Cheat code roundup: NFL 2K1, NFL 2K2, NCAA College Football 2K2

Code reuse is encouraged

I was looking into the NCAA College Football 2K2 game code when I noticed this string:

0c27c884  "ENTER CHEAT CODE"

It stood out because this game doesn’t have a cheat code menu!

…or does it? There’s a function at 0c10f200 that runs when you’re on the Options > Weather screen. It looks like this pseudo-Python (adapted from Ghidra’s decompilation):

for controller_index in range(8):
    held_buttons = get_held_buttons(controller_index)
    if held_buttons == (DPAD_LEFT | ANALOG_RIGHT | A_BUTTON):
        set_0c10f200_flag(1)

That is: hold D-pad left, Analog right, and the A button at any time on the Weather screen. This will set the flag at 0c10f200. When you return to the Options screen, you’ll see…

A new Codes item! Select it, and you’ll get an entry screen:

Cool! But what do you put into it?

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The codes

Scrolling down a bit from the ENTER CHEAT CODE string are some hints about what to enter:

0c27c898  "SUPERSTARS"
0c27c8c4  "DEBUG"
0c27c8e8  "SCRAWL"
0c27c90c  "SQUEEKY"
0c27c934  "TURBO"
0c27c958  "LARD"
0c27c97c  "DEDMAN"
0c27c9a0  "MINIME"

What do these do? For SUPERSTARS, the answer is… nothing A confirmation message pops up, and a flag gets set (at 0c7c0bd0). But no code actually checks it.

DEBUG does work, however. It enables a frame rate meter — this seems to be its whole effect:

SCRAWL makes the game text look weird:

SQUEEKY makes the announcer voices become somewhat higher pitched.

TURBO and DEDMAN unlock new Game Speed options:

LARD makes the players look… fatter, I guess?

MINIME makes the players smaller:

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NFL 2K1

Hmm, don’t some of the codes above match ones from NFL 2K? Yes! In that game the SUPERSTARS code unlocks a new team. The other ones have the effects described above, save for DEBUG and MINIME — those aren’t accepted.

So what about the other two Visual Concepts football games — do the codes work in them? Answer for NFL 2K1: yes!

You do the same thing to unlock the code entry screen: go to Options > Weather and hold D-pad left, Analog right, and the A button. The Codes item will appear on the Options menu.

SUPERSTARS does work in this game. It gives you access to a Sega Sports Super Stars team, as it does in NFL 2K:

The rest of the codes are the same as in NCAA College Football 2K2, including DEBUG and MINIME.

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NFL 2K2

How about NFL 2K2? Does it have a Codes menu?

Yes indeed. D-pad left+Analog right+A on the Options > Weather screen reveals it:

It recognizes the same set of cheats as NFL 2K1 and NCAA College Football 2K2. The SUPERSTARS code works:

The MINIME code is accepted, but I couldn’t get it to actually work.

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Outro

Here’s the summary of which codes work in each game:

See the archive for many more articles on the quest for unknown cheat codes. Tell me in the comments which game I should examine next!

Logo by Ashlyn Anstee