Secret Debug Menu discovered in Golden Axe: The Duel on Saturn

RINGS OF SATURN: I found a cool debug menu in *Golden Axe: The Duel* that lets you play as the boss character, display developer info, and control various game parameters.

It’s not hooked up by default, but I patched it in so you can play it. More below…! pic.twitter.com/9JqoBQLomb

— Bo (Low Context Burning Rangers) (@memory_fallen) September 5, 2024

Bo Bayles strikes again!

This Saturn fan will stop at nothing to uncover all the hidden secrets of old Saturn games, and now they’re back with a secret debug menu in Golden Axe: The Duel (1996). While not one of the more fondly remembered Saturn classics, but not one of the worst either, depending on who you ask, it had quite a lot hidden under its hood these past 28 years. By going deep into the game’s code, Bo found a normally inaccessible debug menu left behind that, after being unlocked, can change all sorts of things at any point during gameplay.

Normally, menus like these are only used during development to test certain parts of the game, hence why it’s called a “debug” menu. Occasionally, cheat codes are set up to allow players to access the menu and mess around with it at their leisure, but no such code was programmed into Golden Axe: The Duel. Thus, Bo Bayles has created a patch for the game to make the menu easily accessible. More info about the menu and the download link to the patch can be found right below the break.

I called them “hit boxes” above, but they even show up for things you can’t directly interact with. pic.twitter.com/lFyrRoqKz5

— Bo (Low Context Burning Rangers) (@memory_fallen) September 5, 2024

According to Bo Bayles, the hidden debug menu allows you to do things like change the name displayed below health bars, instantly change game difficulty, change magic potion count, disable the timer, disable blood, disable death, increase either character’s health, or even display what looks like hitboxes. Hitboxes are considered so important with fighting gamers today that having the option of displaying them in training modes has become a standard feature in many fighting games today, including the upcoming Capcom Fighting Collection 2, so it’s interesting to see them in this game as well.

Here’s a video of the patch in action! Get it via my writeup: https://t.co/yWhVxyx8Uo

Here I am playing as G. Axe and then using the debug features that display your current move and show hit boxes. pic.twitter.com/MOEh7vunMr

— Bo (Low Context Burning Rangers) (@memory_fallen) September 5, 2024

The debug menu also allows you to play as G. Axe, the final boss of the game who is also the living embodiment of the titular Golden Axe. Strangely, having him on the Player 1 side forces Player 2 to also be G. Axe.

You can read more about this debug menu on Bo Bayles’s blog Rings of Saturn, then you can download a special patch he made to unlock the hidden menu in your own digitized copy of the game. Give it a try for yourself.

You can also read about earlier first discoveries Bo Bayles has made in classic Saturn games, such as an incomplete 2P co-op mode in Burning Rangers, hidden cheat codes in Bug! and Clockwork Knight 2, and a hidden English translation in the Japan-exclusive Kingdom Grand Prix. Who knows what crazy things they’ll find next? Be sure to also follow Bo Bayles on Twitter or their blog, where you’ll likely hear about these things before I find the time in my busy schedule to write about them.

Now, talk to us in the comments below. What do you think about this hidden debug menu? What do you think about Golden Axe: The Duel? Do you own this game? Have you played it? Lets hear about it in the comments below.

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