The function can be repeated to step forward frame by frame, which is a great tool for screenshots. In Metal Slug 2 and X, this simply closes the debug menu and returns to the pause state.įrom Metal Slug 3 onwards, it freezes the screen and steps forward one frame. Click an option to hop to its translation and explanation! The debug menu is in a mixture of Japanese and English, and can be a bit hard to follow.
This file can be read by the PPSSPP emulator or the CWCheat app on PSP hardware:
Once again, hats off to 이지우 (Lee Jiwoo) for providing the access code for this!Ĭreate a text file named "NPJH50044.ini" and enter the following code into it make sure the code is for the appropriate regional version. To close the menu, hold Select and press Start again. Press the A Button to select and the B Button to cancel. If the game pauses and the word "PAUSE" appears, you're in! Do that again to open the menu. To open the debug menu, hold the Select Button and press the Start Button. To enable the debug menu, you can either use the following Action Replay codes below, or use Cheat Engine to find the code address in DeSmuME and set its value to "1" (this has only been tested with DeSmuME v0.9.11). Depending on what player activates it, only that player's controls can navigate it.Ī massive thank you to 이지우 (Lee Jiwoo) for unearthing the debug menu and providing all the codes to access it! The debug menu behaves identically to the Neo Geo menu use the Stick to move through options, A Button to select, and B Button to cancel or exit the menu. If the game pauses, you've done it! Press again for the debug menu! If not, reset and go through the hooplah again. Make your way to the first mission, and press the D & E buttons simultaneously (on P1 or P2's controls).
I found good success by assigning Service and P2 A to one key, and then assigning that key and Player 1 Start to buttons on a gamepad using Xpadder and applying the turbo function. This is rather finicky and there's no indication you've succeeded until you reach gameplay. Hammer the System, Player 1 Start and Player 2 A buttons repeatedly.
Since Metal Slug 6 runs on Atomiswave hardware (it's unknown if the debug menu is present in the PS2 port), activating the debug menu is a little different: Pressing B or Select on the main debug menu will unpause and return to gameplay.īig thanks to candy76041820 for bringing this to my attention and documenting most of it, and _MetalliC_ of the Emu-Russia forums for apparently discovering this! Options are selected by pressing the A Button, and the B Button cancels. The debug menu is mostly identical throughout all the Neo Geo games, and can be summoned at any time, so long as you can pause.
However, some emulators have a hard time recognising the debug BIOS. The two should be placed in the same folder (preferrably the "/roms" folder), and should not be unzipped. You'll already need the "neogeo.zip" BIOS to run games in the first place, but the "debugbios.zip" BIOS is required to properly access these features. Search sites like Console Passion if that's what you fancy.įor emulators, the BIOS is a. On the real Neo Geo hardware, this entails replacing the BIOS chip with a modified one, which requires a soldering iron and the possible risk of futzing up your console, so tread carefully. To access any of these debug options in Metal Slug 2 through 5, you will need a Neo Geo Debug BIOS. The debug menu is where the magic happens! If it weren't for this (and the tile viewer, I suppose), we wouldn't have access to most of the unused rubbish hidden inside the games.