Once a Cheater, Always a Cheater Quiz

Answer: Contra

Made famous by old-school gamers, the Konami Code showed up in some of the company's most popular video games. In the eighties, it debuted in the 1985 shooter "Gladius", during which the game could be paused and the code used to gain power-ups. Most popularly, the code appeared during "Contra", an NES game from 1987 that gave the player thirty lives when the code was given in the title screen. Games have continued to be made with the code as the years have gone by, many of which weren't even developed by Konami. Because of its integration into gamer culture, the Konami Code has been and homage in more games than almost any other cheat.

Answer: Doom

Upon its release, "Doom" was loved by players and hated by those who feared that violent video games would be the end of us all. Sure, the debate hasn't died down, but there was always something about the pixelated monsters of the original 1993 game that oozed success, especially when shot at with the BFG. This game had two particular cheat codes to note. IDKFA (which stood for IDs, Keys, Firearms, and Armor) unlocked a wide array of...well...everything you needed in the game. IDDQD, on the other hand, opened up God Mode, allowing you to wreak havoc on enemies throughout the entire game without taking damage.

There were other codes, but with these two, who needed them?

Answer: Turok

A series of more mature games for the Nintendo 64, "Turok" was a welcome set of games. A big deal for Acclaim Entertainment upon its release in 1997, "Turok" was the only early shooter game for the console and it got the audience it was searching for.

The original "Turok: Dinosaur Hunter" was critically acclaimed and sold a lot of copies. In the first game ("Turok: Dinosaur Hunter"), the big cheat unlocked pretty much everything from weapons to levels to invincibility to invisibility and others.

The second game, "Seeds of Evil", unlocked everything with its big cheat as well. "Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion" also had a Big Cheat, but these were input by a new animal code system.

Answer: Rosebud

If you were to build a house, you'd only want the best, right? In "The Sims", money was hard to come by, especially for a family just building their first new house. To get past that initially-crippling $20,000 at the beginning of the game, players could simply press CTRL-SHIFT-C to open a code bar and type 'Rosebud'; (in patched games, or 'Klapaucius' in unpatched games) to collect a thousand Simoleons. If this is done, the player can speed through the process by hitting '!;!;!;!;' into the cheat bar repeatedly. Each '!;' added another thousand to the total. Later games in the series had similar cheats, but with different codewords.

Answer: Yes

In a game series that normally requires the playthrough of entire setlists to open new songs for play, an inconspicuous cheat page sweetened the deal for players who simply wanted to get to their favourite songs as soon as possible. To unlock all eighty-six songs, players needed to toggle cheats on and, using the guitar controller, press Blue, Blue, Red, Green, Green, Blue, Blue, Yellow. Voila! Similarly, Harmonix, in "Rock Band", placed cheat modes in "Rock Band" and "Rock Band 2". For both games, the code is Red, Yellow, Blue, Red, Red, Blue, Blue, Red, Yellow, Blue. "Rock Band 3" still has codes to unlock guitars, but the entire setlist is available from the minute you pop in the disc.

Answer: Select your level

Rather than starting in Green Hill Zone over...and over...and over again, players could simply jump to a new destination using this basic code input during the title sequence of one of Sega's biggest hits on the Genesis console. Later games in the series (including those on the Game Gear) also allowed for level select sequences. "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" made things a bit more difficult. To get to the level select are you needed to fiddle around with the sound settings by playing sounds 19, 65, 9, and 17, then pressing C.

Then, when you returned to the title screen and saw Sonic and Tails come up, you needed to hold A and press Start.

Answer: Shelby AC Cobra

Certainly not a common sight to behold in medieval war, the Shelby AC Cobra was a car from the 1960s. To open the cheat bar in "Age of Empires 2", all you needed to do was hit Enter and type away. As soon as this particular code was entered, the car would appear.

This strong unit was able to shoot bullets out its doors to kill enemies and you could have as many as you wanted provided you typed the code each time to generate new cars. Other interesting codes in this game were 'Polo' (to turn off the fog of war), 'black death' (to simply kill all opponents) and, if you weren't satisfied with instantly murdering the enemy, 'i r winner' could simply win you the campaign.

Answer: A ninja

In one of the more complicated, frustrating codes of my days on the Nintendo 64, this all-encompassing cheat was also one of the most rewarding. In an obscure, yet fun game for a number of people (without all that realism of "1080 Snowboarding"), "Snowboard Kids" could have all levels and boards, AND a secret character unlocked without leaving the starting screen. To do this, however, the first player needed to use the analog stick down, then up, then down-D, up-D, C-down, C-up, L, R, Z, left-D, stick up, B, right-D, C-left, and finally Start. If done correctly, you'd hear a fun laugh. If done wrong, you'd need to start the game over and try again. Shinobin, however, was kind of worth it.

This ninja character had his own level (Ninja Land) and boards AND higher stats than everyone else.

Answer: Cell phone

To put in codes, you need to use protagonist Nico Bellic's cell phone at any time in-game to call specific numbers. For the completionist in you, some of these codes may cause achievements to be unclearable, but for those who want to just sit back and dominate the game, unlocking cars, weapons, and armor can make the game all the more interesting.

Some important numbers to keep in your contacts list are 362-555-0100 (for full health and armor), 482-555-0100 (for full health, armor, and ammo), and 359-555-0100 (for a rocket-firing helicopter). Remember, all of these will prevent certain missions of the game from being playable.

Answer: GameShark

Although the Nintendo 64 wasn't the first console device to facilitate cheat code inputting, it was one of the most popular. This cartridge would be placed into the console and the game cartridge would be placed on top for it to be used. When you turned on the console, the GameShark would load first and you'd insert codes or simply activate the ones stored into the device before commencing gameplay. Let me tell you, this was monumental in my days playing the system.

There may be nothing more fun than turning on 'Walk Through Closed Doors' in "Goldeneye" for the N64 and playing multiplayer. Whole 'nother world! Other systems (including handhelds) continue to use devices like GameShark, Game Genie, and Action Replays to accomplish this task.