Welcome to the 32 Dangerous Cheat Codes, a brand new series that will run daily between November 24 and December 25. Join us as we discuss the hazardous ramifications of some of your favorite cheat codes. Today we're proving the point that everything is better with a hidden post-credits sequence. This includes Ground Zero: Texas, a horrible full-motion video game released on the Sega CD. Find out why this scene is worth checking out what you watch today's episode of the 32 Dangerous Cheat Codes.


This is Oldboy, the 2013 Spike Lee joint starring Josh Brolin. It's okay, but I would rather be watching the 2003 original from South Korea. This is a fairly common practice in Hollywood -- take a great foreign film and Americanize it within an inch of its life. Sometimes the results are incredible, like The Departed and Insomnia, but far too often I would rather watch the original. That was certainly the case with Death at a Funeral, Diabolique and The Wicker Man.

The truth is, there really isn't much I can do about unnecessary remakes. As far as I'm concerned, Hollywood execs making dumb decisions is part of the job description. But even then, I still wish there was a way to magically turn a crummy American remake into the far superior original.

Perhaps that's why I like the idea of today's cheat code, which gives players the ability to revert an American game back to its Japanese state. The game in question is Brawl Brothers, the dopey sequel-of-sorts to the middling beat-em-up Rival Turf. If you keep pressing the B, A, X and Y buttons in that order at the Jaleco logo, you'll unlock the original Japanese version -- Rushing Beat Shura. This hidden mode changes the character names and alters a few of the stages to be less linear. It also tweaks some of the difficulty, making it just different enough to be noticeable.

And don't think this type of code was limited to old school brawlers, because the Genesis port of Ghouls 'N Ghosts also offers an unlockable Japanese mode. All you need to do is go into the options and choose "26" for the music and "56" for the sound effects. After that, hold diagonal down/left on the D-pad, plus A, B, C and Start. You'll see a new logo and play a slightly different version of this classic action game.

My complaint here is that not enough games employed this type of code. Forget Brawl Brothers and Ghouls 'N Ghosts, I wish there was a button combination that turned Super Mario Bros. 2 back into Doki Doki Panic. Or maybe put the Fist of the North Star stuff back in Last Battle. Or let Americans try out Probotector instead of Contra. Or add the gore back into Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Actually, you know what; I've got a lot of these, so maybe you should pull up a chair.