Pyrosphere

Pyrosphere (, Pyrosphere) is a stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and is based on the area in .

Stage overview
The main body of Pyrosphere is a fairly long platform with a metallic surface mounted on top of a tall metal shaft extending down below the surface of the lava. Above it floats four metallic platforms sporting green glowing strips wrapped around them. The lava appears pouring in the background, but does not affect the playing area.

Ridley will appear periodically to attack players and destroy floating platforms. He can increase his strength from absorbing energy from the tanks under the ledges, which blackens his skin in the process. If he receives enough damage, he will become an ally to the last attacker. Defeating him counts as a point in Timed matches.

FG II-Grahams, Joulions, and s appear as enemies on the stage as well. FG II-Graham units are mobile flying turrets that fire straight shots when hit. Joulions are floating enemies that inflate and explode after being attacked. The weighty Zeros crawl slowly on the ground, and can be picked up and thrown.

Ω form
The main platform is used in the Ω form. Ridley, enemies, and smaller platforms do not appear.

Origin
In , is ordered by her commander,, to venture into the hazardous  area of the  to track down the  that attacked her in. Along the way, she saves, a soldier, from a  and later meets him again at the Geothermal Power Plant. It is here that Samus and Anthony encounter the Mystery Creature's new form, which Samus realizes is her longtime enemy,, who was illegally cloned by a group of Galactic Federation scientists that obtained his DNA in an attempt to create bioweapons. Samus engages and defeats the cloned Ridley, who actually feigns death and escapes by breaking through one of the walls.

This stage in SSB4 is based on the Geothermal Power Plant of the Pyrosphere where Samus and the cloned Ridley fought. This stage's appearance is mostly the same as it is in Metroid: Other M; the bridge that Ridley burns down, the magma-eruption port that Samus destroys to light the area, and the hole in the wall that Ridley creates while escaping are all in their post-battle state in SSB4, though the hole has been moved slightly to the right and there is another hole to the right of the door for unknown reasons. The four floating platforms of the stage are not present in Other M, however.

During the fight at the Geothermal Power Plant against Ridley, he could harden his skin to render himself invulnerable to Samus' Plasma Beam, signified by his darkened skin. In SSB4, he absorbs the energy from the vats on either side of the stage to further augment his strength. The result is erroneously stated as a transformation into Meta Ridley in the English translation of the 50-Fact Extravaganza; the Japanese version calls it instead, which is more accurately translated as Black Ridley and does not reference the Metroid Prime series.

Tournament legality
Pyrosphere is banned from tournaments due to the random and disruptive nature of its hazards. This applies to the FG II-Grahams, Joulions, and Zeros, but most importantly to Ridley: his attacks cover large portions of the stage, he can take attacks intended for other players due to his massive size, and he gives the player he sides with a very significant advantage, KO'ing characters at unrealistic percentages.

Glitches
Attacking Ridley with the Dragoon when he is about to dive onto the stage will make him function in the background instead of the foreground. However, his fireballs remain potent, and he can still destroy the floating platforms. In this state, he can only be defeated by the use of Dragoons.

Update history
 1.0.2

Update history
 1.0.2
 * Added 8-player mode version of the stage (already had an 8-player Ω form). This version of Pyrosphere removes Ridley and other stage hazards. Additionally, there is no flowing lava in the background, even though the lava flows in the 8-player Ω form.

Trivia

 * The specifics of Ridley's role on Pyrosphere was withheld from Miiverse over a year after its announcement on August 20, 2013, when Masahiro Sakurai revealed the stage with a caption stating "An enemy from Samus's past may appear at any second…" On the April 8, 2014 Nintendo Direct, Sakurai showed a clip of Pikachu being chased by Ridley on the stage - although only his shadow, wings, and tail could be seen - implying that he was set to appear on the stage. Ridley was eventually shown and his role as a stage hazard was ultimately detailed in the October 2014 50-Fact Extravaganza.
 * Pyrosphere is one of five stages from Super Smash Bros for Wii U not to return in Ultimate, the others being Orbital Gate Assault, Woolly World, Jungle Hijinxs and Miiverse. In Pyrosphere's case, it is most likely due to being a playable character, although it should be noted that the Ridley in Other M is a genetic clone of the playable  Ridley.
 * Pyrosphere is the only new stage in Wii U where the most likely track by default is an older remix rather than a new remix or a direct port.

Pirosfera