I wanted to make a list of Easter Eggs, but first I had to land on a definition. After discussing it for a bit with my coworkers, we’ve arrived at the following conclusion: Easter eggs are secrets hidden within games that don’t have a significant change on the gameplay. Also, unlockable characters, even crossovers, are not Easter Eggs.
After much deliberation, I’ve come up with the following list of noteworthy Easter eggs in some of history’s most memorable games. Please feel free to contribute your own ideas in the comment section because, frickin’ heck, dude, there are a lot of these strewn across gaming history.
Dead Rising
This Easter egg isn’t subtle, but it does require a bit of gaming knowledge to notice. In Dead Rising , there is a shop called Jill’s Sandwiches. Is it a simple sandwich shop or an allusion to a historic zombie game? Obviously, the answer is the latter.
Resident Evil has an iconic line in it that reads, “You were almost a Jill sandwich.” In a game full of weird dialogue and voice overs, that one has remained embedded in the public consciousness.
I wonder what would be on an actual Jill sandwich, though? Let me know in the comments!
Adventure
This one has to go on the list, and I’m sure you expected it from the start. It was even heavily referenced in the Ready Player One . It’s also ridiculously simple and the story is interesting.
Atari removed developer names from its products. Some people left the company as a result. The designer for Adventure , Warren Robinett, found a way around Atari though. He hid his name in the game behind a series of hard to uncover actions. Once Robinett revealed the secret, it became a part of video game history.
What would you have done if you were in Robinett’s position?
Doom II
It’s one thing to put your name in a game. What’s the next step after that? Naturally, it’s to put your face in the game. That is exactly what happened for the Doom II designer, John Romero.
Since Doom II isn’t the kid friendliest game out there, neither was the depiction of John Romero. In lieu of a boss fight, the player must take on the disembodied, impaled head of one of its creators.
Did you encounter this Easter egg back in the day? Was it more traumatizing or goofy?
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
In 2004, the original Metal Gear Solid got a remake on the GameCube in the form of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes . This particular entry into the often silly series contains multiple Easter eggs, and fans of the franchise are probably not surprised.
One of the secrets is a bit of a legacy joke. After a certain boss fight, players can explore Otacon’s office. There, they will notice telltale signs that the nerd has been playing GameCube. Signs include a Wavebird controller. Something similar was present in the PlayStation version.
The same nerd also has some Yoshi and Mario figures. Shooting them causes them to make noises. Hitting Yoshi will cause the “Yoshi!” noise to play, and Mario will cause a 1 Up sound to play.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario RPG is, in many ways, the predecessor to the Paper Mario series. It was developed by the company now known as Square Enix, so this little RPG team up with Nintendo had quite the pedigree behind it. It also had a pretty natural-seeming Easter egg in it as a result.
After a bit of item trading, a secret door opens in Monstro Town. Behind that door is an enemy called Culex, who is originally from the Square game, Final Fantasy IV . Next time you play, go ahead and pay him a visit.
All of these Easter eggs are uncommon and fun. Was one of your favorites mentioned? If not, let us know what it is!