10 MORE Video Game Secrets That Took YEARS To Find
7. Diagnostic Menus - Mortal Kombat 1-3
Of all the fighting game franchises in the medium, Mortal Kombat is likely the one packed with the most secrets and urban legends. The first title seemed to tease Ermac, a red-clad ninja who could be unlocked as a playable character, but was in fact a graphical glitch whose name stood for "error macros". To fans' delight, the developers chose to introduce him as a legitimate character in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
There have been countless other characters and scenarios accessible across the series though complex button combinations and by filling bizarre parameters, but one of the original arcade cabinets' greatest secrets remained secret for over 20 years.
In 2015, several intrepid arcade hackers combed through the code for the original MK 1-3 arcade cabinets and found that through hitting the player buttons in a very specific order they could unlock the games' "EJB" menus - named after series creator Ed J. Boon.
These menus allowed access to all hidden characters, the ability to view character endings, and even contained a Galaga-style shooter within. Strangest of all was the "hello" screen, which appeared to show a list of people... that Boon wanted to say hello to.