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 any singular categories of data is available, alongside an "Erase All" ("ALL Data Clear" in Smash 64) option.

If the player chooses to erase all data, there is no way to recover it when erased. As such, Super Smash Bros. Melee advises players to create a copy of the data onto a separate memory card. However while that is in Melee, this is not possible in other games aside from Melee. In Smash 64 the game data is directly saved to the Nintendo 64 game cartridge while in Brawl the game data cannot be copied from one Wii/Wii U to another (nor to an SD Card). In Smash 64 (on VC for Wii), the game data cannot be copied from one Wii/Wii U to another nor to an SD card --similar to Brawl.

Super Smash Bros. 4 (if both versions count as one game) is the first installment in the series which does not have an "Erase Data" option, making it impossible to selectively erase any specific data. In both versions of Smash 4, players can erase all data by holding A, B, X, and Y (though in the Wii U version, it only works with the Wii U GamePad) on the startup and selecting "Yes" three times when prompted (just like in Brawl for "Erase All"). In Ultimate, the player can manually erase all data under the "Manage Save Data/Screenshots and Videos" option of the Data Management section in the Nintendo Switch's System Settings. Due to this, a such built-in application does not exist.

Gallery

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  The Backup Clear option in Smash 64

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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.
  • As 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.
• 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 similarly present three prompts (like in Brawl for "Erase All"), but only have the siren and sped-up siren on the second and third prompts. While Ultimate doesn't contain the in-game option, the similar three prompts are present when deleting Adventure Mode: World of Light's save files.
  • This is based on the messages when deleting save files in Kirby games starting from Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, likely due to both games are developed by Masahiro Sakurai; this became the same way as in Smash starting from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, even though the game is made after Sakurai's departure from HAL Laboratory.
• In Smash 64, the sound effect that plays when erasing data is the same as Ness's PSI Magnet.