Mute City

Mute City (, Mute City) is a stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee that is available from the start. It is 's home stage, and he is faced here in All-Star mode.

Stage overview
The stage begins on the track at the starting point of the race. A sign will appear and say "GO!!!", then a platform will appear from underneath the characters, hovering over the track. If a player makes contact with the track while the platform is hovering, they will be damaged; it is possible to tech on the track, but at the end of the tech, the character will receive damage as usual. After a short way through the track, the platform will stop momentarily, allowing the characters to fight on the track again. This is a set pattern and will occur in the same way each time; the sole exception to this rule is the loop at the end of the track, where the platform will take off from the track altogether and fly through the air. Any players falling off the platform and unable to recover here will be KOd. The stage then touches back down on the track for the last time and reveals its last variation before going back to the finish line, where the stage loop is restarted.

The thirty F-Zero Racers are another level hazard. They drive around the track continuously (though they only appear on certain segments of the track, and at alternating times and laps) and will damage any player upon contact, sending them upwards. However, the racers can be damaged and even destroyed by hitting them with explosives (such as the Motion-Sensor Bomb), powerful attacks and items (like the and Home-Run Bat) and immovable Pokémon (like Venusaur or Charizard).

The process will keep repeating itself, where the platform will rise up and take the characters to another part of the track to battle on. Towards the end of the track, the platform will hover over open space around the aforementioned loop, and any character falling into the space will be KO'd. The platform will then arrive at the finish line again and the stage will start over.

Origin
This stage is based on the Mute City 1: Figure Eight track from , which is the first track in the Jack Cup. The overall layout and design of the track itself in this stage is mostly accurate to how it was in F-Zero X with elements that include s on the track, which gave F-Zero s a boost when driven over; s on the track, which gradually refilled the machine's when driven over; spinning signs (which read "Smash 2" instead of "Nintex"); and the buildings in the background. The Pits in this stage, however, act more like s due to their slippery nature. In , a sound is played every time the player crosses the finish line, which is the same sound heard when the "GO" notification appears in this stage before the platform begins to move.

In the F-Zero games, damage given to a machine depletes its energy. When the energy runs out, the machine explodes and s. In this stage, the machines are based on their appearance in F-Zero X, and when enough damage is dealt to them by fighters or explosives laid on the track, they will explode and the wreckage will stay at that same point for the rest of the match.

Tournament legality
Mute City is currently banned in Melee, though it was a common counterpick stage in past rulesets. The reason for its banning is due to a lack of ledges that can be grabbed (which ironically made very bad on this stage) and the stage's primary platform size; it can just barely provide sufficient space for two combatants, and it becomes far too small for doubles play. Similar to Fountain of Dreams, the stage can also lag in doubles play, making gameplay detrimental in such cases. In addition, had a notorious advantage against  and  on this stage.

This stage was unbanned as a one-off in Apex 2015 for vs., though it was not played on.

Upon reaching a charity milestone, Mute City was enabled as a counterpick stage during the final bracket of The Off-Season. counterpicked to it in Winners' Semis (against ), and counterpicked to it in Losers' Semis (against ) and Losers' Finals (against ). It returned at alongside Corneria, which was won by.

Trivia

 * One of the billboards on the stage is labelled "SMASH 2", as Melee is the second installment of the Smash series.
 * In the Special Movie, during 's scene (when it uses ), one of the "stops" of the stage is shown with two spinning platforms, when in every mode there is only one platform, and it moves laterally. These two platforms may actually appear in the trophy of Mute City (under the main platform, inside the track).
 * Racers are far larger and slower relative to the track than in F-Zero X.
 * The first time the F-Zero Racers appear on the stage in a match, the original 4 machines will be arranged in a square, but the others will be scattered all over the track.
 * If an F-Zero Racer is destroyed during the fight, its charred carcass will remain at the exact point where it exploded for the remainder of the match.
 * Mute City, along with Icicle Mountain, and Poké Floats are the only stages not to reappear outside of Melee.
 * This is also the only F-Zero stage that is not in Ultimate, as Port Town Aero Dive is a functionally identical stage (both consist of platforms that move along with the racetrack with periodic stops, during some of which F-Zero Racers might plow into the fighters) and the game features the Mute City stage from for 3DS.

es:Grand Prix de F-Zero: Circuito Mute City