Platform

This article is about the common stage structure. For the bonus game, see Board the Platforms.

Platforms are stage features upon which characters may stand and objects may land, which usually take the form of floating islands. There are four distinct types of platforms: hard, semisoft, soft, and super soft, each of which differs in its tolerance of the vertical movement of characters and objects through it. Platforms may accommodate ledges that characters can hang off, and may also incorporate slopes, movement, hazards, and destructible and interactive features. The appearance of platforms ranges from simple or abstract polygonal solids and flat planks, to recognisable objects such as buildings, ships and creatures. Items land upon platforms, and some, such as the Hothead and Motion-sensor Bomb, interact with them. Most versus stages involve a large, central, hard or semisoft platform with ledges that may be grabbed, and additional, smaller platforms elsewhere.

Platform types

Battlefield consists of three soft platforms above a hard platform.

Hard platforms

Hard platforms generally make up the solid parts of the stage, for example the large bottom platform of Battlefield. Hard platforms cannot be passed through in any direction and their edges can usually be hung on.

Semisoft platforms

Semisoft platforms are a halfway point between hard and soft platforms: characters and things can travel upwards through them, but they cannot drop through them. Some stages (such as Congo Jungle in Super Smash Bros. and Port Town Aero Dive in Super Smash Bros. Brawl) use a semisoft platform instead of a hard one as the main landmass. Most conventional 2D platform games such as the Kirby and Mario games uses this type of platform frequently.

Soft platforms

Soft platforms, also known as pass-through or fall-through platforms, are thin platforms that characters, projectiles and items can pass through upwards, and that characters may also pass through downwards. Most soft platforms do not have ledges that characters may hang from, although there are exceptions, like the upper platforms of Brawl's Norfair. While standing on a soft platform, a character may fall down through it by tapping down on the control stick. Airborne characters may pass through a soft platform from above by holding down on the control stick as they approach it.

All airborne items and projectiles, including Pikachu's Thunder, will travel upward through soft platforms, but will not travel downward through them. The same is true of tumbling and reeling characters, who will fly upward through soft platforms, but will land in a lying position upon a soft platform if they contact it from above. When used under a soft platform, certain special moves, such as Ike's Aether and Yoshi's grounded Yoshi Bomb, may send their performers upward through the platform during the rising portion of the move, and then downward onto the platform during the falling portion. This is also the case with Kirby and Meta Knight's up throws; both the grabber and the victim will rise through soft platforms, but "crash land" onto them during the falling part of the move. Characters performing aerial attacks, including stall-then-fall maneuvers, may not pass down through soft platforms if they are in a position to land upon them. An exception is Fox, Falco and Wolf's up special moves when used in the air - these will pass down through soft platforms when directed at a downward angle.

Super soft platforms

Supersoft platforms were introduced in Brawl, and so far exist in only one stage: Skyworld. They are identical to soft platforms with one important difference: characters can be sent downwards through them by knockback (and are the only platforms with this property). Characters with meteor smashes are therefore at an advantage as the meteor smashes will knock the opponent through the stage, but this also often happens by bouncing off a solid ceiling. Characters will still rebound off a supersoft platform if hit downwards while standing on it.

Platform features

There are a variety of extra features that platforms may possess in addition to their basic properties.

• Ledges - Any type of platform, except super soft, can be found with ledges that characters can grab or, in Brawl, tether onto, however, ledges are more common among hard platforms than soft ones.
• Uneven ground - Some platforms are angled, or incorporate sloped or curved terrain, such as that of Green Hill Zone.
• Walls - Present only on hard platforms, walls typically constitute the sides of large islands, and are distinct in that characters may perform wall jumps and other techniques with them.
• Lateral movement - Some platforms, such as the small platforms in Kongo Jungle, travel up and down or from left to right along a set path, while others, such as the pulley platforms in Mushroom Kingdom, and leaf platforms in Distant Planet will move up and down in response to the weight of the characters standing upon them. Some set path platforms, such as the Arwings in Corneria, cross blast lines during their routines.
• Tilting and rotation - Certain platforms, such as the magma cavern of Castle Siege, tilt continuously and result in surfaces with slopes that are constantly changing. Other platforms, like that of Brinstar Depths and the Helirin Assist Trophy, perform complete rotations, transitioning from platforms into walls and back again as their angles change.
• Special surfaces - Platforms with special surfaces affect players' movement when they interact with them. Slippery platforms, like those found in Summit, prolong characters' ground momentum and cause them to slide along the ground. Rolling surfaces, like those found in the electric phase of Pokémon Stadium 2 and on the slope of Distant Planet in the rainy weather, cause players to move in one direction along the ground while they stand, walk, run or attack. Bouncy platforms, like those found in a certain segment of Pictochat, are not possible to walk upon because they propel characters high upward upon contact.
• Destructibility - Particular platforms are possible to destroy or alter after they, or adjacent stage structures, take enough damage. They regenerate after a set period of time has passed. For example, the yellow platforms in Skyworld break and disappear after they are hit by enough attacks, the main platform of Brinstar splits in two after the organic material in its centre is destroyed by attacks, and the floor platforms of Luigi's Mansion are destroyed as its pillars are broken by damage. Onett's awning platforms are not affected by attacks, but will collapse and disappear after enough characters jump onto them.
• Switch activation - Some platforms, such as the coloured ones in Princess Peach's Castle, do not appear until prompted by the activation of switches.
• Falling away - Certain platforms, such as Drop Blocks, drop downward and eventually disappear when stood on for long enough, and regenerate after a certain amount of time.

Platforms and items

All items can land on platforms, but some interact with them in more elaborate ways.

• Barrels and Rolling Crates will roll faster when on sloped platforms.
• A character using a Golden Hammer can extend walk off a platform and stay level with it while airborne.
• Freezies slide along the surface of platforms on appearance, and Red and Green Shells slide along platforms when thrown.
• If left idle, Bob-ombs will walk along platforms and turn at edges.
• Motion Sensor Bombs adhere to platform surfaces when thrown, including walls and ceilings.
• Hotheads slide and cling to surfaces, and will circumnavigate hard and semisoft platforms if thrown onto them. They can slide along soft platforms, but will fall from their edges because they cannot cling to their undersides.
• When used, Warp Stars will rise through soft platforms, but will not fall down through them.
• In relation to platforms, the behaviour of Smash Balls varies; sometimes they pass through solid surfaces, other times they bounce from them.
• The Landmaster and Iceberg Final Smashes create platforms. Landmasters can be stood upon by players - one particular technique involves raising the Landmaster off the top of the screen in order to KO characters standing upon it. While the slopes of the Iceberg cannot be stood upon, the Ice Climbers who produced it may stand upon its tip in their toppling animation.