Debugging Super Smash Bros.

Masahiro Sakurai was the director of the Super Smash Bros. games and several Kirby games. He recently started a YouTube channel sharing all about game development. In one of his videos, he reviews the “Debug Mode” features that were created for Super Smash Bros.

In these games, the debug features could be used on-console (devkit) with a second controller. He recommends supporting them on a single controller with special key sequences. Something might come up suddenly, and you don’t want to be hunting for a second controller.

Several game features were originally debug features, including character trajectory visualization. Some remained developer-only but were used for more than just debugging. An example of this is character freezing and posing, used for sharing the “screenshot of the day” with the community.

It was clear that these tools were used by more than just the programmers. They helped the entire team not only solve bugs but also to be more efficient in their work by reducing iteration and testing time.