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Secret Level: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
Many games provide secret levels that [[Unlockable Content|aren't necessary to finish the game.]] Sometimes they are based around [[Gimmick Level|gimmicks]] or themes that aren't in the "actual" game. Sometimes they are [[Brutal Bonus Level|much more difficult than the main game's and are essentially a secret challenge]], or they feel like they could fit right in the game and were seemingly left out of the main game simply because there was no way to fit them into the progression (and making them secret was better than leaving them out or [[Dummied Out|dummying them]]).
{{examples}}▼
Then you get games that have "secret levels" as a major aspect of their design and designed in from the start as a major part of the overall design (generally games heavily based around [[100% Completion]])
== [[Action Adventure]] ==▼
▲{{examples}}
== Optional Secret Levels ==
▲=== [[Action Adventure]] ===
* In ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link]]'', you can go to Darunia and climb on top of houses. If you go to a roof nearest the top of the screen, you can jump off-screen with the JUMP spell, then (while still off-screen) use the FAIRY spell and fly up. You'll get the animation for falling down a hole and end up in a DIFFERENT town. The villagers all provide game info not found anywhere else in the normal towns. If you exit under the overpass to the right, you'll end up in the middle of the ocean, not being able to move in any direction. If you exit to the left, you'll just end up outside Darunia.
* ''[[Tomb Raider]] 3'' has a secret level accessed by finding every (well, technically, all but one, due to an oversight) secret. It appears to have been intended to be a normal level (and showed up in various previews of the game) at first but was cut for some sort of progression reason.
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*** ''[[Tomb Raider]]: Anniversary'' has the "style units" gained after finding most of the secrets. Not really a level as it is just an explorable visual demonstration, but it shows off various experimentations with the art-style of the game and locations.
=== [[First-Person Shooter]] ===
* Pretty much every early 2.5D FPS (and 3D, with ''[[Quake (series)|Quake]]'') has a secret level at some point or other, whether it's once an episode or just one or two in the whole game. They are usually accessed by using a hidden, secret exit on a level rather than the regular exit.
** ''[[Doom (series)|Doom]] II'' had two secret levels set in levels taken from ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]'', with one accessed from a secret exit found in the other. The second one required you to kill four clones {{spoiler|of [[Commander Keen]] hanging from a noose}} to access the exit.
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* Level 4-0 in ''[[Medal of Honor]]: Allied Assault'' is accessible only through the console, and looks like it was supposed to be part of Mission 3, but was [[Dummied Out]] for progression/pacing reasons. There's also the Bazooka-Med bonus level accessed by earning the medal on Sniper's Last Stand.
=== [[Hack and Slash]] ===
* The secret Cow Level in ''[[Diablo]]'' 2, which was made after various rumours about one in the original Diablo.
* ''[[Diablo III]]'' has [[Sugar Apocalypse|Whimsyshire]], a land that seems ripped straight from [[Care Bears]] with smiling clouds, purple bears and unicorns.
=== [[Platform Game]] ===
* ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' (in 2, 3 and A Crack in Time) has the Insomniac Museum, where the game's designers stuck a bunch of stuff that "didn't quite make it into the finished game." The handheld entries have the High Impact Games Treehouse, with much the same purpose.
* ''[[Commander Keen]] Episode I'' had a secret level which could only be accessed by going down a tricky side passage in another level.
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* ''[[Sonic CD]]'' has the [[Dummied Out]] 8th Special Stage. To access it, the player has to enter a code in the title screen to open the secret [[Sound Test]], then enter another code on it.
=== [[Real Time Strategy]] ===
* ''[[Starcraft]]: Brood Wars'' featured a secret mission which hinted at a major plot point in the sequel. It had no lasting impact on the game otherwise. Said sequel also features a hidden mission in the Terran campaign.
* Similarly, ''[[Warcraft]] 3: The Frozen Throne'' had a hidden tower defense mini-game. If you defeated all the waves, you would receive a bonus hero in the following level.
=== [[Role Playing Game]] ===
* ''[[Quest 64]]'' has a Secret Level in the [[Shifting Sand Land|desert]]. While in a completely unrelated and skippable area, it does have a ton of powerups which are normally hard to find.
* [[Dark Souls]] has The Painted World of Ariamas, the Great Hollow, and the Ash Lake. For the most part, they're difficult to find [[Breather Level]]s with lots of really good loot.
=== [[Shoot'Em Up]] ===
* The [[Sharp X 68000]] port of ''[[Fantasy Zone]]'' has a secret eighth stage, "Dragon Land," based on ''[[Space Harrier]]''.
* ''[[Rez]]'' has the Lost Area, unlocked by completing all the normal areas. [[Brutal Bonus Level|It is quite difficult]]. Same for ''[[Child of Eden]]'''s Hope level.
▲Then you get games that have "secret levels" as a major aspect of their design and designed in from the start as a major part of the overall design (generally games heavily based around [[100% Completion]]):
==
=== [[Action Adventure]] ===
* ''[[Bubble Bobble]]'', NES (and thus Virtual Console) version has a secret path that the players must take to get the best ending. [[Nintendo Hard|It wasn't there in the arcades]].
=== [[Action Game]] ===
* ''[[Rolling Thunder]] 3'' for the Genesis has Rounds A-C (one of them being a [[Nostalgia Level]]) that serves to substitute the two vehicle stages (Round 3 and 6), as well as the Hijack stage (Round 9) while keeping all of their current weapons and ammo.
=== [[First-Person Shooter]] ===
* The secret levels in ''[[Perfect Dark]]'' are markedly different from those in ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|Goldeneye]]'' mentioned above. Instead of brand new levels with no plot significance, they're retreads of previous levels from a different point of view, which reveal different parts of the story. The first one shows how an alien [[Mook]] {{spoiler|kidnapped the CEO of dataDyne (she was later killed aboard the ship) and imploded the building, effectively destroying the company}}. The other two missions let you play as the grey aliens, one where Elvis alerts the Institute of being captured by Area51 and you play through the entire level with diminished health, and the other has you play as a soldier among a platoon who landed on the planet after Joanna dropped the shields. Both missions are ''insanely'' difficult.
* ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]] Infinity: Blood Tides of Lh'owon'' has several of theses, which are either alternate endings where the W'rkncacnter destroy the universe, or "co-op carnage break" levels that can (or are supposed to) only be accessed in multiplayer mode. Then there's the three Vidmaster's Challenge levels, found via a secret exit on the final stage. Taken to impossible levels with "Hats off to Eight Nineteen," a map that can be compiled using hexadecimal code present in game.
* ''[[Nitemare 3D]]'' goes straight from level 4 to level 6 if you play it normally. Or, you can simply push a bunch of boxes in front of one of a pair of dumbwaiters (which will otherwise just transport you back and forth) and get in the other to jump to level 5, which is full of gun-wielding human enemies.
=== [[Platform Game]] ===
* ''[[Wario Land]]'', almost every game in the series has many secret levels, including whole secret worlds.
* ''[[Super Mario Bros.|Super Mario World]]'' also has many, many secret levels and two entire secret worlds.
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** Then, in Megaman X6, there 's a secret "Nightmare Stage" for every normal level, where you can find secret upgrades and bosses.
=== [[Shoot'Em Up]] ===
* ''[[Tyrian]]'' is absolutely chock-full of secret levels. As a rule, they're accessed by destroying a specific target in a level so that a big glowy sphere appears. When you grab it, you'll move on to the corresponding secret level after finishing the current one. Some of these are tough to get, requiring you to leave certain enemies alone or stay on a certain path. There's even secrets 'within' secret levels, so you can go through a bunch of secret levels in a row before returning to the normal ones.
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