Corneria

Announced at E3 2001, Corneria (, Planet Corneria) is a starter stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and is essentially a smaller version of 's old stage, Sector Z, which was in Super Smash Bros. Corneria later appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a Melee stage and in as a familiar stage. In All-Star Mode in Melee, this stage is where one fights Fox and any of his teammates. This stage returns once again in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, although updated to resemble the stage's appearance in Star Fox Zero. In Smash 3DS and Ultimate, Falco is fought here when being unlocked.

Stage overview
The stage is set on the Great Fox, like every other Star Fox stage released in SSB and Melee. The horizontal blast lines are very close to the main platform, and the stage has a very low ceiling in Brawl. Arwings and Wolfens fly down to fire lasers at players, usually coming from the right hand side or from up above. The lasers can damage players, but they will only make characters flinch very slightly and do no knockback, except in Smash 3DS where the shots explode on contact and can easily KO an unfortunate fighter. They may come in and lock on from the background, flying past the Great Fox. They also serve as moving platforms when they come, though they can carry characters past blast lines. The lasers fired by Arwings and Wolfens can be reflected or absorbed by Mr. Game & Watch, Ness, Lucas, and Mii Gunner. In a design change from Sector Z, players can stand on the Great Fox's laser cannons, but they will charge and fire on occasion. Characters caught in the crossfire usually have no chance of survival, although this was greatly toned down in Ultimate, with the charging hitbox on the gun being the main threat. However, just like the Arwings and Wolfens, one can use energy-projectile absorption moves like PSI Magnet and Oil Panic to benefit from these shots. The laser cannons can be destroyed, which stops them from being used as platforms.

Fox and Falco can perform a special easter egg on this stage in which they contact other characters from the Star Fox games. It is performed by pressing down on the D-Pad for one frame.

The level is also apparently scrolling slightly, as items that should remain stationary in the air like Flippers and Party Balls will move slowly. Also, the Great Fox's wings will sometimes touch the sea under it, though swimming is impossible even in Brawl and Ultimate.

When is used on this stage, there will be an extra smaller ship for the trainer to stand on in the background.

Ω forms and Battlefield form
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, the Ω form replaces the Great Fox with a flat platform resembling some of the buildings in the background. Arwings and Wolfen no longer appear.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Ω form and Battlefield form are set on a slightly redesigned version of SSB4's Ω form; however, it is resized and reshaped to match and, respectively. The three soft platforms of the Battlefield form are metallic and are unique to this form.

Hazards Off
With stage hazards disabled in Ultimate, Arwings and Wolfens do not appear, and the Great Fox's cannons do not fire lasers and cannot be destroyed.

Origin
The planet first appeared in Star Fox (Starwing in the PAL region) and has appeared in numerous Star Fox titles since; however, this stage is based on its appearance as the first level of  (Lylat Wars in the PAL region), in  which Corneria City, the capital of Corneria, is attacked by 's army. Unable to defeat the advancing army lead by Granga, of the Cornerian Army hires Star Fox to aid them. When Star Fox arrives, they fly through the ruined city to drive off the enemy forces and later fly outside the city to locate and defeat Granga. In this stage, the Great Fox flies the same route that Star Fox takes in Star Fox 64; however, Corneria City is not damaged and is more densely populated. In Ultimate, Corneria City bears resemblance to its appearance in .

The, Star Fox's mobile headquarters, acts as the main platform of the stage; the Great Fox is shown on the planet in the introduction of Star Fox 64, and it is seen flying over Corneria's surface again during the end credits. Also in this stage are s and, piloted by Star Fox and Star Wolf, respectively, that occasionally appear to act as small platforms. All three aircraft are based on their appearances in Star Fox 64, and the Arwings apparently have one as they fire two lasers at once as opposed to the standard one.

The Great Fox dipping into the water is a reference to the beginning of the level in Star Fox 64, where it partially submerges into the water to deploy the.

Tournament legality
While it was allowed as a counterpick stage in Melee in the past, Corneria is usually banned from standard tournament rulesets because of stage hazards such as the Arwings as well as issues with camping, its very low ceiling (in Brawl), and wall infinites such as 's shine infinite in Melee and 's infinite chain throw in Brawl, both done against the backside of the Great Fox's dorsal wing which functions as a wall. The Great Fox's laser fire also serves as an extremely powerful stage hazard.

After not being legal since, Corneria was made legal for Melee tournament play at alongside the previously featured Mute City as a charity incentive.

Trivia

 * In Melee, 's shield can be used to block laser cannons' charging hitbox by crouching on the left side very close to the right corner. This will cause them to fire lasers immediately after charging instead of pausing for a few seconds, and Young Link will not take damage and knockback.
 * The Ike grab glitch can be performed on this stage in Brawl.
 * In SSB4, using certain absorption moves from specific positions can cause the lasers fired by the ships to move in unpredictable ways, sometimes directly into opponents.
 * The TEST stage, a (hence the name) testing stage in Melee uses the music of this stage.
 * Even though the stage in all of its Smash Bros. appearances give it the name Corneria, it oddly instead uses the Venom theme from the original Star Fox for the SNES.
 * CPU fighters are rather notorious for attempting to fight on the Great Fox's cannons for seemingly little reason, or in an attempt to grab items. As a result, they can often force themselves into a self-destruct due to the cannons charging or firing. This is an example of flaws in artificial intelligence.
 * In Ultimate, Corneria and Venom share the same main platform and soft platforms for their Ω form and Battlefield form.
 * In Ultimate, Nightmare and Andross cannot be summoned as Assist Trophy. Additionally, Lugia and Kyogre cannot be summoned from Poké Balls.
 * Assist Trophies that can only appear on the Battlefield and Omega forms of this stage are Jeff, Ashley, Riki, Color TV-Game 15, Dr. Wright, Yuri Kozukata and Knuckles.
 * Poké Ball summons that can only appear on the Battlefield and Omega forms of this stage are Moltres, Mew, Togepi, Suicune, Deoxys, Giratina, Arceus, Kyurem, Xerneas and Marshadow.

Corneria