a well deserved nap

In the 1996 SNES game Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars, two notable Nintendo characters make an appearance. Everyone's favorite sword swinging, no pants wearing hero can be seen sleeping in the Rose Town Inn. After playing with Gaz, the player gets the chance to stay at the inn for free. The next morning, Link can be seen taking a snooze in one of the beds.
The next Nintendo character that makes an appearance is none other than Samus Aran—and she appears twice! Between the Star Hill and Nimbus levels, Samus can be seen sleeping in the castle's guest room in the Mushroom Kingdom. The next time Samus makes an appearance is in the final room of Bowser's Tower. A box of dolls can be seen on the floor, and there is indeed a Samus doll in the box!

Samus is in the left hand corner of the box

This game is full of many other secrets as well. I'll eventually post them all so stay tuned!

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Daily Easter Egg #6: The Meaning of Ooccoo's Strange Name

Ooccoo and her nightmare fuel son, Ooccoo Jr. from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

This pair may look frightening, but they're actually super useful (but seriously, are those claw nipples?!). In Twilight Princess, they can be used to warp in and out of dungeons/temples, allowing the player to resume where they left off if they need to leave in order to buy yet another wooden shield after theirs got burnt in the Goron Mine for the 1000th time or to get whatever else they may need. Their strange names might make a little more sense after one learns that they're actually color values! It used to be thought that 00CC00 was the hexadecimal color value for Link's tunic in the original Legend of Zelda, but it turns out that 00CC00 is the color value for his tunic in Ocarina of Time's concept art. The latter makes more sense considering Twilight Princess is greatly influenced by Ocarina of Time.

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Daily Easter Egg #5: Pikachu Hates PlayStation!

Who knew that such a cute little creature could harbor so much console-related rage?

Hey You, Pikachu! is a game that was released on November 6, 2000 for the Nintendo 64 where the player gets to raise a wild Pikachu by talking it through various mini games and other tasks. Pikachu responds to your voice in various ways depending on what you say. If the player says the word "PlayStation" to Pikachu, it will get angry and do a thunderbolt attack! This is a reference to the fierce competition Nintendo had with Sony at the time, one of their greatest rivals. Sony is to Nintendo what Blue is to Red, one could say. 

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Daily Easter Egg #4: Super Mario Sunshine Sirena Beach Gamecube Controller

The Sirena Beach area in Super Mario Sunshine, my favorite area from the game! Photo courtesy of mariowiki.com

This is one of those easter eggs that when you hear about it, it doesn't really make sense, but when you see it you go "Oh! I see it now!"
Sirena Beach is an area you gain access to towards the end of the game that is partially shaped like a Gamecube controller! The two big circles make up the upper part of the controller, while the left of these circles has the A, B, X, and Y buttons, and the right being the control stick. Below that are the two small huts that represent the D-pad and C-stick. A torch marks where the start button would be, and beach chairs are located where on the controller says "Nintendo Gamecube". The whole thing is shaped as if the bottom of the controller would be pointing away from you, and the hotel isn't a part of the controller.

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Daily Easter Egg #3: Bella Goth Sims 2 Mystery/Easter Eggs

Keeping up with appearances: How Bella Goth has looked in every Sims game so far.

The Sims is a series that is very near and dear to my heart (yes, I love games besides those published  by Nintendo, believe it or not). I've played every version since the very first one, and I have become very familiar with a certain Sim named Bella Goth. She has appeared in every Sims game so far, and will make an appearance in the newest game in the franchise, The Sims 4, set to release soon. However, in the second installment of the game, The Sims 2, she is shrouded in mystery.
In the base version of the game, there are 3 towns to choose from: Pleasantview, Strangetown, and Veronaville. In Pleasantview, Bella is considered to be a missing person, and can be seen on the backs of milk cartons. According to the story told in Pleasantview, Bella was abducted by aliens, and many members of her family have memories of this event. In fact, if a Sim uses a fingerprint scanner on some items in the Goth household, it will show that she touched much of the furniture. In the game, her icon isn't grayed out when displayed in memories, which means she's not dead, but the only way to have this version of Bella present and playable in Pleasantview is by a cheating device.  Switch over to Strangetown, and a slightly different Bella can be found there with no memories of her family in Pleasantview. This whole Bella fiasco is one big easter egg because it revolves around a classic and iconic character from the series, and seeing her face on the milk carton as a kid really intrigued me and made me want to solve the mystery. However, the Bella Goth easter eggs don't end there.
She can supposedly be found floating around in a hot air balloon with her brother Michael in The Sims 2, and many speculated that was where she disappeared to.

Bella and Michael in the hot air ballon. These figures look more like their  Sims 1 counterparts.

Also in The Sims 2, there is a portrait of Bella Goth you can buy and hang in your Sims' home called "Bella Squared". If you place this painting in a Sims' home in Strangetown, this will cause Bella Goth to appear, much like how the Tragic Clown would appear in Sims' houses in The Sims 1 when his painting was hung on the wall, except less creepy.

The "Bella Squared" portrait.

There are also Bella easter eggs to be found in The Sims 3 (strap yourselves in kids because there's a ton). There is a children's book called "Where's Bella?" that young Sims can read. This is both a reference to Bella's plight in The Sims 2 and "Where's Waldo?".
Moving on from books to bookcases, a picture of Bella Goth from the Sims 2 era can be seen displayed on one of the bookcases you can place in your Sims' home.
If your Sim is a private investigator, when they are searching for evidence they'll occasionally say, "This reminds me of when Bella went missing... I need to keep looking.": yet another reference to Bella going missing in The Sims 2.
Your Sims will occasionally sketch and paint Bella and her daughter, Cassandra on either an easel or drafting table if their skill is high enough.
Yet another Bella painting was available for download from The Sims 3 store in a pack called "The Dawn of The Sims" along with one of the Tragic Clown from the original Sims game.
When The Sims 3: Generations is installed, a new wallpaper called "Bella Gothic Wallpaper" can be bought in game.
Space rocks called "Unusual Bellacite" can be found by Sims.
Your Sims can donate to the "Bella Beneficiary" charity.
And finally, a stage backdrop in The Sims 3: Showtime is said to be based on Bella's nightmares.

Can you tell that EA/Maxis is a little obsessed with this character? Creepy obsessions aside, I'm glad they put all these little goodies in the game for fans to find and speculate about (I didn't even cover all of them, just the ones I thought were the most interesting). The Sims is probably one of the most easter egg laden franchises out there, and they have a lot more to offer than just Bella Goth easter eggs. I can't wait to share the other little surprises these games have to offer, as well as discover what the upcoming game has in store in terms of easter egg goodness.

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