Thirty five years ago today, a code emerged that changed the livelihoods of millions of children. No living room remained untouched by this magic. How it got originally got shared is unknown to this day. How it remained was a simple oversight when publishing the game.

You know the code. Even if you weren’t alive in 1986, you know of the code. Konami’s Contra Code was shared so quickly by word of mouth you’d think the code was in the instruction manual. Or that the Internet was already around…

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, START

All the weapons, thirty lives- helping to make beating an almost impossible game attainable. Every boy I knew talked about the code. It was the secret that the world knew. It has been ingrained in our minds since then. It has appeared in numerous video games and other pop culture references according to the Konami Code Wikipedia . I bet even Tesla has added it in their cars somehow.

Happy 35th Birthday to the greatest cheat code ever! May the memory of getting Nintendo Thumb be the reason I cannot forgot you.