Chrono Trigger · SNES · 1995
A hidden "Dream Team" room reached through one of the game’s multiple endings, where the creators appear disguised as monsters and speak to the player directly.
Chrono Trigger’s New Game Plus feature let players replay the game and challenge the final boss, Lavos, at almost any point in the story — and the designers rewarded the unexpected by tying secret endings to when you did it. One of these, the "Programmers’ Ending," drops the party into the End of Time, now populated by what look like monsters but are in fact the game’s developers. Speaking to each reveals candid, joking messages from the staff behind Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy, and the player is made an honorary member of their "Dream Team," which famously included Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. It is one of the richest developer-cameo eggs of the 16-bit era, an entire hidden room that rewards curiosity and repeat play rather than a single trick.
Start a New Game Plus, then defeat Lavos at an unusually early point (for example by using the Epoch to fight him right after gaining time travel); certain early victories trigger the Programmers’ Ending and its Dream Team room.