Activate debug mode. If the game "freezes" instead of zooming in like it normally does when you press pause, it's in debug mode.
+
LEFT/RIGHT
Swap to the next character.
Swap to the next 10th character.
- - -
When swapping between characters, they are ordered alphabetically (sorta) by their assigned names in the game files. Make sure you let the game finish loading each character individually before attempting another swap by 1 or swap by 10 command, since it can sometimes end up loading the commands indefinitely (and if there are no characters loaded on screen, you can't pause the game to quit out; you'll have to restart your system or wait it out for however minutes it takes). They are ordered like so:
captain
dedede
diddy
donkey
falco
fox
gamewatch
ganon
ike
kirby
koopa
koopa ("gigabowser")
link
lucario
lucas
luigi
mario
marth
metaknight
mewtwo
ness
peach
pikachu
pikmin
pit
pokefushigisou
pokelizardon
pokezenigame
popo
popo ("sopo")
purin
robot
roy
samus
samus (szerosuit)
snake
sonic
toonlink
wario
wolf
yoshi
zelda
zelda (sheik)
- - -
Alternatively, what you're describing (swapping out characters each stock) could be PM 3.5's all-star mode. Instead of going to "VERSUS" mode, go to "SPECIAL VERSUS," go down to "OTHER" (the last option), and set it to "ALL-STAR" and hit OK! In order to pick different characters/costumes for each stock, follow these steps:
- Hover your "mouse" over the character you wish to select
- DO NOT press A yet
- Press X/Y to select your costume
- NOW press A, once your desired costume is shown
- Press A/B to pick your character token thingy back up
- Repeat steps 1-5 for your next characters.
- If you wish to reset your selections, you must exit out of and re-enter ALL-STAR mode from the SPECIAL VERSUS options screen.
Imagine the number of stocks as your available "slots" for character/costume choices.
- If there are the same number of stocks and selected characters/costumes, you will play as each of them in the selected order.
- If there are more stocks than selected characters/costumes, you will play as each of them in the selected order, and then it will cycle back to the first choice and you will play as each of them again until the number of stocks runs out.
- If there are less stocks than selected characters/costumes, the "extra" characters/costumes will not be included, and only the first bunch of characters/costumes will be played as in the order selected.