10 INCREDIBLE Video Game Secrets Found By Hacking
4. G-g-g-GHOST - Super Mario 3D Land
(It's on the far right of the above image)
If you're familiar with colourful 3DS platfomer Super Mario 3D Land, then there's a chance you're already familiar with the ghostly Easter Egg that appears at the end of the first haunted house level (World 4-4). Hang around the final screen with the flag pole for a few minutes and a ghostly figure will appear behind a fence, open its mouth in a silent, chilling scream, and disappear.
Known as the World 4-4 Ghost, players believed this was the only place this figure appeared. However, in December 2019 hacker SwanyBox managed to make this cheerful game a lot scarier by revealing just how often this thing shows its nightmarish, pixelated visage in the game.
After hacking the game's camera, this resourceful digital detective was able to conclude that this mysterious figure appears at the start and end of every haunted house level in the game without anyone ever noticing it was watching them.
By rummaging around the game's files, SwankyBox was also able to find the sprites for the ghost. Showing a large, pale-faced being with no legs wearing a grey shirt, the hacker likens it to Edward Munch's The Scream painting.
Why this was included in the game still remains a mystery.