Hey, I didn’t know I could do that!

[thePlinko]

Think of a game that you’ve put a ton of hours into, a game you maybe even grew up with, one that you think you know like the back of your hand.

Has there ever been a trick, secret, or feature that was so well hidden that it caught you completely off guard? One that was potentially so useful that you don’t think you could ever not utilize it going forward?

For instance, just recently I found out that the torchwood could remove fog in Plants vs Zombies. That’s a game changer for survival levels.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

probably not a hidden feature but it wasn't until the past couple years that I learned how to boost drift in Mario Kart Double Dash, I just somehow never did all these years

 

[Reiquel]

Going up the stairs with your butt in Mario 64.

 

[Vanessa28]

Well, I found out you could easily kill Kalle Demos in WW by using forest water....years after I beated the game for god knows how many times

 

[Dizzi]

Well, I found out you could easily kill Kalle Demos in WW by using forest water....years after I beated the game for god knows how many times

wouldnt you have to think about timing??

 

[Malon]

Apparently, in Link's awakening, if you throw magic dust on the green blobs, they turn sentient.

 

[Daku Rinku]

Halo Combat Evolved:

In the level Assault On the Control Room when you get to the Tank, you can look up to see at plateform where a Banshee comes and attacks later, if you aim two rockets from the Rocket Launcher just right, they will blow it off the plateform and you can fly a Banshee and skip most of the level. Took me a year or so to find this trick.

In 343 Guilty Spark if you throw grenades before you are thrown out by the Pelican drop ship, you will stay seated, and be taken up to a black space above the tree line and you can walk over to the enterance into the facility, skipping the battles in the jungle, you’ll see floating guns shooting at Grunts because Bungie did not animate The Flood cuz they are revealed later. I learned about this one online.

Sonic Adventure 2 -Battle:

In Final Rush (Not Shadow’s Final Chase) grinding on those golden rails in space, you can at two points jump of them and fall down to the lower parts of the level and land on the rails, skipping portions of the level. I played the level for a while when I decided to jump and see if I could do it,

 

[thePlinko]

Well, I found out you could easily kill Kalle Demos in WW by using forest water....years after I beated the game for god knows how many times

That ones a cool secret. The time limit forces you to learn how to do the forbidden forest as efficiently as possible if you want to be rewarded with an easy way to kill the boss. It’s kinda similar to why I love the Temple of the Ocean King so much.

 

[Vanessa28]

That ones a cool secret. The time limit forces you to learn how to do the forbidden forest as efficiently as possible if you want to be rewarded with an easy way to kill the boss. It’s kinda similar to why I love the Temple of the Ocean King so much.

Hey!! I thought I was the only one loving TotOK! I really liked that one

 

[MW7]

I beat Ocarina of Time probably 30 times before I learned the following things.

Spoiler

1. The lit torch in Darunia's room can be used to light torches all the way to the lost woods warp and you can open it by lighting a bomb flower with a lit deku stick. This allows you to save time going to Saria and back.
2. Ice arrows can freeze the blade traps like the ones before the boss room in the Water Temple. They also have a special use against the Shadow Temple boss.
3. There's an optional key or two in the Water Temple without glitches. The central column has a locked door at the bottom and a barred door on the middle floor that can be opened with an arrow through a torch or Din's Fire. There's no need to ever open that bottom door. You can reach the middle floor when the water level is at the bottom by precise hookshotting to the middle or using Farore's Wind or the Serenade of Water to go to the top floor and jump down to the middle floor. There's arguably another optional key as you can jumpslash up to the water lowering station from the top of the central column, but it looks a little glitchy.
4. You can technically skip the slingshot entirely without glitches. There's a precise jump up to the raised platform in the basement of the Deku Tree that lets you just grab up to the platform, skipping most of the basement. You can stun the boss of the Deku Tree with deku nuts. In Dondongo's Cavern you can actually jump across the corners of platforms that are on fire if you are precise, and the switch in the first room of Jabu Jabu can be hit with a thrown bomb.
5. You can open chests underwater if you hookshot them.
6. You can make a precise jump in the Forest Temple in the room with the block pushing puzzles to enter what is supposed to be the exit to the second floor of the western courtyard which lets you do the dungeon in different order.
7. The lens of truth and bottom of the well are entirely optional if you know where everything is.
8. The Fire Temple can be completed as your first, second, third, or fourth temple.
9. You can skip the Goron's Tunic and Bolero of Fire without glitches by jumping down to a small platform in the lava and using the longshot and Scarecrow's Song to reach the Fire Temple.

In Goldeneye 007

Spoiler

I was stuck on Aztec for years because of the infinite guards that spawn after you defeat the miniboss. You can just have that person follow you all the way back to the locked door you need to open with the key you receive before defeating him so that you can safely open the door and run back to finish the level before any of the infinitely spawning guards reach you.

In Donkey Kong Country 2

Spoiler

the levels add an exclamation point once you solved all the hidden bonus areas in that level. The same thing occurs to the name of the worlds once you have solved all the bonus areas in each level of that world. The DK coin symbol shown in the names after collecting them is much more obvious, but I didn't notice the exclamation point until years later.

In Majora's Mask

Spoiler

you can hookshot a tree in the N64 version to complete Ikana before Great Bay. I didn't know until this year that you can beat the game without glitches without the bomb bag when I realized a path through the bottom of the well without bombs (you do need the blast mask instead for other things). Snowhead plays completely differently if you come back to finish it with the hookshot. That and Woodfall clearly have a lot of design choices that were made to make things easier for players who start the dungeon and don't complete it before having to reset time.

In Wind Waker

Spoiler

you can collect pieces of the Triforce before the official start of the quest which changes the dialogue a bit at the start of the Triforce quest as the game acknowledges that you already know about the pieces. It actually is more fun for me as it breaks up the quest throughout the game. The various charts/pieces become obtainable as you obtain items. I accidentally realized that multiple charts/pieces can be reached extra early by enemy boats attempting to hit you with cannons and hitting other things.

In A Link to the Past

Spoiler

the numbered dungeons can be done in a ton of different orders and several of them aren't obvious. You can beat the Ice Palace and Misery Mire (5 and 6) without the hookshot as you can pegasus boots into a block and recoil over a gap at the start of Misery Mire and entirely bypass the one room in the Ice Palace that requires the hookshoft (if you are stuck the mirror warps you to the start of the dungeon). You can beat the Ice Palace with the Bombos Medallion instead of the Fire Rod, and it's much easier than it might seem. Misery Mire's layout has so many alternate routes that you can finish the dungeon with four keys leftover IIRC.

In Phantom Hourglass

Spoiler

there's a point at which you can choose whether or not to go further into the Temple of the Ocean King. If you do, you can finish the final three dungeons in any order. The game even hints at being able to go further which I missed the first few times.

In Twilight Princes

Spoiler

I beat the game several times before learning about the hidden graveyard in Hyrule Castle.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

I knew this but forget it from time to time. In gen 3 pokemon double battles, you can toggle your hp bar to instead show the number of hp you have left by pressing start

 

[Vanessa28]

I beat Ocarina of Time probably 30 times before I learned the following things.

Spoiler

1. The lit torch in Darunia's room can be used to light torches all the way to the lost woods warp and you can open it by lighting a bomb flower with a lit deku stick. This allows you to save time going to Saria and back.
2. Ice arrows can freeze the blade traps like the ones before the boss room in the Water Temple. They also have a special use against the Shadow Temple boss.
3. There's an optional key or two in the Water Temple without glitches. The central column has a locked door at the bottom and a barred door on the middle floor that can be opened with an arrow through a torch or Din's Fire. There's no need to ever open that bottom door. You can reach the middle floor when the water level is at the bottom by precise hookshotting to the middle or using Farore's Wind or the Serenade of Water to go to the top floor and jump down to the middle floor. There's arguably another optional key as you can jumpslash up to the water lowering station from the top of the central column, but it looks a little glitchy.
4. You can technically skip the slingshot entirely without glitches. There's a precise jump up to the raised platform in the basement of the Deku Tree that lets you just grab up to the platform, skipping most of the basement. You can stun the boss of the Deku Tree with deku nuts. In Dondongo's Cavern you can actually jump across the corners of platforms that are on fire if you are precise, and the switch in the first room of Jabu Jabu can be hit with a thrown bomb.
5. You can open chests underwater if you hookshot them.
6. You can make a precise jump in the Forest Temple in the room with the block pushing puzzles to enter what is supposed to be the exit to the second floor of the western courtyard which lets you do the dungeon in different order.
7. The lens of truth and bottom of the well are entirely optional if you know where everything is.
8. The Fire Temple can be completed as your first, second, third, or fourth temple.
9. You can skip the Goron's Tunic and Bolero of Fire without glitches by jumping down to a small platform in the lava and using the longshot and Scarecrow's Song to reach the Fire Temple.

In Goldeneye 007

Spoiler

I was stuck on Aztec for years because of the infinite guards that spawn after you defeat the miniboss. You can just have that person follow you all the way back to the locked door you need to open with the key you receive before defeating him so that you can safely open the door and run back to finish the level before any of the infinitely spawning guards reach you.

In Donkey Kong Country 2

Spoiler

the levels add an exclamation point once you solved all the hidden bonus areas in that level. The same thing occurs to the name of the worlds once you have solved all the bonus areas in each level of that world. The DK coin symbol shown in the names after collecting them is much more obvious, but I didn't notice the exclamation point until years later.

In Majora's Mask

Spoiler

you can hookshot a tree in the N64 version to complete Ikana before Great Bay. I didn't know until this year that you can beat the game without glitches without the bomb bag when I realized a path through the bottom of the well without bombs (you do need the blast mask instead for other things). Snowhead plays completely differently if you come back to finish it with the hookshot. That and Woodfall clearly have a lot of design choices that were made to make things easier for players who start the dungeon and don't complete it before having to reset time.

In Wind Waker

Spoiler

you can collect pieces of the Triforce before the official start of the quest which changes the dialogue a bit at the start of the Triforce quest as the game acknowledges that you already know about the pieces. It actually is more fun for me as it breaks up the quest throughout the game. The various charts/pieces become obtainable as you obtain items. I accidentally realized that multiple charts/pieces can be reached extra early by enemy boats attempting to hit you with cannons and hitting other things.

In A Link to the Past

Spoiler

the numbered dungeons can be done in a ton of different orders and several of them aren't obvious. You can beat the Ice Palace and Misery Mire (5 and 6) without the hookshot as you can pegasus boots into a block and recoil over a gap at the start of Misery Mire and entirely bypass the one room in the Ice Palace that requires the hookshoft (if you are stuck the mirror warps you to the start of the dungeon). You can beat the Ice Palace with the Bombos Medallion instead of the Fire Rod, and it's much easier than it might seem. Misery Mire's layout has so many alternate routes that you can finish the dungeon with four keys leftover IIRC.

In Phantom Hourglass

Spoiler

there's a point at which you can choose whether or not to go further into the Temple of the Ocean King. If you do, you can finish the final three dungeons in any order. The game even hints at being able to go further which I missed the first few times.

In Twilight Princes

Spoiler

I beat the game several times before learning about the hidden graveyard in Hyrule Castle.

I really need to check some of these out the next time