Erase Data

Erase Data, previously known as Backup Clear in Super Smash Bros., is an option in the first three installments of the Super Smash Bros. series. It allows the player to erase any specific data in the game, such as high scores, trophies, unlockable characters, and unlockable stages. In all three appearances, the option to erase singular categories of data is available, alongside an "Erase All" ("ALL Data Clear" in Smash 64) option.

When the player erases all data (once "Erase All" is performed), then there is no way to recover it. As such, Super Smash Bros. Melee advises players to save (and create) a copy of game data onto a separate memory card (if a second memory card already has a data of Super Smash Bros. Melee on it). However, while that is possible in Melee, this is not possible in Smash 64 nor Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The game data is directly saved to the Nintendo 64 game cartridge for Smash 64 (without a memory card), and the game data cannot be copied from one Wii to another (nor to an SD Card) in Brawl.

Neither version of Super Smash Bros. 4 nor Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has an "Erase Data" option, making it impossible to selectively erase any specific data. Players for those three games Smash 4 and Ultimate (if both versions of Smash 4 are counted separately), can only erase all of it. In Smash 4, players can erase all data by holding A, B, X, and Y on startup (on the 3DS in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS or the Wii U GamePad in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U) and selecting "Yes" three times when prompted (just like in Brawl for "Erase All"). However in Ultimate, unlike Smash 4, there is no such built-in application. The player can instead erase all data by erasing the data of said game on the "Manage Save Data/Screenshots and Videos" section of "Data Management" section and menu (which is located under the "System Settings" of the Switch).

Gallery

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  The Backup Clear option in Smash 64 (for both N64 and Wii VC)

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  The Erase Data menu in Melee

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  The Erase Data menu in Brawl

Trivia

• Brawl is the first installment in the series which does not have the "Erase Hidden Characters" and "Erase Hidden Stages" options.
  • This is due to a special stipulation in the game. Due to the way unlockable characters appear in The Subspace Emissary, it is not possible to restart the unlockable characters and unlockable stages in Brawl. Despite being possible in the first two installments (Smash 64 and Melee) and Smash 64 on VC for Wii, it isn't in Brawl.
• If the player chooses to erase all data in Brawl, the game asks the player three times if they are sure they want to lose that data. The first prompt plays a siren, the second one plays a sped-up version of the siren, and the third and final plays an alarm similar to Melee's "challenger approaching" theme. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (for the Wii U Game Pad only), similarly present three prompts (like in Brawl for "Erase All"). But they both only have the siren and sped-up siren on the second and third prompts.