Super Alexa Mode is a hidden Easter egg for Amazon Echo devices that you can unlock by saying a special "cheat" code.

Get it right and your Alexa smart speaker will begin a startup sequence to power up into a super-secret mode.

How to Activate Super Alexa Mode

To initiate this secret mode, trigger your Echo smart speaker by saying "Alexa", then speak the following code:

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A

If you get it right, Alexa will respond with an electronic jingle and a message telling you that Super Alexa Mode is enabled.

Get it wrong and she’ll tell you that you’ve failed or entered the wrong code, complete with a sound effect. So try again and aim to say it clearly and fairly quickly with no long pauses.

The code works on any Amazon Echo device, such as the Dot or Show, and also in the Alexa app for iOS or Android.

What Is Super Alexa Mode?

Once you’ve spoken the correct code, Alexa will respond with the following message:

"Super Alexa mode, activated. Starting reactors, online. Enabling advanced systems, online. Raising dongers… Error. Dongers missing. Aborting."

This is followed by silence. It doesn't trigger any special new abilities for Alexa, but is a joke aimed at making gamers laugh.

The Konami Cheat Code

Gradius NES game cheat mode

The Super Alexa code is based on the famous Konami cheat code for numerous video games, which is entered by pressing the same sequence of directions and buttons on the controller.

The code dates back to 1986, when it featured in Konami’s scrolling shooter Gradius for the NES: entered with the game paused, it unlocks a whole bunch of power-ups for the player. The code was created by the late Kazuhisa Hashimoto, who used it during testing to make the game easier, but forgot to remove it.

Since then, the world’s most famous cheat code has gone on to feature in more than 100 games on a variety of consoles—sometimes being adapted for controllers with different button labels. It is usually followed by a press of the Start or Select button to trigger the cheat mode.

Activate Super Alexa Mode: Success

You can now trigger Super Alexa Mode by saying a special cheat code to your Amazon Echo smart speaker.

This is just one of many secret Easter eggs that can be unlocked by saying a particular phrase to Alexa. Many of them are based on elements of popular culture and will trigger weird and amusing effects.