The Game Genie hit the NES in 1990 and instantly became every kid’s secret weapon for breaking games wide open. Made by Galoob in the U.S., this little gold brick plugged between your cartridge and the console, letting you punch in cheat codes to get infinite lives, unlock hidden levels, or skip the grind. It launched first for NES, then got versions for Game Boy, SNES, and Genesis, each adding more codes and compatibility updates through the early ‘90s. Nintendo wasn’t happy—there were lawsuits—but players didn’t care. If you grew up jamming Contra with 99 lives or finally beating Battletoads, you probably had a Game Genie in the mix.