Few aspects of video game culture can claim to be as iconic as the Konami Code, a cheat code featured in numerous Konami games that added extra lives for brutally difficult titles. The Konami Code has invaded aspects of pop culture immensely since its debut, with references to it popping up all over the place. And now, Konami is celebrating its birthday in a special way.
Konami is sharing low-fi remixes of the soundtrack from Gradius, the first game to feature the Konami Code. Right now, gamers can listen to a 33-minute video featuring the low-fi remixes over on Konami's YouTube channel, with a total of six tracks for listeners to jam out to. The video emphasizes the relaxed nature of low-fi sounds, boasting a similar aesthetic to Chilled Cow's iconic low-fi streams.
Those that watch the video will be created by a character playing Gradius in a spaceship, with animated gameplay being shown on the display. It's a heartwarming tribute to Gradius, one of the most iconic arcade games of all time, as well as the Konami Code, which gamers have come to know so well. Konami has released game soundtracks before, but this feels a bit more unique.
Konami has also released a song on Spotify and Apple Music called "↑↑ ↓↓ ← → ← → BA." For those unfamiliar with the Konami Code, those are the inputs required to use it in a game. Trying to search for the song might be fruitless because of the characters used, but going to the artist, meiyo's, home page will bring up the track. It's more electronic than low-fi, but it's still a nice tribute to the code.
Video game cheat codes have, more or less, disappeared in recent years, showing up far less regularly than they once did. The Konami Code, created by the late Kazuhisa Hashimoto 35 years ago now, has withstood the test of time as far as relevance goes, though it hasn't shown up much recently because of Konami's nearly non-existent video game output.
That could all be changing soon, though. Konami seems to be itching to get back into games with some recent teases, something fans of the publisher would likely appreciate due to the sheer number of IP it holds. Most recently, there have been Metal Gear Solid teases appearing on Twitter, though it isn't clear what project they'll end up being a part of. E3 is around the corner, so fans could find out more there.