Debug mode

Debug mode is a development tool which typically allows you to break the rules of the game in any number of ways and to give technical information that is of benefit to the programmers working on the games.

In the case of Sonic games with a debug mode, there are several changes made to the normal operation of the game. The following are an example of the debug mode changes from Sonic 2, but the routines are similar for most of the Sonic games.

- The SCORE value in the HUD is replaced with a jumble of what seems to be nonsense, but is actually the absolute map location of the character sprite in hexadecimal reported in real time. - The TIME value in the HUD is replaced with the number of sprites on the current screen, placing items with the debug mode will increment this value and, if it is possible, picking up the item (i.e. a ring) will decrement the counter. - Pressing B will change your character into an item. In this state, you can use the D-Pad to move your character to any point on the map, press A to cycle between the sprites/objects available in the level and press C to put down the object presented. - Pausing will allow you to access some more debug features. When paused, pressing A will reset the game, holding down B will run the game in slow motion and pressing C will advance the game by one frame per press.

• • • FIXME: Debug entry routines for various games, type here or link ***