10 HORRIFYING Moments In Children's Video Games
2. Main Menu - Sonic CD
The Sonic series was well on its way to becoming one of the most iconic video games with cool older brothers everywhere when Sonic CD first hit shelves in 1993. Universally praised upon release, the game featured cutscenes for the first time, characters like Amy and Metal Sonic and smartly utilised time travel to present different variants of levels depending on how players perform.
And yet, it is a strange and undoubtedly unsettling hidden easter egg in the main menu that Sonic CD has truly become infamous for.
By pressing Down, Down, Down, Left, Right, and A on the main menu, players will be taken to a sound test screen. By inputting the numbers 46, 12, and 25 they will then be greeted by a jarring screen of three rows of Sonic images, only with the hedgehog's face replaced by a creepy-looking human one.
The Japanese characters on the screen translate roughly to “Fun is infinite with Sega Enterprises. -Majin”, with 'Majin' being a term used to describe a devil or demon. Throw in some echoing laughter from Dr Robotnik that can be heard over it, and it caps off one of the most chilling images from the '90s.
SEGA have since claimed this easter egg was intended to make players laugh, but there's no way those who were traumatised by it back in the day are buying that one.