What's Mario got that seemingly no other video game icon seems to have? The plumber isn't the most hip, sexy or particularly badass of creations - yet it's he above all others who has been chosen as the face of video games. The simple answer is that Super Mario titles get right to the core of what makes gaming great. Sure, the medium has evolved considerably in terms of visuals and storytelling, but the meticulous, sublime platforming mechanics at the heart of the Mario canon are timeless. On top of that, there are so many secrets in these games that national newspapers used to have columns dedicated to them, morphing into YouTubers today continuing the trend. Some of these secrets are now written into gaming legend, while others are still being uncovered and verified. Here are the most legendary, most tucked-away secrets hidden throughout the history of Mario's adventures.
12. Mini Battles And Multiplayer (Yoshi's Island)
With its cutesy crayon aesthetic and general nursery theming, Yoshi's Island is probably the most innocuous-looking Mario game out there, and not one that you associate with deadly intense duels to the death against AI and other players. But hidden within the game is a 'Mini Battles' mode that lets you do just that, offering a selection of addictive mini-games, two of which are multiplayer. How to unlock it: In the World 5 fort (home to Sluggy the Unshaven), you'll find a room with a Chain Chomp inside. Killing it conjures a door that you can go through, which tells you that you can unlock a secret at the level selection screen by holding Select, then pressing X, X, Y, B, A. You can just bash in the code without finding this hidden area, but in some strange way, you might consider it more of an achievement if you get to the area first... maybe?
Gamer, Researcher of strange things.
I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.
