Let’s face it. You’re here because you never get sick of playing the same retro NES titles over and over again. And it’s even more fun when you discover new things about these familiar favorites, even after all these years.

That being the case, brace yourself. What follows is the ultimate, explorative, mind-blowing excursion into the hidden realms of your favorite NES titles (and one of your least favorites).

How many times have you played Super Mario Bros. 3? Answer: Many.

And how many times have you done so as a purple-suited Racoon Mario who swims through the air? Answer: Probably 0. But for those of you who own an NES Game Genie, that’s about to change.

Without further ado, we give you the best nintendo games for using game genie codes. Experience these 10 familiar classics in wild new ways with these original nes game genie cheats. (Note: we at The Old School Game Vault have not personally tested these codes.)

10. Castlevania

First on our list is the original Castlevania game. Unlike the labyrinthian RPG/platformer hybrids that appear later in the series, the first game earned success as a simple, straightforward platformer.

To start with, the Game Genie offers the typical assortment of level selection, invincibility, and “infinite” codes (infinite extra lives, infinite hearts, infinite clock, etc.) available in any game. The best of these is KZSSEZKA + KXESUZKA, allowing players to use sub-weapons without consuming hearts. But the real fun comes from playing around with glitch codes.

TOOPOT prevents Simon from falling, causing him to go higher and higher each time he jumps. You die when you go too high, and you can’t even enter level 1. But it’s fun nonetheless.

ZOZOUN generates Autopilot Simon in Glitch World. When the game starts, Simon moves forward on his own while the screen automatically and continually scrolls to the right.

The level graphics are totally jumbled the whole time and nothing makes sense. Simon is constantly entering new glitched levels through floating doorways in the sky. It’s completely bizarre but strangely calming to watch.

In addition, there are loads of codes that do strange things to the game’s soundtrack. Remixed music:

• ILVEIN
• AOZAGI
• PLPAPV
• PLAAGT
• POPEPS
• SEPELT
• OOOETY

Weird music:

• AAAATT
• KAAATT
• STLEIY
• TYSONS
• SOTAYL
• ETYETY
• XLUETY
• GEEETY
• ISAETY
• PELELS

Horrible music:

• NNGAZO
• TALETY
• PALELS
• PEPELS
• ZEZELS
• SESELS

Thank you BigBossman and severedmajestic for these codes.

9. Final Fantasy

The original Final Fantasy was a worldwide success, spawning 15+ official sequels and hundreds of spin-offs (which include animated films and series as well as games). Not to mention, it put Square on the map as the top RPG development team in the world. That said, certain games have improved over time.

For instance, Final Fantasy suffers the same flaw as all early RPGs. Namely, it requires way too many hours of tedious grinding to level up your characters.

Luckily, the Game Genie lets you bypass this drudgery with multitudinous hacks for faster leveling. EONPELEL, for example, causes all characters in your party to gain a level after almost every battle. There are also codes for better stat gains at level-up, maxed-out stats at level-up, and other subtle hacks for manipulating battle rewards.

And speaking of rewards, you can max out your party’s bank account after every battle with the code AAUPKVTA. Now that you can buy any item in the game, try APKLXGAV and XTNUSGAV. These let all characters equip any weapon or armor, regardless of character class.

Just for fun, use GPOKPZPZ to gain immediate access to the airship at any point in the game, from any location. Or, use XVKKZGAV to walk over mountains, oceans, and any other terrain on the world map. Big thanks to Paulygon for discovering these codes.

8. Battletoads

Battletoads is an excellent game that was way ahead of its time—a super fun, two-player beat-em-up adventure with great animation and unique level design. It’s basically an SNES-quality game crammed into an NES cartridge.

Thanks to hindsight filtered through ultra-thick nostalgia glasses, that’s the way many of us remember it. What we try not to remember is that none of us have ever finished the game.

Normally, many gamers would say that cheat codes ruin the fun of video games because they make the games too easy. Invincibility codes, for instance, make it impossible to lose. What satisfaction is there in beating an unlosable game?

Contrarywise, losing an unbeatable game like Battletoads isn’t much fun, either. Luckily, in this case, you can use the Game Genie to level the playing field.

The code GXEILUSO lets you defeat enemies in fewer hits while AEUZITPA lets your toad punch faster. Technically, though, these enhancements are irrelevant as most deaths in this game are caused by obstacles, not enemies. Still, these codes will at least help you progress through the early levels more quickly.

What you really want to use is the unlimited lives code (GXXZZLVI) or the various Level Select codes. You see, the real problem is not that the game is too hard. It’s that it doesn’t give you enough tries.

You have 3 lives and 3 continues, 9 tries altogether. With these, anyone can get through the first level, most can get through the second level, and few can get through the third level. By the fourth level (out of 12, mind you) you only have a couple of tries left.

But with unlimited lives, players actually get a chance to enjoy the whole game. Alternatively, you can use Level Select codes to “continue” from the farthest point you’ve been able to reach. Ultimately, it’s a shame that most gamers will miss out on the full Battletoads experience because they don’t have access to these “cheats.”

7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Now, take everything we said about Battletoads and apply it to the first TMNT game, except for all the parts about how great the game is. Besides being as difficult as Battletoads, TMNT earned just as much nostalgia and stole just as many hours of our childhood.

However, it’s also 8 times as frustrating and no fun to play at any point, ever. TMNT is so unforgivingly difficult that actual, adult ninjas would have difficulty completing it, which is maximally ironic for a game based on a Saturday morning kids’ cartoon.

To start with, each turtle has only one life, giving the player only 4 chances to get to the end, with no continues. When a turtle’s health meter is depleted, they’re gone forever (well, until “Game Over,” anyway).

The worst part is the famously difficult dam level. About an hour into the game, your turtle is sent underwater to disarm 8 bombs.

Each bomb is located in a separate branch of a large maze through narrow passages lined with deadly seaweed that kills your turtle in one hit. Also, there are invisible water currents that you won’t notice until they push your turtle into the seaweed of death.

Furthermore, you have only 140 seconds to locate all 8 bombs and reach each one through deadly obstacles and diffuse it by tapping the B button 20 times and swim back through the obstacles you just avoided and repeat this 7 times for the remaining bombs. To top it all off, your turtle is maddeningly slow.

So, why is such a frustrating game even on our list? It’s because, with the Game Genie, there’s a shining chance that you can actually enjoy this nostalgic nightmare.

GameHacking.org provides several fan-submitted codes to remove specific challenges from the game. Most notably, YASZIYLO makes your turtle immune to the fatal seaweed in Level 4. By hacking some of the difficulty out of the game, you remove lengthy hours of extreme frustration from this TMNT experience.

6. Super Mario Bros. 2

If you’re anything like most retro gamers, you’re well-acquainted with the first 3 Super Mario Bros. games. In fact, you’ve probably played them so many times that you should be sick of them. But you’re not because they’re amazing classics that will always be fun to play.

These are the very reasons why Super Mario Bros. 2 is so fun to hack with the Game Genie. With one simple tweak, this beloved, familiar classic is like a whole new game. Plus, there are dozens of game-changing codes for you to try.

For instance, let’s hack one of our favorite features of the game: Peach’s float-jump. There are codes to give Peach a “supermoon jump” (XVVANSZK + XVNEXSZV), unlimited float power (SXNEXKVK), or mega-float with slow descent (PAXAOIAA).

Or, give all characters the ability to float-jump with any of these codes:

• ANNEEGEY
• AUKEVGLS
• SEKENGIE
• AIOEVIEY
• GLIALS

There are additional game genie codes that give every character an even longer float jump:

• VKKEVGLI
• KOKENGIA
• AIOEVIEY
• AYIALS
• SEKESKSX
• KLIALI

Add difficulty to the game by giving the enemies super speed (AXNAZSAA + EVNALSEY). Or, give your character the god-like power to freeze enemies by pressing UP (NNKESPAI). Lastly, the following codes let you enter Subspace (the shadowy mirror dimension you access with a potion) whenever you want by pressing SELECT:

• GGSATXSX
• KASAYXEU
• SZSEAZGA
• AXEZAIGA
• ASEZPIEY
• NUEZZILA
• SXEZLSGK
• IUEZGSYP
• IEEZISUP
• SEEZTIAX
• YEEZYSSN
• IEEXAIKL
• GKEXPSOX
• NVEXZIZA
• NOEXLISP
• SXEXGSYT
• NNEXIIAZ
• OKEXTSYO
• AXEXYSUP
• ESOZAISL
• LEOZPSLI
• AXOZZSPZ
• UOOZLIGE
• SXOZGIEY
• SXOZISYS
• XNOZTIAX
• LEOZYIXI
• GKOXAISO
• PSOXPISX
• XEOXZIAP
• SXOXLSPX
• NUOXGSNY
• GEOXIIEI
• ESOXTITA
• OVOXYSOX
• ENXZASEI
• VSXZPISO
• AZUXZSGZ
• SZUXLIGA
• SZUXGSAP

Thanks again to GameHacking.org for these codes.

5. Mega Man

One of the best aspects of the Mega Man series is playing around with all the cool weapons you acquire from beating bosses. Thus, a major drawback is how quickly those weapons run out of energy. It’s also obnoxiously tedious to farm enough powerups to refill your empty weapons.

Alternatively, you can use the code IESZXESN and you’ll never run out of weapon energy. Besides being fun, it also lowers the difficulty level of this often unfairly challenging game. On the other hand, hardcore Mega Man enthusiasts can increase the difficulty by cutting Mega Man’s maximum life energy in half (TAXOIOGO).

There are also a lot of glitch codes that change the game in bizarre ways. SZTZPY is a fun one. It turns off the soundtrack so you can make music with your bullets.

That is, each time Mega Man shoots his arm cannon, the normal sound effect is replaced with random sound effects or music cuts. Make different noises by pressing different directions on the D-pad while firing. Rock out, Rockman!

Those who are not prone to seizures from flashing lights/colors should try OIIIYV. This code switches the colors around so that most levels of the game look like Tron. Fire Man’s stage, on the other hand, looks like an exploding disco, swapping color pallets several times per second.

OGOOLSPA activates “Frog Mode,” so named because Mega Man can no longer move left or right without jumping. Lastly, you can reverse the control scheme/make it completely insane with TAOOGIEA.

This code not only reverses the D-pad’s left/right controls (you press left to go right and vice versa), but it also reverses the direction Mega Man faces/shoots. To illustrate, when you press left, Mega Man faces left while moonwalking to the right.

This means that the aiming mechanics are backward, too. To aim right, you have to walk left (by pressing right).

Confused yet? Wait until you try it for yourself.

To make matters even weirder, this moonwalking mode allows Mega Man to walk in the sky. So, while this mode makes it easier to clear pits, it makes everything else 5 times more difficult. Special thanks to gruz on YouTube for these awesome codes.

4. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Zelda II is an acquired taste, sort of the black sheep of the Zelda series. That’s not to say it’s bad, just unique.

The game was originally criticized for being “too different” from the first Zelda. It has more in common with traditional RPGs like Final Fantasy and sidescrolling platformers than it does with any other Zelda title. And yet, this bold departure from the classic Zelda formula is why the game has now earned a special place in the hearts of many fans.

So, what can Game Genie do for this cult classic? First, you can modify the difficulty level by increasing your defense (TAUTTUGA or AAUTTUGE), dealing more damage (STUTZNON), or jumping over enemies with a zero-gravity jump (AAUOLIAL). Thanks to GameHacking.org and Tony Hedstrom’s guide on GameFAQs for these codes.

You can also shut off random battles on the world map (EEPEAX). Or, cut your grinding time in half with various spells to help you level up more quickly. (Note: this game normally demands an unbelievable amount of time for leveling.)

If you’re stuck in the game and don’t know where to go, or you just want to have fun exploring, try AAOETYZA. With this code, Link can walk on water and over mountains like FFVII’s Golden Chocobo. Combine that with “no random battles” and you’re basically Link on vacation.

3. Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of those games that seemed to do absolutely everything right. No platformer before it was ever this jam-packed with explorable bonus content. There are secret areas, hidden treasures, optional levels, bonus minigames, sub-bosses, and loads of rare powerups to discover.

For Game Genie enthusiasts, all these powerups make for some fun game hacks. Here are some codes to keep your favorite powerups active for the entire game:

• XUKXGLIE       Start and stay as Super Mario
• UXKXGLIA       Start and stay as Fire Mario
• NXKXGLIE       Start and stay in Raccoon Suit
• OUKXGLIE       Start and stay in Frog Suit
• XNKXGLIE       Start and stay in Hammer Suit

Besides that, there’s the so-called “God-Mode” (KKKZSPIU) that lets you access the game’s hidden debug menu. On the title screen, press UP and DOWN to choose your starting level and press A to increase starting lives by 5. Once you start, you have two rows of P-Wings, plus one of every other item.

With the code AOSUZI, Mario produces and throws ice blocks whenever you press the B button. You can also remove and throw obstacles and background sprites as if they were ice blocks.

Take it from us: tearing the scenery to pieces is lots of fun. Thank you, Super Mayhem, for those last two codes.

Other cool hacks include the Skywalker code, SXEZSKOZ. This lets Mario float through the sky with infinite jumps.

OOKXGLIE lets you swim through the entire game as a purple Raccoon Mario. Be careful not to let purple Raccoon Mario touch actual water, though, or you’ll crash the game.

Lastly, AEKXGLIE gives Mario random powerups at random moments. It’s a very unpredictable way to make the game more exciting and challenging. Shout-out to gruz for those last two codes.

2. Super Mario Bros.

As we mentioned in our last article, familiar favorites like Super Mario Bros. are the best games to hack with the Game Genie. By tweaking the game mechanics, you’ll experience games you already love in tons of refreshing new ways.

In this title, for example, Mario’s super jump (APZLGK + TPZLTG + GPZUAG) and mega jump (APZLGG + APZLTG + GAZUAG) let you jump over pretty much anything, including the flagpole. The moon jump (YAZULG + YAZUIG + YAZUYG) lets you control the height of your jump while also changing how the jump works. When moon jumping, tap A for a super high jump or hold A for a low jump.

ESOSNIEY lets Mario walk through walls. Or, use PIATYP to let enemies walk through walls instead. ENUTKAEI will hilariously turn all enemies into Toad!

Additionally, you can find hundreds of glitch codes and alternate level design codes for SMB all over the internet. The infamous YEAAAA code continuously glitches random aspects of the graphics in random ways. These graphical changes happen constantly, over and over again until you stop playing.

OUTOPI changes the layout of the levels in random ways so you can explore endless variations of the Mushroom Kingdom. When using codes like this, you should combine them with AOAUIG. This gives Mario infinite mid-air jumps so he can pass over randomly generated areas that are otherwise unpassable.

Ultimately, the best reason to try SMB with Game Genie is the unbelievable number of working codes you can try. Given its age and popularity, it’s highly possible that SMB has more fan-made Game Genie codes than any other game.

1. Tetris

In contrast to what we just said about SMB, the world’s most beloved NES puzzle game, Tetris, has only one worthwhile Game Genie code. The thing is, though, this code is so mindblowingly amazing that it trumps every other Game Genie code ever created.

Behold the secret, long-lost, unfinished 2-player mode of NES Tetris, hidden in the game’s source code. Enter ENEALYNN (Alternate: VUKEILXX) to access the interactive 2-player game mode that, apparently, was almost included in the game.

Here’s how it works. Both players compete simultaneously. When any player clears 2 or more lines at once, it adds incomplete lines of “garbage” to the bottom of the other player’s playing field.

The number of garbage lines sent equals the number of cleared lines minus one. A Tetris, however, sends 4 garbage lines.

Also, there’s only one preview window to display the next tetromino. This tetromino goes to the player who gets to it first. Thus, a crafty player can “steal” the high-value “I” piece to prevent their opponent from getting a Tetris.

All-in-all, this is a unique and awesome version of multiplayer Tetris. Tragically, though, being an unfinished “demo” of sorts, it suffers a few minor issues that the developers never fixed.

Functionally, the programming seems almost complete. However, choosing a level only affects the speed for one player. This is a good way to give one player a handicap, though.

The main problems are graphical. Player fields have no visible outline. The right and left fields are only separated by invisible barriers.

Worst of all, the upcoming tetromino preview is displayed on top of Player 2’s playing field. This is a constant visual obstruction, impairing gameplay.

But do these issues ruin the glorious experience of 2-player NES Tetris? ABSOLUTELY NOT! As you can see from this gameplay video, you’ll still want to sit around all day playing this with your best gaming buddy.

Try These Top NES Game Genie Hacks

If you have an NES Game Genie, you’ve gotta try these hacks for yourself.