10 Video Game Secrets YOU DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW
7. Cursed Sonic - Sonic CD
Sonic CD features an Easter egg which has haunted the nightmares of an entire generation of gamers. You're able to enter the game's sound test menu by entering the code, "Down, Down, Down, Left, Right, A," on the title screen.
Once on the sound test menu, select "FM No. 46, PCM No. 12, and DA No. 25," at which point a disturbing collage will flash on the screen, showing what appears to be a skeletal, deformed version of Sonic the Hedgehog, accompanied by some Japanese text.
As it turns out, the image is a combination of Sonic's body and the face of one of the game's designers, Masato Nishimura. As for the text? It translates to "Infinite Fun Sega Enterprises, image by Majin."
Though in certain contexts Majin can translate to "devil" or "demon," in this case it's reportedly a nickname of Nishimura himself, while the eerie background music is simply the final boss track from the U.S. version of Sonic CD.
This is undeniably one of those Easter eggs you just can't un-see, and even as the decades pass, few who saw it in their youth will ever forget it.
For an authoritative deep dive into the skin-crawling secret, check out this video.