The Konami Code is a special combination of buttons that appears in several Konami games, including the Castlevania series. Since it was first revealed, the code has become part of popular culture in general, even appearing in many non-Konami games and diverse media, like clothing, advertisements and non-gaming related software.
History[]
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, an 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.
The code has been subsequently re-used in a large number of other games and is now used in the Opera web browser to activate hidden advanced settings.
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:
Variations[]
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:
- Any code for a PlayStation controller, which uses shapes instead of letters, would use
and instead of A and B respectively. - In mobile phone games by Konami, the buttons are replaced by 5, 7, 3 on the numerical pad, which is the goroawase pronunciation for "Konami": 5 is pronounced go, 7 can be pronounced nana or just na for short, and the kanji for 3, 三, looks very much like the katakana sign for mi, namely ミ. Together, this becomes "go-na-mi".
- The code is usually followed by the press of a final button in order to activate it. This is generally assigned to the START button, but some games may change it for any other, like the SELECT button.
- Because the cursor ends at the same spot where it initially was before inputting the code, some games drop the press of the final button completely and the code is activated as soon as it is successfully entered, while starting the game at the same time.
- Some variations change some of the buttons pressed, like requiring to press the L and R bumper buttons instead of ← and →, or changing the order of how the final two buttons are pressed (i.e. A, B instead of B, A).
Game specific information[]
Kid Dracula[]
- Effect: Easter Egg
Entering the code ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A (a sound will confirm it) at the title screen (after the initial cutscene), and then pressing Start will display a black screen with the text ざんえんでした. ぱにもぱいろ~ん!, which roughly translates to "I'm sorry. I can't do that!" in Japanese. Unfortunately the text freezes the screen, and the player has no other choice than to reset the console.
Castlevania: Bloodlines[]
- Effect: Expert difficulty and extra lives
Entering the code at the title screen (a sound will confirm it) enables the selection of the Expert difficulty in the "Options" screen. The code also gives the player the possibility of starting the game with 9 lives if it is entered at the title screen after the music settings in the option screen have been set to BGM 05 and SE 073.
Konami is known for inserting the number 573 in their games. "Five" in Japanese is go, changed to the voiceless form ko; "7" in Japanese is nana, shortened to na; "3" in Japanese is mittsu, shortened to mi; "573" = ko-na-mi.
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness[]
- Effect: Unlock characters, costumes and Hard Mode from the start.
Entering the C buttons ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← →, and L R Z at the title screen (a sound will confirm it) enables only the character Henry Oldrey from the start.
Now, when entering the C buttons ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ← ← → → ← ← → →, and L R Z, also enables Reinhardt Schneider, Carrie Fernandez, all the alternative costumes and the Hard Mode.
Castlevania Chronicles[]
- Effect: Unlock hidden "Options" menu
On the PlayStation version of Chronicles, entering ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → 
on the title screen will take the player to a hidden options menu that allows to adjust the "system time" and turn the transparency of the status bar on and off in Original mode. The system time affects small things in the game, like the hands on the clock tower.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance[]
- Effect: Play as Simon Belmont in Boss Rush Mode
Enter the code when the Konami logo appears and choose Boss Rush Mode to play as the original 8-bit Simon Belmont. It features an arranged version of "Vampire Killer" and "Clockwork", and animations from the original Castlevania for NES. While significantly harder due to Simon's limited movement, the player can do more damage with this character and collect far more Hearts to fuel sub-weapon use against the bosses than the other two characters. Simon is also limited to special weapons from the first game: Dagger, Axe, Cross and Holy Water (the latter which attacks with the "static flame" from the original Castlevania, not the moving flame like when Juste uses it). Likewise, the sub-weapon that he carries disappears when he picks up another one.
After the game has been completed and Boss Rush Mode unlocked, input this code while the Konami logo is being shown:
↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow[]
- Effect: Unlock "Cheats" menu
Enter the code at the Load Screen of a level (with analog sticks) to enter a Cheat menu at the Extras Point.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2[]
Xbox 360[]
- Effect: Unlock "Cheats" menu
After the title screen and auto-save message, Gabriel will narrate the current chapter of the game and the next stage will load (Gabriel stares away). When the "Press START button" prompt appears, enter:
↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → 
If the code was entered successfully, Gabriel will wink at the player. Pressing starts the game but a new "Cheats" option will be added to the "Extras" menu.
PlayStation 3[]
- Effect: Unlock "Cheats" menu
After the title screen and auto-save message, Gabriel will narrate the current chapter of the game and the next stage will load (Gabriel stares away). When the "Press START button" prompt appears, enter:
↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → 
If the code was entered successfully, Gabriel will wink at the player. Pressing starts the game but a new "Cheats" option will be added to the "Extras" menu.
Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night/Rondo of Blood[]
- Effect: Loads Akumajyo Dracula Peke
On the main menu of the collection, inputting the code (with Options substituting for Start) will cause the screen to seemingly glitch out and warp similar to an old CRT monitor before loading the minigame Akumajyo Dracula Peke. This minigame was loaded if the original Rondo of Blood was played on a PC Engine console with the incorrect system card inserted.
At the end of the small stage that plays, the message displayed alludes to the code's most famous usage by stating "Castlevania Requiem does not support extra lives codes. Press Options to quit, cheater."
External links[]
- Konami Code at the Konami Wiki