Since the dawn of video games, hidden lands, and secret stages have been gleefully uncovered by gaming’s greatest explorers, from hidden items tounlockable charactersto secret rooms. However, the ladder is one of the most enticing among the three.
The very idea of discovering a new place in one of our favorite games is on its own enough to fill us with delight, and with so many secret areas having been found over the years, it’s only natural that some have stood out as being more memorable than others. Whether they’re especially unique, well-known, or famously hard to reach, these are just some of the most iconic hidden stages in gaming history.
Not to be confused with Mario Kart 64’s Moo Moo Farm, Diablo 2’s infamous cow level has been a delightful conversation starter for years thanks to the name alone, but it’s the anthropomorphic cow army and hidden Cow King boss that has helped the cow level remain a talking point with modern gamers.
Funnily enough, Diablo 2’s Moo Moo Farm began as an in-joke among fans about a hoax regarding the first Diablo title. Eventually, that in-joke garnered enough attention within the community that the dev team decided to add the cow level to Diablo’s sequel in the year 2000.
The minus world inSuper Mario Broswas more of an accidental secret than one the developers intentionally hid away from us, but the area eventually became so well known that it made its way into one of the most successful indie games ever made, but intentionally, this time.
Occasionally, Bandage Girl will begin twitching around, as though she’s encountereda game-breaking bug. Complete the stage when this happens, and you’ll be transported to some of the hardest stages in the game, made harder by the fact that you’ll only have three chances to succeed before being booted out of the area.
Developed by only one person, music and all, Studio Pixel’s Cave Story features a secret ending so iconic that it may as well be the true ending, and is even considered to be the true ending by the majority of the fanbase.
Triggered by a series of very specific movementsand choices throughout the game, Cave Story’s secret labyrinth, often referred to simply as “Hell” by fans thanks to its iconic theme music, is among the hardest challenges in any platformeror metroidvaniaout there. With how infamous the area and its final boss have become today, it’s hard to believe the fiery final cave was originally considered a secret area.
Super Mario World is one of the famous red plumber’s greatest outings, but of the players who set foot into dinosaur land back in the day, almost all of them eventually ended up above the clouds, in the mysterious secret area known as the Special Zone.
With such delightfully named challenge stages as “Awesome”, “Mondo”, “Outrageous”, “Tubular”, and “Way Cool”, there’s no way we could narrow the Special Zone’s stages down to just one iconic level. Instead, we acknowledge the Special Zone itself as one of gaming’s most delightful hidden lands.
Only accessible for players who’ve found the Peculiar Doll item, the Painted World of Ariamis is a hauntingly beautiful hidden world, trapped within a massive painting on the floor of the Anor Londo chapel in FromSoft’s critically acclaimed masterpiece: Dark Souls.
Once you’ve entered the world of the painting, there’s only one way out. Fighting your way throughenemies that are more than capable of ending youif you aren’t careful and passing by one of the only optional bosses in the entire game, Crossbreed Prescilla, the Painted World Of Ariamis is a secret level of the cruelest and cunning, and it’s the kind of secret that only a developer like FromSoft could have created.
With games, books, toys, and a Hollywood film, Five Nights At Freddy’sis a horror iconthat arguably needs no introduction, but it’s the plethora of secret areas, hidden minigames, and deep interconnected lore between entries that have kept the franchise relevant with horror fans the world over.
Originally triggered at random upon player death, these Atari-style secret stages offer cryptic hints at what happened in the past…or is it the future? Either way, it’s hard to imagine an FNAF game without these iconic secret zones and their old-school presentation.
Everyone who played Super Mario 64 knows that Peach’s Castle holds a plethora of secrets and hidden areas, but the most well-known by far is the Princess’s secret slide, and the music which accompanies you on your way down the shute.
No matter how many times we explore the castle, and no matter how many new3D adventuresMario embarks on, the original 3D Mario game and its hidden slide will remain in our hearts, reminding us that not all secrets need to be grim, challenging, or even especially well hidden. They just need to make us feel like we’ve found something special, and the secret slide is a prime example of doing exactly that.
