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Konami Code

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File:Konami-code-t-shirt.jpg
Logo of the Konami Code sold on T-Shirts.

The Konami Code (also known as the Konami Command and the Contra Code) is a cheat code that can be used in many Konami video games, usually enabling some sort of secret option. The code was first used in the 1986 release of Gradius for the Nintendo Entertainment System but was made famous in Contra. During the game, the player presses the following sequence of buttons on the game controller:

↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A

This is the original version of the code, designed for the NES controller. In common usage, many players will include Start at the end of the code, but this merely serves the function of beginning or unpausing the game and is not part of the actual code. The exact sequence varies from game to game, and has been adapted to fit the button layouts of different video game consoles; on many systems, Start is replaced by the Select Start chord. The code is sometimes transcribed as uuddlrlrba, or spelled out as upupdowndownleftrightleftrightba.

The original Konami Code endures as one of the most widely-known cheat codes in the gaming community.

History

The Konami Code was created by Kazuhisa Hashimoto, who was developing the home port of the 1985 arcade game Gradius, a scrolling shooter released on the Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. Finding the game too difficult to play through during testing, he created a code which gives the player a full set of powerups, which are normally attained gradually throughout the game. Also, the code entered backwards would award the player 30 lives. For whatever reason, he did not remove the code when testing was finished. The code has continued to be present in Gradius sequels and spin-offs, including the Super Famicom version of Gradius III, which actually destroys the player's ship upon entering the original code (however, substituting Left and Right with the L and R triggers of the Super Famicom controller powers up the ship).

Arguably the best-known example of the Konami Code is in the 1988 NES version of Contra, where using the code increases the player's lives from 3 to 30. Due to the game's intense difficulty, many Contra players became reliant on the code to finish the game, earning it the title "The Contra Code". Entering Up,Up,Down,Down,L,R,L,R,B,A,Select,Start will make it a two player game and give both players 30 lives.

The popularity of Gradius and Contra has closely associated the Konami Code with the gaming era of the 1980s. The code, however, has appeared in several newer PlayStation 2 games, including Silent Hill 3, Metal Gear Solid 2, and Gradius V. It even shows up in Konami's Bemani line of music games, such as Dance Dance Revolution and DrumMania. The code has further been featured on various t-shirts and other merchandise.

Although the Konami Code was not the first video game password (that distinction belonging to "xyzzy" from Colossal Cave Adventure), it is probably the most well-known video game code. Because of its popularity, it has been referenced in many different pop-culture contexts. Several bands, cartoons, TV shows, and even a professional wrestler (Jimmy Jacobs), have made reference to the code.

  • The Ataris Have a song titled "up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, start"
  • In Tales of Phantasia the code is mentioned on a sign in the fourth floor of the Morlia Mineshaft.
  • A popular DC ska-core band in the 90's was called the Konami Code.
  • A song on the upcoming Deftones album Saturday Night Wrist is titled "U,U,D,D,L,R,L,R,A,B,Select,Start", which is another variant of the code that was used in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II arcade game.(This is not accurate, as the song is titled after the Contra code. It could not be the Contra code due to the ASCAP rights of the song above I assume.)
  • This code is also mentioned in a cut-scene in Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, after the fourth Vid-Comic has been completed, except the B and A are replaced by the Square and Circle buttons.
  • Near the conclusion of the anime series Battle Athletes, one of the heroines shouts it aloud at a competing team of girls in a three-legged race, in order to confuse their cadence.
  • In the podcast series "Ask A Ninja", "Special Delivery 5 'Doogtoons 3'", when the ninja is meditating one of the phrases of "ninja knowledge" reads "Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A on the left controller"
  • In The Moldy Peaches'song "Anyone else but you", the code is quote in lyrics : "Up up down down left right left right B A Start, just because we use cheats doesn't mean we're not smart. I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...but you" (The Moldy Peaches (CD/LP) - Sanctuary Records/Rough Trade - 2001)
  • There is a band named "Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start" after the code. [1]
  • Canadian-based group The Pettit Project has a song called "99 Lives," in which the Konami Code is part of the song's bridge. The song is on their 2004 album "CheeROCKracy."
  • A band called Johnny Socko wrote a song called "Old School Master" which was about video games and pinball (unfortunately one of the member's could never beat this kid in Cleveland in Adam's family pinball). In this song they rap the lyric "In Contra I blew your ass apart thanks to Up, UP, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Select, Start". This song was on their album "Johnny Socko" released on Triple R Records in 2002.
  • In the Flash computer game "Trogdor" on homestarrunner.com, if you press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A on the keyboard and then click "start" on the screen with your mouse you get 30 "Mans"(AKA lives) at the beginning.
  • In episode 4 of the Flash animated series "Ingus" on newgrounds.com, Mildred, Ingus' mother, threatens Ingus for talking back to her by saying "Don't you talk to your mother that way or i'll Konami Code yer ass!".
  • Hard-rock video game music cover band the NESkimos included a song called "Contra Code" on their first album. The song serves as the opening to a five-part suite of Contra songs.
  • Nerdcore Rapper ytcracker starts off his song "N.E.S." with the code.
  • In order to progress through the Sorceress's Lair in the MMORPG Kingdom of Loathing, the player is required to enter the Konami Code.
  • In the second episode of the Hellsing OVA series, Jan Valentine chants "Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right" as he shoots Hellsing guards in various directions, saying that they get to cheat and use god mode.
  • MadTV did a video parody September 23, 2006, featuring a Gamer neglecting his girlfriend in the style of an R&B music video. In it, the Konami Code, or at least a variation of it, is mentioned.
  • The Kode formerly known as the Konami Kode is a video game cover band featuring rock covers of music from games including Contra and includes the symbols for the Konami Code in their logo.
  • Although she does speak a combination of the directions "up, down, left, right", in the film version of Silent Hill, the character Rose does not recite the Konami Code.
  • In the movie Stay Alive a character states that in the game, you can enter the Konami Code to strip the sombie girls naked.
  • In episode 20 of Ah My Goddess - Sorezore no Tsubasa, Skuld mentions that in order to reset the Space Doubler, Keiichi has to put the Konami Code, except instead of pressing B A B A, he has to press "Set" twice.
  • Professional wrestler Jimmy Jacobs uses a version of the finishing move Sliced Bread #2 which is known as the Contra Code (where the announcers will yell "Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start" while he attempted it).
  • Stoopid Ugly Stik have an album called "up up down down left right left right A B start"
  • The Gothsicles released a song called "Konami Code IV" on their "NESferatu" album. In the song they sing the cheat but say "Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Select Start" instead.
  • In the popular online web comic Ctrl+Alt+Del, Ethan sings "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B..." before he interupts himself to say something to his friend in the January 21st 2004 comic titled "Must Have Donuts>"
  • In episode "Gaz, Taster of Pork" of Invader Zim, Gaz states the secret code for unlimited lives in Super Kicky Fighter is ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → A B B A start.
  • In the game Kindom of loathing This code is used at the end of the game
  • The band Select Start based of Tampa, Florida likely derived its name from the Konami Code, and fans have been over heard shouting the code at shows.

See also

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