10 More Video Game Secrets You Weren't Supposed To Find

7. Chris Houlihan’s Room - A Link To The Past

Legend Of Zelda A Link To The Past Chris Houlihan Room
Nintendo

Back in 1990, a whole year before I was born, a guy named Chris Houlihan won a Final Fantasy contest to take a picture of an elusive boss and his prize was a cameo in an NES game.

The NES game in question ended up being A Link To The Past. Thus Chris Houlihan’s room was born, a failsafe room where if for any reason a screen loaded improperly, the game’s programming would shoot you over to this secret location. The room contains 45 Blue Rupees and features text that reads “My name is Chris Houlihan. This is my top secret room. Keep it between us, OK?".

We have absolutely not done that here today but that’s the nature of the list, what can you do?

In the Game Boy Advance port you can no longer enter the room organically but it can be accessed through glitching or hacking. No mention of Chris Houlihan remains but we’ll remember you, buddy.

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Jess has been a journalist and content creator in the games industry for over 15 years and has been WhatCulture's resident Australian import and sorry cop since 2020, upping the quotient of swearing and apologising in WhatCulture Gaming's annual blooper videos considerably. She previously worked at GameSpot for 10 years, most notably hosting GameSpot News in addition to E3 live shows, and PAX panels. She regularly livestreams a variety of games on her 'jessmcdonell' YouTube and Twitch channels and hosts the 'Do It On The Day' podcast. She has won awards for her news and feature work in gaming as well as an accolade for her comedic writing (likely an admin error). She can be found on X at @jessmcdonell and Instagram at @jessicamcdonell sharing her current videogame fixations, industry insights, and videos of her cat, Karma.