10 Unbelievable Video Game Rumors That Turned Out To Be True
Bulls Vs. Pistons Rivalry [NBA Jam]
We’ve always wondered if developers favor their hometown heroes over the rest, and recently the world got confirmation that — at least once — this is exactly what happened in NBA Jam for SNES. Even non-sports fans played NBA Jam, a fast-paced basketball game at the height of Michael Jordon’s dunking power. But, if you played the Chicago Bulls versus the Detroit Pistons, you were playing at a disadvantage.
Revealed by lead designer and programmer Mark Turmell in this Ars Technica interview, the Chicago Bulls will always miss if the timer is running out, and you attempt a long-shot throw if you’re against the Detroit Pistons.
This cheat doesn’t change the game too much, but if you’re aiming for a last chance upset victory, your hopes will always be dashed. And it’s all due to developer favoritism! We better start searching the code for all those EA Sports games and find out if we’re getting hoodwinked over here.
Special Zone’s Seasonal Surprise [Super Mario World]
Special Zone is itself almost an absurd rumor — you’ll have to find a secret Star Road entrance from Star World, leading to the wonderfully wacked-out levels in the Special Zone. This super-duper secret hides yet another uber-secret; by completing Special Zone, Mario players can freely swap seasons, altering all the levels in a new Fall palette.
Even as a kid that discovered and completed Special Zone all on my own, I had no idea returning to Yoshi’s Island swapped around assets, making the levels subtly weirder with new enemy sprites and backgrounds. Its just another unbelievable little detail Nintendo was so fond of sneaking into their marquee games.
Discover more wild gaming rumors (that are totally true) on the next page.