konami
Konami Code - 01

The Konami Code (コナミコマンド Konami Komando?, lit. "Konami Command") is a special combination of buttons that appears in several Konami games. It was widely popularized due to its inclusion in the NES home version of Contra (1988), where it allowed the player to obtain 30 free lives. Since then the code has become part of popular culture in general, even appearing in many non-Konami games and diverse media, such as clothing, advertisements and non-gaming related software.

History

, creator of the Konami Code.

Kazuhisa Hashimoto, creator of the Konami Code.

The code was first used in the 1986 release of Gradius for the Nintendo Entertainment System but was popularized among North American players in the NES version of Contra, for which it was also dubbed both the "Contra Code" and "30 Lives Code", because of its nearly necessary use in the game.

The Konami Code was created by Kazuhisa Hashimoto, who was developing the home port of the 1985 arcade game Gradius, a horizontal scrolling shooter released on the NES in 1986. Finding the game too difficult to play through during testing, he created a cheat code to give the player a full set of power-ups (normally attained gradually throughout the game). The code was still present in the released version after Hashimoto forgot to remove it. Players discovered and shared the code. The Konami Code was thus included in the series' other sequels and spin-offs.[1]

Input

The code is usually entered during the title screen before the game demo begins, and the player must press the following sequence of buttons on the game controller to enable the cheat:

Konami Code - 02

Variations

Konami Code - 03

The original version of the cheat code was designed for the NES controller. The exact sequence varies from game to game and has been adapted to fit the button layouts of different video game consoles, mostly the A and B buttons. For example:

Usage in Konami franchises (alphabetical order)

Boktai

Castlevania

Contra

Dance Dance Revolution

The Konami Code has been referenced in routines for some songs on Konami's Dance Dance Revolution series, and has also been an unlock mechanism on some versions:

Frogger

Ganbare Goemon

Gradius

International Superstar Soccer

Metal Gear

Rocket Knight

Silent Hill

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

TwinBee

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Zone of the Enders

Other Konami games

Note: Games are listed in alphabetical order.

References