User:Diddy Kongstar/The Akaneia Build

The Akaneia Build, also called "Akaneia" is a gameplay modification of Super Smash Bros. Melee, named after the scrapped Fire Emblem stage from the game. Much like how Smash Remix was to the original Super Smash Bros., The Akaneia Build focuses on adding more content to Melee without changing the gameplay. This content consists of new characters, stages, and modes.

Characters
All 26 characters (25 if Zelda and Sheik are counted as one character) from Melee appear in The Akaneia Build, unchanged from how they played in Melee. There are currently 5 new characters added to the mod, bringing the total up to 31 (30 if Zelda and Sheik are counted as one character). Notably for the new characters, the announcer will say "Bonus Character" (edited together by splicing the "bonus stage" and "choose your character" voice clips) when they are selected rather than saying their names.

Stages
In addition to the 29 stages from Melee, Akaneia has introduced 11 new stages since the release of version 0.91.

The version 0.5, first release seven stages consisted of all other Past Stages returning from Super Smash Bros. from Nintendo 64 (except for Sector Z presumably due to its similarities with Corneria) and a Volleyball stage.

Moving to version 0.9, new stages were introduced alongside new characters. These levels, featured in this latest update, draw inspiration from their Super Smash Bros. Brawl versions but take a different approach, paying homage to their original aspect from the Nintendo GameCube. As example, the background of Village, the Animal Forest stage is entirely different and redesigned : It's a direct homage to Animal Crossing from the Nintendo GameCube. Green Hill Zone returns, with a visual approach closer to the original version from Sonic the Hedgehog released on Sega Genesis.

Trivia

 * In v0.9, Lucas, Charizard, and Sonic were unable to be used in Cruel Melee; the lattermost is especially ironic, given a rumor from Electronic Gaming Monthly stating Sonic (and Tails) could be unlocked in Melee by that very mode. This was fixed in the next update.
 * On a related note, after the launch of v0.9, the Akaneia Build team tweeted an in-game screenshot replicating the image seen in the hoax.