Super Smash Bros. series

Stage

From SmashWiki, the Super Smash Bros. wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
For other uses of the term, see Stage (disambiguation).
The Battlefield stage in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is an example of a typical stage in the Super Smash Bros. series.

A stage (ステージ, Stage), also called a level, map, arena, stadium, or board, is a location in which characters fight or complete objectives. The word "stage" refers to a versus mode stage, but can also refer to the ground or large central platform within this location. As well as versus mode stages, single player mode stages, such as the Target Smash ones, exist for purposes other than fighting.

Versus stages

In all of the games of the Super Smash Bros. series, most versus mode stages are available from the start, while a small number must be unlocked by completing certain objectives. Some stages in SSB4 were made available through updates and are downloadable. Of these stages, only two are free. Most stages, like Princess Peach's Castle, are derived from places in playable characters' universes. Super Smash Bros. Melee introduced two Super Smash Bros. universe stages - Battlefield and Final Destination. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, stages derived from games without associated playable characters were introduced, namely Smashville and Hanenbow, while PictoChat represents a Nintendo DS utility interface. Additionally, not every playable character has a stage from their own universe. Included in all games other than the first are a small number (large number in Smash Wii U) of Past Stages - stages from a previous Smash game. These stages will have either no or minor alterations, an example being Dream Land (64) in SSB4, where the top blast line is much closer to the stage then it was in 64 or Melee.

Stages range in size from the large The Great Cave Offensive and Rumble Falls to the small Yoshi's Story and Peach's Castle. Typically, stages involve a large central platform with ledges, multiple smaller platforms, as well as blast lines above, below, and to the left and right of the visible area. Some stages, such as Mushroom Kingdom and Coliseum have floors that continue past the edge of the visible area and pass through a side blast line, these edges are known as "walk-off edges" or "walk-offs", because characters can walk offscreen without the need to become airborne. Stages with walk off edges on both the left and right, like Bridge of Eldin, are referred to as "walk-off stages", and only a select few, like Yoshi's Island, have only one walk-off. Some walk-off stages, such as Onett, have lower blast lines that are inaccessible normally, while others, such as Green Hill Zone, only infrequently have the lower blast lines introduced.

In Melee, moving and transforming stages were introduced. Big Blue and Rainbow Cruise consist entirely of platforms that move or appear on and offscreen while stages like Icicle Mountain and PAC-LAND scroll continuously up, to the side or down. Other stages, such as Pokémon Stadium, undergo partial transformations at certain intervals, while yet others, like Brawl's Frigate Orpheon and Castle Siege, cycle through complete transformations. Similarly, stages like Delfino Plaza and Skyloft will take players to various areas via moving platforms. Mushroomy Kingdom may be one of two stages either randomly or based on a player's input prior to the match. Tortimer Island's, Gamer's and Garden of Hope's layout is randomized each battle as well.

Other stage elements include breakable barriers and platforms, such as the pillars of Luigi's Mansion and the stone floors of Skyworld; stage hazards and enemies, such as lasers, cars and Klaptraps; local items such as apples; and interactive objects such as Barrel Cannon and switches. While water has no effect on movement in Melee outside of the flowing river in Jungle Japes, Brawl introduced swimming, and some of its stages involve water that can be swum in.

In Brawl and Smash 4, the appearance of some items, namely crates and barrels, differs depending on the aesthetic style of the stage they appear on.

In all games, some stages (and in SSB's case, all but one) are banned in competitive play because they are considered disruptive or unfair. See banned stages.

In Super Smash Bros.

File:StageSelectSSB.jpg
The stage select screen in Smash 64.

There are nine versus stages in the original Super Smash Bros., eight starters and one unlockable stage: Mushroom Kingdom, shown in bold.

Super Smash Bros. Stages

Symbol of the DK series, pre-Brawl. Congo Jungle
KirbySymbol.svg Dream Land
ZeldaSymbol.svg Hyrule Castle
MarioSymbol(preBrawl).svg Mushroom Kingdom
MarioSymbol(preBrawl).svg Peach's Castle
MetroidSymbol(preBrawl).svg Planet Zebes
PokemonSymbol(preBrawl).svg Saffron City
File:StreetFighterSymbol(preBrawl).svg Sector Z
YoshiSymbol(preBrawl).svg Yoshi's Island

In Melee

The stage select screen in Melee.

There are 29 versus stages in Super Smash Bros. Melee, 18 starters and 11 unlockable stages, shown below in bold. The three past stages are unlockable.

Super Smash Bros. Melee Melee Stages

SpecialStagesSymbol.svg Battlefield
FZeroSymbol.svg Big Blue
MetroidSymbol(preBrawl).svg Brinstar
MetroidSymbol(preBrawl).svg Brinstar Depths
File:StreetFighterSymbol(preBrawl).svg Corneria
Symbol of the Smash Bros. series. Final Destination
Game&WatchSymbol(preBrawl).svg Flat Zone
KirbySymbol.svg Fountain of Dreams
EarthboundSymbol(preBrawl).svg Fourside
ZeldaSymbol.svg Great Bay
KirbySymbol.svg Green Greens
IceClimberSymbol.svg Icicle Mountain
Symbol of the DK series, pre-Brawl. Jungle Japes
Symbol of the DK series, pre-Brawl. Kongo Jungle
MarioSymbol(preBrawl).svg Mushroom Kingdom
MarioSymbol(preBrawl).svg Mushroom Kingdom II
FZeroSymbol.svg Mute City
EarthboundSymbol(preBrawl).svg Onett
PokemonSymbol(preBrawl).svg Poké Floats
PokemonSymbol(preBrawl).svg Pokémon Stadium
MarioSymbol(preBrawl).svg Princess Peach's Castle
MarioSymbol(preBrawl).svg Rainbow Cruise
ZeldaSymbol.svg Temple
File:StreetFighterSymbol(preBrawl).svg Venom
YoshiSymbol(preBrawl).svg Yoshi's Island
YoshiSymbol(preBrawl).svg Yoshi's Story

Super Smash Bros. Past Stages

Symbol of the DK series, pre-Brawl. Kongo Jungle
KirbySymbol.svg Dream Land
YoshiSymbol(preBrawl).svg Yoshi's Island

In Brawl

The stage select screen in Brawl.
File:BrawlMeleeStages.jpg
The Melee Stages screen in Brawl.

There are 41 versus stages in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, 29 starters and 12 unlockable stages, shown below in bold. None of the original Super Smash Bros. stages return, but there are 10 stages from Melee, one from each universe involved in the original Super Smash Bros.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Brawl Stages

Symbol of the DK series. 75m
Symbol of the Smash Bros. series. Battlefield
ZeldaSymbol.svg Bridge of Eldin
FireEmblemSymbol.svg Castle Siege
MarioSymbol.svg Delfino Plaza
PikminSymbol.svg Distant Planet
Symbol of the Smash Bros. series. Final Destination
Game&WatchSymbol.svg Flat Zone 2
MetroidSymbol.svg Frigate Orpheon
SonicSymbol.svg Green Hill Zone
KirbySymbol.svg Halberd
ElectroplanktonSymbol.svg Hanenbow
MarioSymbol.svg Luigi's Mansion
StreetFighterSymbol.svg Lylat Cruise
MarioSymbol.svg Mario Bros.
MarioSymbol.svg Mario Circuit
MarioSymbol.svg Mushroomy Kingdom
EarthboundSymbol.svg New Pork City
MetroidSymbol.svg Norfair
DSSymbol.svg PictoChat
ZeldaSymbol.svg Pirate Ship
PokemonSymbol.svg Pokémon Stadium 2
FZeroSymbol.svg Port Town Aero Dive
Symbol of the DK series. Rumble Falls
MetalGearSymbol.svg Shadow Moses Island
KidIcarusSymbol.svg Skyworld
Symbol of the Animal Crossing series. Smashville
PokemonSymbol.svg Spear Pillar
IceClimberSymbol.svg Summit
WarioSymbol.svg WarioWare, Inc.
YoshiSymbol.svg Yoshi's Island

Super Smash Bros. Melee Melee Stages

FZeroSymbol.svg Big Blue
MetroidSymbol.svg Brinstar
StreetFighterSymbol.svg Corneria
KirbySymbol.svg Green Greens
Symbol of the DK series. Jungle Japes
EarthboundSymbol.svg Onett
PokemonSymbol.svg Pokémon Stadium
MarioSymbol.svg Rainbow Cruise
ZeldaSymbol.svg Temple
YoshiSymbol.svg Yoshi's Island

In Smash 4

The stage select for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, showing the normal stages.
The stage select for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, showing the extra stages.
Stage select for SSBU.
The stage select for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, showing the normal stages.
Extra stages for SSBU.
The stage select for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, showing the extra stages.

Stages in Super Smash Bros. 4 differ depending on the version. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS features 42 stages total, 7 of which are unlockable, shown in bold, and 8 of which are downloadable content. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U features 55 stages, 6 of which are unlockable, shown in bold, and 9 of which are downloadable content. Bold and italic text denotes stages that are unlockable in one version, but a starter/downloadable stage in the other. 13 stages appear in both versions (with some having changes), however the majority of stages are exclusive to each version, with 3DS stages primarily pulled from handheld games and Wii U stages from console games (though, there are some exceptions). In addition, this is the first game where stages from multiple past games return at once.

All stages now have an optional Ω Form (Omega Form), changing their layout to be similar to Final Destination - some have walls that go all the way down to the bottom blast line, while others are basically floating islands.

Unique to Smash 4 is the disabling of Star KOs and Screen KOs on certain stages.

Super Smash Bros. 4 Both Versions

Symbol of the Smash Bros. series. Battlefield
PunchOutSymbol.svg Boxing Ring
DuckHuntSymbol.svg Duck Hunt (The 3DS version is a free automatic download on patch 1.1.1 onwards)
Symbol of the Smash Bros. series. Final Destination
XenobladeSymbol.svg Gaur Plain
FinalFantasySymbol.svg Midgar (DLC)
MarioSymbol.svg Super Mario Maker (DLC)
StreetFighterSymbol.svg Suzaku Castle (DLC)
BayonettaSymbol.svg Umbra Clock Tower (DLC)
MegaManSymbol.svg Wily Castle
Familiar stages
KirbySymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Dream Land (64) (DLC)
ZeldaSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Hyrule Castle (64) (DLC)
MarioSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Peach's Castle (64) (DLC)

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS Nintendo 3DS Stages

MarioSymbol.svg 3D Land
FireEmblemSymbol.svg Arena Ferox
Symbol of the Balloon Fight series. Balloon Fight
KirbySymbol.svg Dream Land
SpecialStagesSymbol.svg Find Mii
ZeldaSymbol.svg Gerudo Valley
MarioSymbol.svg Golden Plains
NintendogsSymbol.svg Living Room
EarthboundSymbol.svg Magicant
FZeroSymbol.svg Mute City
PacManSymbol.svg Pac-Maze
MarioSymbol.svg Paper Mario
DSSymbol.svg PictoChat 2
PokemonSymbol.svg Prism Tower
MarioSymbol.svg Rainbow Road
KidIcarusSymbol.svg Reset Bomb Forest
ZeldaSymbol.svg Spirit Train
TomodachiSymbol.svg Tomodachi Life
Symbol of the Animal Crossing series. Tortimer Island
PokemonSymbol.svg Unova Pokémon League
Familiar stages
MetroidSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Melee Brinstar
StarFoxSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Melee Corneria
Symbol of the DK series. Super Smash Bros. Melee Jungle Japes
PikminSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Distant Planet
Game&WatchSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Flat Zone 2
SonicSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Green Hill Zone
MarioSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Mushroomy Kingdom
WarioSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl WarioWare, Inc.
YoshiSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Yoshi's Island

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Wii U Stages

Symbol of the Smash Bros. series. Big Battlefield
FireEmblemSymbol.svg Coliseum
Game&WatchSymbol.svg Flat Zone X
WarioSymbol.svg Gamer
PikminSymbol.svg Garden of Hope
Symbol of the DK series. Jungle Hijinxs
PokemonSymbol.svg Kalos Pokémon League
MarioSymbol.svg Mario Circuit
MarioSymbol.svg Mario Galaxy
MiiverseSymbol.svg Miiverse (Free DLC)
MarioSymbol.svg Mushroom Kingdom U
StarFoxSymbol.svg Orbital Gate Assault
PacManSymbol.svg Pac-Land
KidIcarusSymbol.svg Palutena's Temple
PilotwingsSymbol.svg Pilotwings
MetroidSymbol.svg Pyrosphere
ZeldaSymbol.svg Skyloft
KirbySymbol.svg The Great Cave Offensive
Symbol of the Animal Crossing series. Town and City
WiiFitSymbol.svg Wii Fit Studio
SonicSymbol.svg Windy Hill Zone
YoshiSymbol.svg Woolly World
WreckingCrewSymbol.svg Wrecking Crew
WiiSportsSymbol.svg Wuhu Island
Familiar Stages
Symbol of the DK series. Super Smash Bros. Kongo Jungle 64
EarthboundSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Melee Onett
ZeldaSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Melee Temple
YoshiSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Melee Yoshi's Island
Symbol of the DK series. Super Smash Bros. Brawl 75m
ZeldaSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Bridge of Eldin
FireEmblemSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Castle Siege
MarioSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Delfino Plaza
KirbySymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Halberd
MarioSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Luigi's Mansion
StarFoxSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Lylat Cruise
MarioSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Mario Circuit (Brawl)
MetroidSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Norfair
ZeldaSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Pirate Ship (DLC)
PokemonSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Pokémon Stadium 2
FZeroSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Port Town Aero Dive
KidIcarusSymbol.svg Super Smash Bros. Brawl Skyworld
Symbol of the Animal Crossing series. Super Smash Bros. Brawl Smashville

Single player stages

In the single player modes and challenges, a number of stages appear that are not available in versus mode.

  • The Home-Run Contest stages in Melee, Brawl, and SSB4 involve a central platform from which Sandbag is hit, and a very long stretch of ground to the right of the platform for it to land upon.
  • In Melee's "trophy tussle" event matches, the player fights CPUs upon a stage that takes the form of a giant object, the trophy for which he or she wins after completing the event.
  • The original Super Smash Bros. Board the Platforms stages function as agility tests, and there are 12 in total - each one is designed to challenge the player's character.
  • Like Board the Platforms, Break the Targets and Target Test stages of the original Super Smash Bros. and Melee respectively are tailored to challenge each character - 12 exist in the original and 25 in Melee. Some of Melee's Target Test stages are decorated in reference to their character's universe; Pikachu's, for example, has decorative Poké Balls in its walls, while the Ice Climbers' look like a level from the game Ice Climber. Brawl, however, simply has five Target Smash! stages for all characters, each representing a different difficulty level.
  • Areas in Adventure Mode and the Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary are technically defined as stages.
  • The Online Practice Stage in Brawl and SSB4 is playable only while waiting for an online match to load.
  • The controls test stage in Brawl and SSB4 is playable only for the purpose of testing custom controls, and only as Mario.

In Super Smash Bros.

In Melee

In Brawl

In Smash 4

Note: On the Wii U version, most of these stages can be played with two players.

Non-playable stages

Some stages exist, but are non-playable; developers did not intended for them to be played in. Non-playable stages are accessible only through hacks and debug programs, such as Action Replay. Some, such as "Test", are assumed to have been used for testing during game development, while others, such as the "Tutorial stage", are used in the game but not for the purpose of gameplay.

In Super Smash Bros.

In Melee

In Brawl

  • 1-Player Mode Credits - the file name of the single player mode credits is "STGCHARACROLL.pac", which technically defines it as a stage.
  • Results Screen - the results screen that appears after a match is a stage, playable only through hacking.[1]

Custom Stages

Brawl introduced the Stage Builder, a tool that allows players to build their own stages, for use in multiplayer matches, using sets of provided objects, some unlockable. Brawl includes a set of Sample Stages that were built using the Stage Builder. The stage builder can also be used to build No KO stages and "CD Factories" - exploitative stages used for quickly obtaining CDs.

References