Retro
Metal Gear Solid 2 hid a Konami Code right in front of our eyes with Snake and Otacon
Snake and Otacon’s super secret best buddy handshake from MGS2 hits hard on the emotional level, but it’s also a secret reference that goes easily unnoticed
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was an outstanding video game. It is considered not only one of the most divisive video games of the long history of Hideo Kojima’s career, but also one of the most controversial of all time due to its risky and postmodern themes. Metal Gear Solid 2 was full of secrets, and in the one at hand, during a crucial moment in the story Snake and Otacon perform a peculiar secret handshake which at times may seem ridiculous but has a hidden meaning... it is a visual representation of nothing more and nothing less than the Konami code.
Snake and Otacon’s secret handshake in Metal Gear Solid 2 was a visual representation of the Konami code
In the middle of the Big Shell chapter in Metal Gear Solid 2, Otacon suffers a devastating loss on a personal level. To cheer him up, Snake starts a secret handshake that both have developed, and that demonstrates the deep friendship that these two characters have come to develop at this point in the saga. Beyond a symbol of camaraderie and brotherhood between both, this handshake is a visual representation of the Konami code.
Although it may be difficult to perceive it due to the several camera angle changes during this scene, both characters make movements with their left hands in this order: up, down, left and right. And as it’s two people doing it at the same time, the combined movements are up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, which is the beginning of the Konami code sequence.
The other uses of the Konami code in Metal Gear Solid 2
The Konami code has another appearance in the Substance version of the game, and a very useful one if we like the VR Missions mode. If we write as our username UUDDLRLRBA. This name refers precisely to the sequence of the Konami code, and it’s a quick way to unlock access to all this additional content.
This trick is also in later versions of the game, like the one included in Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection and the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1.
And last but not least, if in the original version of the game we enter the sequence up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, X, circle on the game completed code screen, we will hear Snake scolding us in what is the umpteenth fourth wall break of the game.
What is the Konami code? Where did it come from?
The Konami code is a trick that appears in many video games developed by this Japanese company. The usual button sequence is up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, and sometimes the SELECT and START buttons are used to end this string of commands. Depending on the platform on which the game in question is available, B and A can also be replaced by the corresponding buttons.
This sequence was first introduced in Gradius (1986) and was created by the sadly deceased Kazuhisa Hashimoto. When developing the NES port from arcades in 1985, Hashimoto realized that the game was too complicated, so he introduced this button sequence into the game code to be able to obtain a complete set of power-up items to make it easier and facilitate testing tasks. This sequence should have been removed from the game before they were manufactured and marketed, but they only realized this when it was too late, and removing this sequence would create additional problems.
Although the use of Konami code first appeared in Gradius, It became popular with the NES port of Contra released in 1988. On this occasion, this trick gave us 30 lives, considered something very necessary to be able to complete the game with relative ease due to its high difficulty.
