As much as cheats are especially a problem in online games, single-player cheats were actually part of the fun back in old times. Since games did not always have a large replayability value in technical terms (but we still played them like crazy for hundreds of time anyways), cheat codes were a way to add more and rather unique content to the game without breaking the actual plot of game.

Here are 5 cheat codes that remained as a great memory for many gamers out there.

Blood Is Back For Mortal Kombat

90s were a really exciting and also weird period for video games. Things were freshly building up but it also brought a wide array of obstacles from many fronts as new things were being experimented on. Besides the people who claimed that “games are for children”, developers like NetherRealm (Midway back then) and ID Software were up to some crazy and hardcore stuff. Like gory animations everywhere.

This in turn brought another controversy that led ESRB ratings to be constructed for coming years, and eventually developers “accepted” to reduce or remove gore in certain versions of the game – with a caveat. They implemented secret cheat codes to add them back into the game for people who loved that.

Obviously, that fight still goes on in today’s world where people still make baseless claims regarding gore in games and movies just for cheap attention

Spawning Vehicles in GTA (and much more)

If there is one thing that emblazed the name Grand Theft Auto in the history of video games, that’s the value of cheat codes added to the game for a whole new aspect of replayability. GTA series already provided a huge open-world sandbox experience out of the main scenario, and spawning vehicles with those cheat codes was a serious part of that.

You could use those vehicles both for missions and plain fun (carnage), add some weapons to the mix, or just destroying them all in one simple code. If that’s not enough, you can add manipulating the wanted stars, other mechanics and such.

HESOYAM!

Noclip Mode in DOOM 2

Many FPS games back in 90s had its noclip modes both in and out of cheats (spectator modes also had the no clipping mechanics for example) but DOOM 2 had a special place for that list. Game itself was already great to play for countless times for many reasons, may it be just action or some exploration, but noclip mode added another layer of fun.

Inputting “IDDQD” on a cheat console panel you could bring up on PC, you could fully clip and zoom through levels, exploring all manner of off-screen secrets, pathways and hidden details, get surprised on all that stuff you could find because there was much more to the game than one’s eye could ever see in plain sight. Including John Romero’s head in a walled-off room behind the final boss. Crazy stuff.

If you wish to enjoy the noclip more but not only in Doom 2, try noclipping in Half-Life 1 to see the actual entirety of animated script scenes that are scattered in lots of chapters.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Unlockables

With countless hours of fun thanks to its genius structure, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series was a rightful holder of gold memories for many gamers. Great chapters, nicely built game modes and of course its unlockable content were providing hundreds of hours of gameplay easily.

When it comes to unlockables though, there were some usual ones and there were some absolutely crazy ones – like Spider-Man as a skater. You had two ways to unlock Spider-Man, one being a 100% completion (tough), and another is -you guess right- a cheat code. Let’s face it, not many people would go for the rocky path when you could just jump past through a portal for the same result.

Regardless of how you played the game, its soundtracks and the blissful moments it gave us are still a great nostalgia.

Level Select in Sonic The Hedgehog

One of the best platformers of all time, Sonic The Hedgehog is undeniably fun for its fast-paced gameplay and the lovely art style of all sorts. The cute graphics, fun soundtracks, story, characters… Everything.

But beyond Green Hill Zone, things were quite difficult and it was really a matter of hard work to see everything the game had to offer. Playing it from start to finish without cheating required both skill and determination that took dozens of hours at least. Unless you prefer the shortcut, of course.

With the level selection cheat code, it was very much possible to see entire game without much challenges. It did not give the sense of pride for genuinely completing the chapters one after another, but still does what it says.