Most Memorable Secrets... Ever!!

[Adam Stone]

This thread was inspired by:
What happened in secrets in games?


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When first discovering the beauty of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time I remember discovering a great white shark trapped behind steel bars within the water tank in Lake Hylia Laboratory. You need the iron boots and Zora suit to see it, and it has absolutely no function whatsoever….

But!

I spent hours trying to discover what its purpose was. Additionally, there are three gashes in the tree on a nearby island floating above the Water Temple (the location where you shoot the sun to reveal the fire-arrows). They look like claw marks caused by something of a massive proportions. So what caused them, what were they hiding, what did they mean?

Of course there was no purpose, no meaning, nothing at all constructive about them rather then merely acting as additional details or mere additions to inflict interest and intrigue… but their sheer sense of bewilderment offered countless hours of tantalizing play for me.

Another example are the marvelous Fable titles (my word, I remember all the hype and conspiracy surrounding the rumours of the mysterious Sandgoose, Singing Sword, Gargoyles, the elusive Bard, amongst many other things) but what other titles are there and how?

Or, rather, what are your most memorable hidden secrets or moments of mystery, wonder and aimless fascination?

[J0e Musashi]

Sheng Long has to be the greatest of all times.

[dvdx2]

Sheng Long has to be the greatest of all times.

is that the secret char from soul edge?

[Number45]

is that the secret char from soul edge?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheng_Long

(Apologies if you're joking. )

[nakamura]

The best secret for me is the upside down Castle in Symphony of the Night. I was gutted it was over and then it wasn't!! Plus more bosses, more story and 100 more game!

[hudson]

I always think of flying under the goal of Cheese Bridge to get to Soda Lake in Super Mario World when I think of secrets. A time where such secrets were passed around the school yard after someone read it in a mag somewhere

[J0e Musashi]

the school yard

I ****ing love Northerners (although I'd never want to be one).

[hudson]

I ****ing love Northerners (although I'd never want to be one).

We're better gamers. They said in an old CVG that we are and that southerners just hoard games and never play them. Some even snob a game for not being Japanese

Back on topic...

Super Mario Bros again with his walk over the top of Pipeworld level to get to the warp pipes. Love that.

[nakamura]

I always think of flying under the goal of Cheese Bridge to get to Soda Lake in Super Mario World when I think of secrets. A time where such secrets were passed around the school yard after someone read it in a mag somewhere

That was my second choice.

[Sam The Man]

Tomb Raider had secrets on every level and told you at the end of the levels how many you had found and how many secerets there were in total. For me the best was the timed door at the bottom of the Folley on the St Francis Folley level.

Another good one was the chamber on Tomb Of Tihocan where you must walk on every patterned floor tile to open up a hidden door which reveals a seceret room full of items. If you pull a switch earlier in the level the room gets flooded and you cant get the secret.

And a leap of faith onto an invisible platform to get the UZI's on Sanctury Of The Scion was the 3rd that stands out.

Im not sure if finding heart containers in the zelda games count as secrets but if they do then A Link To The Past & Ocarina Of Time had some great ones.

And finding Lucrecia's cave on Final Fantasy VII was a great hidden area that could be classed as a good secret

[kryss]

I always think of flying under the goal of Cheese Bridge to get to Soda Lake in Super Mario World when I think of secrets. A time where such secrets were passed around the school yard after someone read it in a mag somewhere

Took me a while to manage that one but oh-so satisfying when I did.

Best secret? In Duck Tales on the GB when you could get infinite health - something I discovered for myself. There was a point in the amazon (?) where you could get hit and then fall down a hole to the lower section. By losing your life there you could magically have zero health when you landed. Thus you couldn't be killed as you had zero health already!

[sj33]

The best secrets were the ones that were actually humanly possible to find. Back in the days before we all had the internet, we had to rely on outselves to find them, with no knowing that they were actually there.

Super Mario World is an excellent example. I remember accidently flying under the finish with the cape and finding extra levels - it felt really rewarding. And when I unlocked the Mondo star world, it felt like I'd unlocked a secret treasure trove of extra levels, unaware that millions of others had found it before me.

This is far more rewarding than any secret that requires reading GameFAQs.

[Ragnar004]

While not so much a secret, I still remember how cool it was on Royal Raceway on Mario Kart 64 where you could drive into Peach's castle and it looked exactly the same as it did on Super Mario 64. That was the awesomest thing about that game.

Another one is on Pokemon Diamond and Pearl when you go into Old cheatau and there is an old man who turns, looks at you, then floats out of the room. I spent ages trying to find him again and ended up in another room where a little kid does the same thing. Has nothing to do with anything but was still cool.

Secret party members on RPG's are always fun, especially on Fire Emblem Path of Radiance where you had to go through an extremely lengthy process on one level to get one of the members.

[Adam Stone]

While not so much a secret, I still remember how cool it was on Royal Raceway on Mario Kart 64 where you could drive into Peach's castle and it looked exactly the same as it did on Super Mario 64. That was the awesomest thing about that game.

Good call mate, I remember feeling a strangely warm buzz when i noticed that too. Also I remember spending ages trying to work out a way to get to that blasted giant penguin that wandered around on the small, floating island in the middle of the snow level. It wasn't really a secret as such, but rather an obsessive fascination.

I also repeat what's been said about Super Mario World, that is potentially one of the best 'lil secrets I think. Nintendo really are great for their secrets, easter eggs and their little details that don't actually really do anything but rather please sad people like me

[Geoff D]

Street Fighter 2 on the Snes - Down, R, Up, L, Y, B at the Capcom logo screen netted you the ability to use the same characters in Vs mode; no more arguing about someone picking the 'best' characters