The Ruined Zoo

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The Ruined Zoo
Ness fighting Porky.
File:Earthbound Icon.gif File:Smash Bros. Icon.gif
Universe Super Smash Bros.
Appears in SSBB
Availability Subspace Emissary and
Boss Battles only

The Ruined Zoo (Japanese: 台無しにされた動物園 ) is an area in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It is part of the The Subspace Emissary. Here, Lucas is seen depressingly walking through what seems to be an old and broken-down area that hasn't been used for years. It is unknown what was here before. Before too long, Shadow Bugs fall from the sky, and form Primid. Lucas starts getting scared, when suddenly, a giant Porky statue crashes down and chases after Lucas.

The Ruined Zoo is a side scrolling area in which Lucas must run away from the Pig King Statue before he knocks him out. The camera scrolls forward (to the right) as the Pig King Statue walks on. The higher the difficulty, the faster the Porky statue will go. When Lucas reaches the end, he trips and gets caught on a branch. Just when the Pig King Statue almost has him, Ness arrives and destroys the statue, revealing Porky Minch, himself. The two fight and defeat Porky, but Wario appears and turns Ness into a trophy (after attempting to turn Lucas into one). Lucas runs away in fear and eventually runs into the Pokémon Trainer, who uses his Squirtle to fight off oncoming Primids. Afterward, Lucas decides to stick with the Pokémon Trainer and both of them are now in your group.

Enemies Introduced

Music

  • While running from the Porky Statue and while fighting Porky, Porky's Theme plays.
  • During the first part of the section including Pokmon Trainer, Wild Pokémon Battle! (Diamond / Pearl) plays.
  • During the second part of the section with Pokémon Trainer, Team Galactic Battle! plays.

Trivia

  • This stage is a cleverly hidden refrence to Earthbound's prequel, Mother. In Mother, an alien named Starman Jr. is using a hypersonic sound to cause the animals to destroy the zoo in a town named Podunk, and the main character Ninten is tasked with stopping the Starman Jr. You need to get the Franklin Badge to defeat it.
  • Additionally, it may be a reference to the Pokémon Safari that appears in Pokémon Red & Blue which was under renovations in Gold & Silver.
  • This is the only level in the Subspace Emissary where you get to control a hidden character (in this case, Ness) during the level and not unlock them at the end. He can be unlocked much later where he officially joins your team in the SSE.
  • The first part of the level is based on running from the Heavy Lobster from Revenge of Meta Knight in Kirby Super Star. It includes breakable objects, hitting switches, a small delay of the foe and the foe destroying anything in its path. Also in both, the path leads into a boss fight. The only difference is the fact that enemies (Primids and Buckots) appear in the area.
  • Judging by the state of the zoo, and the fact that Pokémon Trainer was searching for other Pokémon that leaves a strong possibly that Charizard had managed to break out of the zoo as it is seen flying towards the ruins (perhaps where its home is) and is later caught by Pokémon Trainer.
  • Paring Lucas with Pokémon Trainer is not as far-fetched as some of the other partnerships in the SSE. The reason for this is because Creatures Inc. (or Ape Inc. as it was called in the NES days) worked on both the Pokémon series and the Mother series.
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