April Fools, the day where people pull pranks and get trolled for great lolz. But what are some of the best video game related April Fools? Let’s take a look.

2005: EGM – Updated Wind Waker

EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly) told readers, if they pre-ordered The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, they would receive a copy of “Wind Waker” with realistic graphics. They even went as far as showing a photo-shopped image of Dragon Roost Island from Wind Waker with updated graphics to make it look believable. I still wonder to this day, if this helped out with pre-order sales for Twilight Princess?

2008: IGN – The Legend of Zelda Movie

IGN stole the light this year with their “exclusive Legend of Zelda movie trailer”. The preview plays out like one giant cliché with fan service. It seemed to be too well made and of high budget to be an April Fools joke; however some people shot it down too quickly whilst others believed it right till IGN put their hands up and admitted it was an April Fool. IGN joined up with Rainfall Films to make the prank, and they now, to this day, have a good partnership together.

2007: Wii TV – Zelda Game Set in the Future

This one still fools people to this day. Wii TV made a short video about how they have exclusive info and artwork on the new Zelda game. The game was to be set in the future. This April Fool went wild and if you find the video on YouTube, people will still be fighting over if its real or not. The video is, in fact, a compilation of Star Wars concept drawings, Final Fantasy stills and other random elements.

2000: SM128C – Luigi in Super Mario 64

Super Mario 128 Central (Super Mario 64 Central at the time) rode on the ride of an old but big rumour for 2000’s April’s Fool, claiming to have finally unlocked Luigi as a playable character and posting brand new (fake) screenshots. This only added to the already legendary Luigi rumour and made SM128C an internet hit in a day.

1992: EGM – Sheng Long in Street Fighter

Perhaps one of the most infamous April Fools was that EGM stated you could unlock Sheng Long, the master of Ryu and Ken in Street Fighter. It was said that if the player could get through Street Fighter II’s grueling 11-character roster without taking a hit, and then get 9 “draws” in a row vs. final boss M. Bison, the player could supposedly fight against a special character called Sheng Long. Upon beating him, he would be unlocked. In the January 2008 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono mentioned the possibility of adding Gouken to the character roster, citing EGM’s previous April Fools pranks as a source of inspiration.

2009: Valve – Jarate Weapon

Valve often do updates for Team fortress 2. And come April 1st, the company released a blog update stating the sniper would be the next class to get an update along with his first new unlockable weapon, Jarate. Jarate was described as the ancient art of throwing jars filled with urine at your enemies, an item that sounds so crazy it couldn’t be in the game, right? Well, a few months later, it was revealed that it was going to be a real item after the fanbase’s reaction to the April Fool.

2002: EGM – Sonic and Tails in Smash Bros Melee

Ah, the famous “Unlock Sonic and Tails” code for Super Smash Bros. Melee had players trying to defeat 20 opponents in Cruel Melee mode. This went on for months as readers sent in videos of them trying to defeat the opponents. EGM then handed out copies of Sonic Adventure 2 to the readers who did defeat 20 opponents. Nintendo Power even tried to kill the prank after it had gone on for a few months, after they had a ton of mail asking for advice on how to unlock them. In a strange twist, Sonic was added to the next Smash Bros game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl.