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[J. R. Hill]

What are the extra flourishes on games that you like?

You know, the hidden areas you're not supposed to be able to access, the toilet that makes a flushing noise if you use it, the NPC that just says something weird that has nothing to do with the game.

One of my favorites is the dance mode in Toe Jam & Earl, which is at best tangentially related to the game (a Genesis roguelike based on aliens and funk music), and has no point to it except to mess around.  It can't even be classified as a minigame, it was just put in for fun's sake.

[Valter]

Toe Jam and Earl also had "floor zero", which was an amusing secret for someone willing to get some items and head back to the first level.

Halo has some really fun secrets for people who do stupid things, usually with warthogs. Many of the "secret areas" in that game were probably never intended to be accessible, but players found a way to reach even the most hidden or out-of-the-way locations.

[J. R. Hill]

World of the hula girls!

[s0]

The cow level in Diablo 2.

I also like hidden minigames, like the ones in Timesplitters 2 or System Shock 2.

[Chromanoid]

as i said in the weather thread the name whispering in black & white is great.
i found the mp3 on mediafire so you can hear the greatness of this feature (names are from the german version): http://www.mediafire.com/?jjgnnuj0j2z

i think the game got the name from registry, because i usually use a nickname in games. the first time i heard the game whispering my name was very creepy. i played very very early in the morning ^^ with a friend in multiplayer lan. suddenly the game whispered my name and i was shocked. at first i couldn't believe it - i investigated the feature. i found out that you can play the *.sad files from b&w as mp3s and finally found the names in the file Audio/Dialogue/Guidance.sad.

[Dook]

The Dopefish is a classic:
http://www.dopefish.com/


Also childishly clicking on this mans butt:

[Seth]

stuff like hitting chickens in zelda until they attack you, any time you get to a place that feels like you shouldn't been able to (mr. gimmick for the NES had some good examples of that, watch the youtube playthrough) I like the consistency of never being able to enter a bathroom in the Earthbound games (and it got better at the end of Mother 3).  Oh, and speaking of Mother 3, Negative Man.

[DeadPixel]

Random cameos are a lot of fun.  Especially if its cross-genre, something really unexpected.  For example:





I thought that was awesome.

[J. R. Hill]

Negative Man.

He's my favorite.

[Melly]

The 'areas you're not supposed to go to' are also some of my favorites. They give you a feeling that you're beating the system, that you're smarter than the game developers, and you can beat them in their own game.

It also plays with the feeling of exploration, of finding new places, and some cases of feeling you're the first person that has set foot there in a long time, if not ever.

[J. R. Hill]

Ever try to climb the outside of the tower on Shadow of Colossus?  I think my best try I got about 2/3 of the way there.

Edit: Also, grabbing onto the hawks and flying around for no reason.

[Chromanoid]

The 'areas you're not supposed to go to' are also some of my favorites. They give you a feeling that you're beating the system, that you're smarter than the game developers, and you can beat them in their own game.

i like this only in mmos like wow, but there i spend several hours to find new unseen areas ^^

[alspal]

The cow level in Diablo 2.

Indeed, that was always fun; especially when your character was able to kill them all before everyone else.

[moi]

The hidden Nali dungeon in DM-Peak

[TheDustin]

I second the mentions of Mr. Gimmick, Zelda, hidden mini-games, and that one cow level (that doesn't exist). They make the game more engrossing and memorable, and show thoughtfulness on the designer's part. These hidden moments also make the game more interactive, which always is a good thing.

[SirNiko]

I liked the hidden memory vaults in Psychonauts.

One level is the mind of your upbeat, energetic levitation professor. Her world is like a big disco, with funky lights and music. However, in one area there is a dark tunnel you spot if you're observant. Inside you discover a chest and a slidemaster reel with some interesting pictures. If you hop into the chest, you discover an eerie chamber with some bizarre, tormented looking creatures. The slidemaster, when viewed, shows scenes of the professor with a group of happy children, only to return from the grocery store and discover a fire, presumably killing them all. This is the only place in the game where you learn about this aspect of her past, and you could complete the game without ever finding it.

Final Fantasy 9 had a similar bit regarding Zidane and the red-haired hitman. If you watched a certain series of scenes in one town, you could unlock a cutscene revealing how the hitman became a criminal, and how it was the fault of Zidane (who apparently doesn't even know it was his fault). It's a little tidbit that you could easily go through the game many times without ever knowing.

I like those kinds of secrets in story-based games.

-SirNiko