Yes, you can play with both controllers in Yoshi’s Island and Earthbound, pushing the number of two-player games on the SNES Classicto eleven — about half the games on the system. These are “secret” functions, because neither game is listed as a two-player experience on the SNES Classic dashboard. That’s understandable, because neither game includes a traditional two-player coop mode that you might expect.

Yoshi's Island DS is the direct sequel to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, an indirect follow-up to Yoshi's Story, and chronologically the third video game in the Mario franchise. Compared to its predecessor, this game has fewer levels, remastered graphics, new babies, and a whole new adventure. Yoshi's New Island has a total of six worlds. Each world contains a total of nine levels, one of which can only be unlocked by getting all the Stars, Red Coins, and Flowers in each level of said.

For Yoshi’s Island, you can input a code to unlock multiple mini-games that you can play head-to-head with a friend. These are the bonus games Yoshi can stumble into while completing levels — normally, you’ll be stuck fighting the AI, but if you input a special code, you’ll unlock all the minigames on a separate menu. From there, you can plug in a second controller and fight your friends.

Earthbound? Well. That’s a little bit different. Check out the full explanations below to learn all about these extra secret modes. For more info on Nintendo‘s tiny retro console, use the SNES Classic Breakdown and see everything this mini-SNES has to offer.

More SNES Classic Edition guides on Gameranx:

2-Player On Earthbound & Yoshi’s Island | Secrets Guide

[Check out the video guide on GameXplain for more info!]

Yoshi’s Island

To unlock the Two-Player Vs Minigames menu, input the following cheat code while in the overworld map on Yoshi’s Island.

• 2-Player Vs Mini Battle Cheat Code:
  • [Hold Select] X -> X -> Y -> B -> A

Inputting the code opens the “Mini Battle” menu, with 5 bonus stages you can play solo and 2 stages you can play with a friend.

• Throw (4) – This pits you and a friend against each other! A large balloon will be thrown from one player to the other. To pass the balloon, you’ll need to input four button presses. Throw the balloon before it pops!
• Seed Speed – You and an opponent must eat and shoot seeds at each other. The first to lower the other’s energy bar to 0% wins!

Earthbound

Earthbound doesn’t involve cheat codes or “true” cooperative play, but it does feature something really funny. If you plug in a second controller at any time, the second controller can also control the game. That means both controllers can control Ness and pals simultaneously.

Use this to annoy your friends, or easily trade gameplay without having to pass around a controller. This is a hold-over from the original SNES version of the game, so we’re happy to see that nothing’s changed.

Found any other awesome SNES Classic secrets? Les us know in the comments!