History Main / DebugRoom

* Both ''{{VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin}}'' games have debug menus accessible by pausing Ecco mid-turn and pressing a button sequence.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles'' all have debug modes which can be accessed by the player. In Sonic 2, it's done simply by playing the right sequence of sounds in the SoundTest (spelling out the game's release date, one digit at a time, in year-month-day order.) The debug mode in each lets Sonic turn into a variety of items (moved around with the d-pad), and place them onto the level. In ''Sonic 3'', you could also use the item-turning feature to reach Knuckles' paths as Sonic and vice-versa.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' had a debug room that let you fight against pyramid-like test enemies, max out Materia, and the like. It also had several strange EasterEgg features such as changing your overworld model into a giant Aerith, and a section of the floor that complains when you walk on it. Fun fact: one of the [=NPCs=] (said giant Aerith) can send you to different places in the game world. When asked to be sent "to Hades", she replies that ''you're already there''.
* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' has a fairly elaborate debug menu. This menu contains, among other things, a Videogame/{{Kirby}} sprite from ''Kirby's Dream Course'' as the menu cursor - an artifact left by a HAL Laboratory programmer, perhaps, considering how ''[=EarthBound=]'' and ''Dream Course'' were developed at around the same time. Although, another more well-known debug menu exists as well - one intended to be used during the game, similar to ''Super Mario RPG''. This menu is also reachable via one of the options from the former... and is significantly trickier to figure out, since it remains untranslated from Japanese despite the lack of a Japanese font. Only a few words are recognizable as compressed garbled {{Engrish}} - "SUND" for Sound, "TRP-T" for Teleport, and "[=GtZStTI=]" for Goods Edit, for example.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' has a whole series of them, accessible from a central hall. Including screwing around with some weird people designed to test the AI, you can stock up on some useful (and some useless) equipment, [[AwesomeButImpractical including some that was dummied out]].

** Add, delete, change the patrol routes of and set the AI of enemies and save and load them to memory card, although it's not known how well the latter works.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Melee'' had a particularly awesome debug menu. Some of the features included changing your appearance to options normally not available, spawning any item you desire, accessing a huge test level, a more complete SoundTest, the ability to play as a wireframe, the sandbag, Giga Bowser, and Master or Crazy Hand. Be careful though, there is one feature on the debug menu that tests memory card features, which will allow you to ''wipe your memory card clean or delete Smash Bros. save data.'' Nonetheless, the debug mode made the game even more fun than it was already, especially in combination with other Action Replay codes (i.e. Super/Poison Mushrooms having stacking, permanent effects or always having bunny ears). To boot, you could use debug view modes, such as showing the names of currently playing character animation, showing character hitboxes (even going so far as to differentiate invincibility frames, attack hit ranges, grabbable objects, and the regular hitboxes with different colors, which looks awesome). Fun times were had indeed.

* A really weird one in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun''. It has all the main characters in the game standing in an empty void arranged into a grid, each one with a different function (giving items, sound effects, etc.) Naturally, they don't have their usual characterization, but respond in a stilted mechanically precise way. The effect's rather eerie, to say the least.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 4'' contains a debug mode in the PC version which can directly accessed in certain international versions or by using a modified .exe file. The debug mode allows for numerous options, including invincibility, allowing Dante to be played on Nero's levels, infinite jumps, max mission rankings, one hit kills, etc.

* The GBA entries to the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' franchise had a debug mode that could only be accessed through codes. They usually included a test stage where hero and villain units fought, an attack viewer and a sprite viewer. ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment'''s Debug mode ended up revealing an attack for the Justice Gundam that the unit didn't have in the original (a self-destruct attack that was given to Boss Borot instead).

* [[WordOfGod Word of the Elder Powers]] says ''VideoGame/NexusClash'' has one of these squirreled away somewhere for testing mechanics as part of the series' PerpetualBeta. The alpha map for the latest iteration is a more publicly accessible version, since the development process has become more openly discussed with time.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' has several separate debug rooms accessible through the console. Some of them are also named after specific devs.

** Same engine, same developers, same test cells: the developers' rooms in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' contain all items, a crapload of respawning mines, lots of locked safes and hackable computers, and a random guy with a gun. It's impossible to reach in normal gameplay; the only way to get in or out is via the console or plugins.

* Every Creator/HumongousEntertainment game released after ''PuttPutt Saves the Zoo'' has a debug room that can be enabled by adding an INI option into the hegames.ini file. They let you go to any room in the game, pick up any item, and even change up the paths. Some of the games even let you put the game in "fast mode" or execute a script at any time.

* [[WordOfGod Word of the Elder Powers]] says ''[[NexusWar Nexus Clash]]'' has one of these squirreled away somewhere for testing mechanics as part of the series' PerpetualBeta. The alpha map for the latest iteration is a more publicly accessible version, since the development process has become more openly discussed with time.

* Every HumongousEntertainment game released after ''PuttPutt Saves the Zoo'' has a debug room that can be enabled by adding an INI option into the hegames.ini file. They let you go to any room in the game, pick up any item, and even change up the paths. Some of the games even let you put the game in "fast mode" or execute a script at any time.

* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' has a fairly elaborate debug menu. This menu contains, among other things, a Videogame/{{Kirby}} sprite as the menu cursor - an artifact left by a HAL Laboratory programmer, perhaps. Although, another more well-known debug menu exists as well - one intended to be used during the game, similar to ''Super Mario RPG''. This menu is also reachable via one of the options from the former... and is significantly trickier to figure out, since it remains untranslated from Japanese despite the lack of a Japanese font. Only a few words are recognizable as compressed garbled {{Engrish}} - "SUND" for Sound, "TRP-T" for Teleport, and "[=GtZStTI=]" for Goods Edit, for example.

* The original Japanese release of ''VideoGame/BloodyRoar 3'' left in a debug mode that allowed players to deform player models and environments like a proto-''GarrysMod''. Sadly, some people abused it to create somewhat pornographic images, and the feature was then pulled from the US version and all subsequent re-releases.

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' has the "Galaxy Droid," which can only be accessed through a glitch at a specific point in the game (After completing the third required story mission). The Galaxy Droid allows instant access to every map of the game, including levels which have been [[LostForever rendered inaccessible]], and skips loading screens, cinematic sequences, and the minigame that occasionally appears when traveling between planets.

* The fairly bad and nearly forgotten Nintendo 64 game ''Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire'' had a very comprehensive debug mode that allows you to control almost everything in the game down to minute detail. It was accessed by pressing almost every button on the controller and then holding the joystick halfway alternating left and right until you hear a confirmation sound. Most gamers had to use their nose, chin, feet, or another gamer in order to enter this code.

* ''VideoGame/TheSims 2'': boolProp testingCheatsEnabled true, {{Fan Nickname}}d "boolprop" by people who don't know what "boolprop" means. It allows you, among other things, to kill Sims, make them pregnant with their own OppositeSexClone, or reveal their [[GayOption autonomous gender preference]].
* All of the 3D ''Zelda'' games have debug modes that can be enabled via cheat codes, but only ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' have actual rooms (the latter froma debug rom.) The most notable one in Wind Waker is like a playground, and is best known for having a ''gigantic'' tower that dwarfs anything seen in the game and takes upwards of 15 minutes to climb.
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros. Melee'' had a particularly awesome debug menu. Some of the features included changing your appearance to options normally not available, spawning any item you desire, accessing a huge test level, a more complete SoundTest, the ability to play as a wireframe, the sandbag, Giga Bowser, and Master or Crazy Hand. Be careful though, there is one feature on the debug menu that tests memory card features, which will allow you to ''wipe your memory card clean or delete Smash Bros. save data.'' Nonetheless, the debug mode made the game even more fun than it was already, especially in combination with other Action Replay codes (i.e. Super/Poison Mushrooms having stacking, permanent effects or always having bunny ears). To boot, you could use debug view modes, such as showing the names of currently playing character animation, showing character hitboxes (even going so far as to differentiate invincibility frames, attack hit ranges, grabbable objects, and the regular hitboxes with different colors, which looks awesome). Fun times were had indeed.

* The game of ''Film/TheLionKing'' had one accessible with a button sequence from the title screen.

A Debug Room is a location, menu or mode with options the programmers would have used for testing the game. [[DummiedOut It's usually not supposed to be accessed by the player; as such, it will either require a complicated code/password or be inaccessible without the help of a VideoGame/GameShark or the like.]] Often contains a WarpZone.

* It's possible to access Debug Island in the second game in {{Shadow Hearts}} series with one of the two known patch codes (either after the intro cutscenes or by entering a location on the World Map immediately after entering the screen, without moving the cursor). After gaining access to it player can enter a huge menu in Japanese with lots of subsections and options. It's extremely easy to crash the game though (and the [[BonusDungeon Sea of Woods]] area seems to be wiped from the game, even though it's still listed in the warp menu and you can unlock some of the other [[LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition Director's Cut]] features).

* Videogame/ColossalCave, which ran on timesharing computers had "Wizard Mode" that if you wanted to use it, had to be typed as the first command given to the game. You then had to give the password and solve a computation to prove you are a Wizard. In Wizard Mode, you could shut down the game into single player mode, set the hours the game is allowed to be played (to keep people from running it when a lot of people want to use the computer, like during daytime hours of finals week on a university or college computer) or to set holidays when anyone could play with no restrictions (like Thanksgiving or Christmas).

* Videogame/CollosalCave, which ran on timesharing computers had "Wizard Mode" that if you wanted to use it, had to be typed as the first command given to the game. You then had to give the password and solve a computation to prove you are a Wizard. In Wizard Mode, you could shut down the game into single player mode, set the hours the game is allowed to be played (to keep people from running it when a lot of people want to use the computer, like during daytime hours of finals week on a university or college computer) or to set holidays when anyone could play with no restrictions (like Thanksgiving or Christmas).

A Debug Room is a location, menu or mode with options the programmers would have used for testing the game. It's usually not supposed to be accessed by the player; as such, it will either require a complicated code/password or be inaccessible without the help of a VideoGame/GameShark or the like. Often contains a WarpZone.

* [[http://tcrf.net/Kirby%27s_Adventure/Debug_Rooms#Room_00A8 Rooms 0007 and 00A8]] in ''{{Kirby}}'s Adventure''.

** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' contains an actual debug room, accessible through hacking, or via [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-qtj9ij4wo a glitch]. This glitch is even ''easier'' to perform in the HD re-release, to the point where it can easily be done ''accidentally'', which is how it was first discovered. It was fixed in the PC version, though for obvious reasons this is also the version in which the hacking method is most accessible.