The isekai genre of anime blew up around 5 years ago with shows like Sword Art Online and Re:Zero in which the protagonists usually find themselves transported into another world, usually that of a video game. When inside, the characters must learn the rules of the game and its world in order to achieve their goals and get back to their world. However, these shows use a typical trope of making the protagonist overpowered, and don't really explain it besides claiming that they're just that good.
In this list, we will take a look at some classic video game cheat codes that would not only make life in an isekai world that much more easier but would also explain why the main character is so overpowered without the reason being "just because".
10 The Sims: Free Money
Everyone has faced this situation before when playing an RPG game - you see an incredible piece of armor in a store that you simply have to have, but alas, you are short on gold. In an isekai, this is often fixed by a quick montage of the characters killing some low-level monsters or completing quests.
But what if there was a better way? There are many games with cheat codes that give free money, one of the most famous ones being "motherlode" from The Sims. Never again would we have to deal with the obligatory arc of the main character having to save up for a mediocre chest plate again if they would only know of this classic cheat.
9 GTA: Jetpack
Remember all the times the characters in an isekai would spend large portions of the episode just traveling from one point to the next in a boring carriage? Now imagine how awesome it would be if the characters would be all flying through the sky with jetpacks instead.
The earlier Grand Theft Auto games had tons of cheat codes in them to make the base game more exciting, and one of the most popular among them was the one that would give you - you guessed it, a jetpack! Never again would an isekai set in a medieval setting be the same once the protagonist dons an actual jetpack and flies right to their goal, skipping all the unnecessary fluff.
8 NBA Jam: On Fire
Epic and often lengthy fights are a common occurrence in isekai shows, in which sometimes the characters are either unprepared to face the main bad guy of the arc, or are simply not lucky enough to be the main character, and end up dying.
Who would have thought that a cheat code that would help deal with this would come from a basketball game of all places? NBA Jam featured an "on fire" cheat code, making a character completely unstoppable for a short time. This is definitely one cheat that could help out all those innocent side-characters at the right moments.
7 The Konami Code
Possibly the most famous cheat code ever created, The Konami Code is a cheat code that has been used in over a hundred games by the publisher and has gained such notoriety that it leaked into other forms of media as well. In its most classic sense, The Konami Code helps the player by either unlocking all bonuses in a level, or in the case of Contra, gives infinite lives.
This isn't fool-proof, however, as there are games that also use the code but give completely different effects. The protagonist could definitely use The Konami Code and hope for infinite lives, which would make completing quests much easier. Although there is always a chance it would simply put a tutu on the main character, similar to Ratchet & Clank.
6 Sonic: Debug Mode
The Debug Mode cheat code isn't featured in a lot of games, as it could potentially break them. One series that did not take it out is the classic Sonic game series, in which players could enter Debug Mode and change pretty much anything about the game, essentially turning on a level editor.
Players could move, change or remove entities in levels, and in later games even change the properties of gravity. This would without a doubt make the life of an isekai character a million times easier, skipping impossible boss fights by simply removing them from existence. We're not sure if it would be a fun show to watch though.
5 Super Mario Bros.: The Continue Cheat
Yes, you read that right: there is a trick to continuing a game in the original Super Mario Bros. Usually, when you run out of lives, you get sent back to the main menu, having to start the game from world 1-1 again. However, if you hold down the A button and then press Start in the main menu, it will send you to the start of the world you lost your last life in.
This trick would be absolutely crucial to making an isekai anime easier since instead of dying to a boss and being sent back to the start, or potentially being booted from the game, the character would simply respawn right outside the room of the boss fight.
4 Metal Gear Solid 3: Time Skip
Although this cheat is very niche and works only in specific cases, it is something that would be interesting to see being used in an isekai to get around a problem. In Metal Gear Solid 3 the player must eventually face a boss named The End, who is an incredibly old sniper.
To skip the fight, the player could go to the console settings and change the date to be one week in the future, and because of this, The End dies of old age. We're not sure how this would work in every scenario, but if the isekai show involves a lot of old and evil bosses, this would definitely be one cheat that would make the life of the protagonist a lot easier.
3 Age Of Empires 2: Cobra Car
Who cares about immersion in an isekai show, when you can watch the protagonist and their companions ride in style? This ridiculous classic cheat from Age Of Empires 2 is one that would completely break the game by spawning "Cobra Cars" for the player, the cars being Shelby Cobras equipped with weapons.
They were so overpowered that they could destroy entire medieval villages in a minute, leaving little chance for the AI to fight back. Seeing an isekai character spawn a car equipped with deadly machineguns in the middle of an old kingdom, and use it to completely annihilate any boss in the show would be the day the isekai genre would enter its era of renaissance.
2 Max Payne: Infinite Bullet Time
Probably one of the coolest things to come out of old action movies and games is Bullet Time, although the quality of how it is used and portrayed varies. The original Max Payne used this mechanic by combining it with the diving mechanic that would allow the player to do insane dive-jumps while slowing time down and riddling thugs with bullets.
It also has a cheat that would give infinite bullet time, something that would make fights in an isekai a thousand times easier. The ability to slow down time to take precise shots or swings of the sword while time is slowed down only for the protagonist isn't uncommon, however, it would be interesting to see it used as an actual cheat inside the game world.
1 Doom: God Mode
God Mode has been a cheat in games for a very long time, but it never really had a large impact on the overall enjoyment of the game before it was added into Doom. Although it sometimes feels like this cheat is used in some isekai, especially when the protagonist suddenly becomes unkillable during a crucial fight, it would be cool if the isekai showed us the cheat being used outright.
Would a cheat like this make things fair in isekai fights? Absolutely not. However, it would be funny to watch the strongest boss struggle to do any damage at all.