There are plenty of cheat codes that have been found in games for decades, most notably the Konami code, but we all know that what really matters is what those codes unlock. Extra lives, god modes, extra difficulties, new game pluses, and level skips all either make the game easier or harder, but there is one secret cheat that is better than all of those because it doesn’t do anything other than be some dumb fun. Big head modes.
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This cheat is wonderful because it isn’t about changing the game, giving you an advantage, or even making the game harder. It is simply about making every interaction and activity you have been doing for hours already indescribably funny, all by just inflating characters' heads like balloons. There is no advantage here, and there is no good reason why you would want to play an entire game like this, but it is a novel bit of fun that acts as a good reminder that at the end of the day, video games are just that, games!
9Rise Of The Tomb Raider
The rebootedTomb Raiderseries is a very sombre affair. We witness a young Lara go from being an inexperienced and starry-eyed traveller that must fight for her life, to becoming the hardened and dangerous Tomb Raider we know is capable of wiping out platoons of private military forces like she’s a predator in a tank top.
SoI’m sure there was a meeting at Crystal Dynamicsduring the development of the second game about how else the studio could add some extra drama. The obvious answer: allow people to give Lara and every other NPC great big noggins during their life and death, world-ending adventure. Thankfully, this mode can only be toggled on during replays of individual chapters, so even if you wanted to you couldn’t give one of gaming’s most beloved characters a swollen brain on your first playthrough.
8Tony Hawk Pro Skater
Tony Hawk and cheat codes, name a better combo! Ok, maybe Tony Hawk and skateboarding. Also, Tony Hawk and not being recognised in public places, but what we’re saying is that thePro Skatergames and cheat codes have been an iconic pairing for decades. Whether it be unlocking the level select menu or setting all your stats to 13 you probably have at least some of these codes memorised still, but none was more fun than the games big head mode.
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The skateboarding in the Pro Skater series has never been the most realistic simulation of the sport, but things are taken to a whole new extreme when you can give the Birdman a head the size of an owl. There is something about watching someone do a 720 with a head that should be dragging along the floor that is impossible not to laugh at. The only thing more amusing in the game is the unlockable video of Neversoft employees bailing during real-life skate sessions.
7GTA Trilogy
For as much as Rockstar might like people to think of theGrand Theft Autogames as serious crime dramas, we all know that these games have always been chaotic sandboxes at heart. It’s nice to know that someone at Rockstar agrees because they keep putting cheat codes in the game’s single-player modes.
Whether you want all a game’s weapons or to instantly increase your wanted level, Rockstar is one of the few developers that still allows you to shortcut your way to fun in its games. And nothing is more fun than having a giant head as you shoot off rockets from a launcher that is clipping through your big head.
The 2021’s GTA Trilogy might have been a disappointing celebration of the series' 25th anniversary and definitely is not the definitive way to playGTA 3,Vice City, orSan Andreas, but it did at least get its cheat codes rights. Across the three games, the code has been codified into the same string of buttons, and of course, that string is the Konami Code.
Part of what made GTA such a success over the decades was how its cheat codes made the best part of its gameplay accessible to anyone so seeing Rockstar reference another iconic developer for the big head mode in this remaster is a nice touch.
6Batman Arkham Series
No one strikes fear into criminals like The Dark Knight. He is already terrifying enough thanks to hisconstant caped crusadingand the intimidating voice of Kevin Conroy. The only thing that would make him more threatening is if his head was too big to fit in the Batmobile. Right?
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While a lot of games now put fun gimmicks like these behind paid DLC, Rocksteady knew that this joke was too good to keep behind a storefront. So while Arkham City and Arkham Knight added more DLC, and purchasable outfits one thing can be done from the moment you started playing. In both games, if you hold certain buttons and quickly rotate the analogue sticks The World’s Greatest Detective’s skull will finally match the size of his big brain.
5Divekick
We might have said that the thing that makes big head modes so great is that they are totally frivolous, but Divekick’s big head seriously affects gameplay to hilarious results. The game is a lovely jab at the fighting game community at large and that is nowhere more apparent than in the character Jefaily, who himself is a reference to the larger-than-life tournament organiser Alex Jebaily.
Jefaily is a strong character, with both a fast jump and long-ranged kick in this one-hit-and-your-out fight game. However, every time this character wins a round his head increases in size. As his ego grows, so does the likelihood that the opposition will land a kick on his head, if that happens he will be dazed in the next round. This is less a big head mode and more a galaxy-brained character, but it is a clever convergence of niche references and in-jokes that Iron Galaxy simply thought was funny.
4Just Cause 3
Just Cause, much like GTA, is a game that thrives on chaos. Usually, this involves skydiving, gliding, and parachuting as explosions go off, but for the game’s big head mode it involves a bit of exploration. Once you liberate the town of Vico Platessa you can find a handgun among the buildings called the DK pistol. That name is a reference to Goldeneye, which itself is a reference we will explain.
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As soon as you pick up this pistol, Rico’s head will triple in size. It’s also special as this gun can shoot NPCs without causing them to react. Instead, all that happens in their heads inflate with each shot. This gun might not be useful in a fight, but there’s a lot of silly fun to be had by giving your allies huge heads as they walk around minding their own business.
3Ratchet And Clank Series
Big heads are nothing new in cartoons and animated media. For decades artists have increased certain limbs' proportions to make characters feel cuter and less threatening.Ratchet and Clankare no Hello Kitty or Power Puff Girls in this regard, but they do have a slightly exaggerated charm to their design.
However, the big head mode that has appeared in almost every game in the series turns the protagonists into living Funko Pops, and makes them look like bobbleheads as they blast their way through aliens. It is aperfectly pointless easter egg, that has been continued for over two decades, and it just makes them look so darn cute!
2NBA Jam
NBA Jamis iconic for many reasons: the announcer yelling “HE’S ON FIRE!”, the rubberband AI that is more elastic than any substance known to man, and of course the first-ever implementation of a big head mode. NBA Jam is so intrinsically linked to big heads that when most people call the game to mind they forget that game doesn’t give basketball’s allstars big heads by default.
NBA Jam’s big head mode is a symbol of the era, when arcade companies, especially Midway, would just hide weird and fun stuff in its games and let people discover it. It’s weird, it makes no sense, and it’s delightful.
1Goldeneye 007
Maybe the only game more famous for its big heads than the originator of the idea isGoldeneye 007. Rare’s seminal N64 FPS was the nickname of “DK mode” came from, as this was the cheat’s name in menus in-game. It’s long since been confirmed that this was a reference by the developers to how the characters with big heads looked like something out of Donkey Kong Country, another rare game.
Pearce Brosnan might be most known for looking suave in a suit, but anyone that plays games knows he was at his most handsome slapping Oddjob with a giant head on Facility.
