Final stage (World of Light)
The unnamed final stage of World of Light, located at the end of the area The Final Battle, is the last challenge in the mode, in which the bosses Galeem and Dharkon are fought to earn the true ending. This stage differs mechanically from all other sections of the mode, being neither a spirit battle nor wholly a boss battle.
The stage is accessed by going to the top-center section of the map of The Final Battle after the message "You have conquered both light and darkness!" is triggered. After entering the stage, the player will be given the choice of three characters to bring, akin to Squad Strike. The final stage is split up into three sections, with the song Galeem / Dharkon playing during each phase. At the start of each phase, the music restarts and all missing stock are reset. Additionally, the player can start over from the beginning of any given phase should they lose all of their stock.
Like the rematches against Galeem and Dharkon individually, this fight can be repeated indefinitely by re-entering the World of Light save file.
First phase
This phase is a vertically scrolling section, akin to the platforming stages of Super Smash Bros. Melee's Adventure Mode and Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary. The phase begins on a platform resembling Final Destination, though with a unique scrolling background through which Galeem and Dharkon move.
At set intervals throughout the phase, the scrolling will stop and the screen will lock down as puppet fighters appear, with those belonging to Galeem's forces being blue and those belonging to Dharkon's forces being red. All base game fighters can appear except for Kirby, Olimar, and the Mii Fighters. After a set number are defeated, a Maxim Tomato spawns and scrolling resumes. Rocket Belts appear throughout the stage to help traverse the platforms.
Between the first and second lockdowns, Dharkon appears and attacks with its tentacles until its eye is damaged sufficiently or enough time passes. After the second lockdown, the background transitions from the sky to space, and between the second and third lockdowns, Dharkon uses its tentacles to attack the player and destroy the platforms.
Between the third and fourth lockdowns, Galeem attacks in the foreground, multiple levels of Bob-ombs must be evaded, and Galeem attacks using its wings. After the fourth lockdown is completed, the phase ends.
The 1st lockdown of the vertical scrolling section of the final battle.
Dharkon's first attack in the vertical scrolling section.
A section of the vertical scrolling section where the player must escape Bob-ombs instead.
Galeem's first attack in the vertical scrolling section.
The 4th lockdown of the vertical scrolling section of the final battle.
Second phase
The active fighter is transported to Final Destination, with the background evenly split with a dark section on the left and a light section on the right. Orbs containing the images of the various bosses appear and begin fighting with each other. Attacking an orb will start a battle with that boss, with their music replaced by that of Galeem and Dharkon. However leaving the orbs alone for too long will cause them to shoot smaller orbs that will damage the fighter. The boss orbs appear in a set order and start out fighting a set boss orb from the other faction, though defeating bosses will cause their respective orb to disappear and thus change who a given orb may be fighting.
Boss order:
After defeating a given boss, the other faction's motif will dominate the background, appearing as entirely either light of darkness if all bosses of Dharkon or Galeem, respectively, are defeated first. After every two fights, a Heart Container will spawn and stay on the stage until the end of the phase, even if further Heart Containers spawn. After defeating all six bosses, the fighter is teleported back to the stage for a brief moment before the phase ends.
After defeating a Light Realm boss, the background favors the dark side more.
Third phase
As the third phase begins, a short scene plays of Galeem and Dharkon fighting, before zooming out to the stage as the battle begins. The bosses are fought on the same Final Destination-like stage as their solo fights, but with a background containing a light half and a dark half. A unique aspect of this phase is that Galeem and Dharkon can damage each other during the fight. In fact, they primarily fight each other with the player only being an incidental part of the battle until one is defeated.
When either boss is close to defeat, the background changes to a more disordered-looking version. After one of the two is defeated, the background changes to reflect the motif of the one that remains. The remaining boss then focuses on the player, fighting them directly with targeted attacks.
After the remaining boss is defeated, the battle ends and the true ending cutscene Restoration plays, the mode now completed.
The background when either Galeem or Dharkon is nearly defeated.
Galeem and Dharkon before exploding.
The background when Dharkon is defeated first.
The background when Galeem is defeated first.
Trivia
- This is the only stage of the World of Light to:
- Not begin with the party configuration menu, with fighter selection taking place first
- Allow the player to start with more than one stock, and to use multiple fighters in a single match
- Include vertical scrolling
- Include a section where camera rotation is prohibited
- Feature multiple points from which the player can restart
- The scrolling section of the stage appears in the image for multiple Challenges, though with some elements that are impossible to see in normal gameplay, such as the appearance of the Thwomp Assist Trophy.
