10 Most Nostalgic Video Game Secrets

Nostalgia is a powerful thing and you've got to be careful with it or you'll wind up stuck in the past.

That might sound great to some at first but too much nostalgia means that the feeling fades eventually. That's why the best video game franchises must continue to innovate and reinvent, lest they wind up spinning wheels until they can't move forward at all.

That being said... it's nice when a game gives a homage or two to its past, nobody can deny that.

From bonus levels to entire unlockable retro games, gaming has plenty of ways to give you the warm-fuzzies when it comes to looking back at the past. Nostalgic unlockables are always something that players flock to as it's something they recognise as a source of joy, and so they're definitely worth having. Many games have snuck secrets in that thank the fans for their support of the series and it's hard to dislike any of them.

This list will look at some of the absolute best bonus call-backs to a franchise's past, that are guaranteed to bring smiles to players who have been there since the beginning.

There’s plenty of examples of video games that pay their respects to the origins of their series by outright including older games within their list of unlockables. Donkey Kong 64 has a Donkey Kong arcade cabinet to find, Tekken 5 famously features multiple earlier games and Call of Duty has been giving nods to the past of Atari for a long time now.

Ninja Gaiden is just one of many examples of this. The 2004 reboot of the series makes it possible to play all three of the NES titles if you’re skilled enough to unlock them, making it a worthy addition to any gaming collection based on its amount of content alone.

A year later the game was rereleased with some improvements and tweaks as Ninja Gaiden Black. Whilst it was sadly missing the NES games, it had something wholly unique to offer. Completing the game on Ninja Dog difficulty unlocks the 1988 Arcade game.

This rarely seen and often overlooked version is completely different to the tough as nails platformer of the NES, more akin to a side-scrolling beat-em-up with big, beautiful arcade sprites. Even better, changing Ninja Gaiden Black’s in-game language to Japanese even cleverly affects the arcade unlockable.

Whilst Team Ninja were focusing on building a new Ninja Gaiden with this second trilogy, they weren’t afraid to honour the past.