Fallout New Vegas (2010): Indiana Jones’ skeleton
One of our favourite Easter eggs in recent years came in Fallout: New Vegas, where, with the Wild Wasteland trait enabled, players could encounter a fridge containing a skeleton and, unmistakably, the fedora of Indiana Jones! In a game littered with popular culture references, this is undoubtedly our pick of the bunch.
Poking fun at Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in which Harrison Ford’s influential character takes refuge inside a lead-lined refrigerator to protect himself from an atomic explosion, Obsidian parodied many other films in the game including Forrest Gump, Anchorman and RoboCop.
LA Noire (2011): John Marston’s hat
Although crime-drama LA Noire may have divided critics, players were treated to a lot of trademark Rockstar moments, including the addition of numerous neat little Easter eggs. In a particular highlight, a cowboy hat which strongly resembles the one worn by John Marston in Red Dead Redemption can be found in a rubbish bin.
Grand Theft Auto III (2001): The (almost) inaccessible sign
If you read part one of our Easter egg hunt, chances are you’re likely beginning to think we have somewhat of a pro-Rockstar bias. But with secrets this good, they’re hard to leave out! The seminal sandbox game, Grand Theft Auto III, features one particularly hard-to-reach area where adventurous gamers were rewarded with the sign pictured above.
Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed (2012): Narcissistic announcer
Ah, the good old audio/commentary options. Likely one of the least accessed screens in video games, Sega added a little fun to an otherwise banal options screen in its fantastic karter, All Star Racing Transformed, with the inclusion of a particularly vain announcer who simply loves the sound of his own voice.
Driv3r (2004): Timmy Vermicelli
In an Easter egg which just failed to make our list, GTA III saw the inclusion of a character based on John Tanner, protagonist of the rival Driver series. Referred to as being “useless out of his car” and given a female pedestrian’s running animation, Rockstar took aim at the lack of on-foot abilities afforded to players in Driver 2. However, Reflections hit back hard in Driv3r with the inclusion of a pedestrian character heavily based on Vice City’s Tommy Vercetti, complete with Hawaiian shirt and water wings; poking fun of the inability to swim in the GTA series.
The joke was ultimately on Atari in the end though, as Driv3r bombed and was universally panned by critics, while Grand Theft Auto continues to be one of the most popular series today.
Metroid Fusion (2002): Secret message
By performing an intricate sequence of Spinesharks in Metroid Fusion for the Gameboy Advance to reach a navigation room earlier than intended, players were treated to a surreal secret message which congratulated them on their ingenuity.
Resident Evil 2 (1998): Rebecca Chambers photo
By searching Wesker’s desk 50 times in succession in Resident Evil 2, players were “treated” to a secret roll of film, which when developed was uncovered as a photograph of Rebecca Chambers from RE1 in a basketball outfit. Although appearing to be fairly scant reward in itself, this encounter foreshadowed events unearthed in Resident Evil Zero.
Disney’s Aladdin (1993): Mickey ears
Disney are well-known for hiding references to their most popular works in a lot of their media, and the Aladdin tie-in for the Sega Megadrive was no different. Casually hanging up next to a pair of shorts and a rug on a washing line in the desert are Mickey Mouse’s ears which, when “worn” by Aladdin, grant the player an extra life.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (2000): Spider-Man
In one of the greatest and whackiest crossovers in gaming history, players were rewarded with a fully playable Spider-Man by by completing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 100% with a created skater.
The New Tetris (1999): Hidden rant
Although messages hidden in game ROMs have been around almost as long as ROMs themselves, the late David Pridie — one of the main programmers on the New Tetris for the N64 — undoubtedly takes the title for most epic secret message.
Well, less of a message and more of an expletive-laden diatribe against his co-workers and their apparent incompetence, Pridie apparently thought his closing statement (he would soon jump ship from H2O to 3DO) would take years for hackers to uncover. However, within three days of release, the full text would be published online, the highlights of which can be summed up as follows:
“Well boys and girls, I just thought I would immortalize some thoughts I have at
the moment into a rom which will be burned forever…
This game sucks.”
Enjoy this feature? Check out part one of our Easter egg hunt.