Fourside

Fourside
File:EarthboundSymbol.png
Universe	EarthBound
Appears in	Melee
Availability	Unlockable
Unlock criteria	Play 100 vs. matches.
Tracks available	EarthBound
Tournament legality Melee Singles: Banned Doubles: Banned
Article on WikiBound	Fourside

Fourside (フォーサイド, Fourside) is an unlockable stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee, unlocked by playing 100 battles in VS. mode. It is also Ness's home stage, but Pichu and its teammates are faced here in All-Star Mode.

All of the pits in this stage minus the farthest left and right ones are narrow, providing wall jumpers a decent advantage.

Description

The stage consists of three buildings. The building on the far left is slanted, so items tend to roll off. The Monotoli Building, in the middle, is split into three parts: the top, two small ledges on either side in the middle, and a semi-long edge on the right. Like in the original game, the building has "Monotoli" in yellow capital letters traveling down its side. The building on the far right is the shortest one with a flat surface. On the far left building, which appears to be based on the Dinosaur Museum, there is a crane with a platform attached to it. It will move to the left a little and over the center of the building.

The Monotoli Building also houses a helipad and its associated yellow helicopter, which occasionally leaves and returns to its helipad.

UFO

A UFO appearing in Fourside in Melee.

UFOs will occasionally descend into Fourside, serving as hovering platforms. They use ice physics, and are therefore very slippery, making it easy to get KOed while on one. They have green lights on the bottom, and the noise they make when entering the stage is similar to the sound effect used in the title screen of EarthBound when the attack scene fades in. The UFO trophy is unlocked along with unlocking Fourside.

As a trophy

The UFO trophy as it appears in Melee

UFO

At the beginning of EarthBound, this flying saucer appears along with the ominous message, The War Against Giygas! Adding to the mystery are three more UFOs while fly amok in the skies over Onett; how all of these alien craft are connected is anyone's guess. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, this slippery UFO appears on the Fourside level.

Tournament legality

Fourside is often banned due to the various ways in which players can camp and stall due to the large size and geometry of the stage. The lack of large, flat platforms also hampers fighting between players, particularly in doubles. In addition, the UFO provides a platform that is too close to the upper blast line, thus potentially causing early vertical KOs. The presence of pits between buildings gives obscene advantages to some characters, such as Peach (who can stall indefinitely by using Peach Bomber repeatedly in a pit), while greatly crippling other characters with primarily horizontal recoveries, such as Donkey Kong, who are even more susceptible to early KOs from meteor smashes and spikes on this stage than they usually are.

Origin

Fourside as it originally appeared in EarthBound.

This stage is from EarthBound. Fourside is a major city that Ness has to venture through in order to find the fifth Your Sanctuary location. The mayor of Fourside is an old man named Geldegarde Monotoli, who worked in the Monotoli Building, the tallest building in Fourside. This building is where Ness and Jeff defeat the evil Mani-Mani Statue while trapped in Moonside, a bizarre version of Fourside created by the statue's power, and where Ness rescues Paula for the second time. The Monotoli Building also has a helipad that had Monotoli's yellow helicopter on it. When Ness confronts Monotoli, he lets Ness use his helicopter to get to the next location. When Ness gets to the helipad, Pokey Minch, Ness's former "friend", stole the helicopter and flew away, later crashing it in an area known as the Deep Darkness. In the background, buildings taller that the Monotoli building can be found. Some buildings, however, are unique to this stage. The buildings in this stage have fire escapes, like in EarthBound.

After the company logos are shown in the opening of EarthBound, there is a "UFO" sound effect and the game displays an image of three large flying saucers attacking a small town. This is the only time these flying saucers appear in EarthBound as they are never seen in any other part of the game, though there are smaller enemies that are flying saucers in both Mother and EarthBound.

A soundbite from EarthBound that played on the above opening image; a truncated form of this effect is used in Fourside whenever a UFO appears.

Gallery

• Fourside1.jpg

  Gameplay in Melee.

• 

  Moonside, as seen in EarthBound.

• 

  The UFO trophy in Melee.

Trivia

• Despite its status as an unlockable stage, the stage can be seen multiple times prior to its unlocking; multiple Classic Mode endings for some characters feature the stage, such as Captain Falcon's. Additionally, the stage shows up in Captain Falcon's vignette in the "Special Movie".
• Computer players tend to air dodge in this stage instead of using their Up special moves, which is unique from other stages.