Stage

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 Sutēji), sometimes called a map, arena, stadium, or board, is a location in which characters fight or complete objectives. The word "stage" usually 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 maps, 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. 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 of Past Stages - stages from a previous Smash game with no major alterations.

Stages range in size from the large Temple and New Pork City to the small Onett and Brinstar. Typically, stages involve a large central platform with ledges and one or more 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 sometimes called "walk off stages". Some walk off stages, such as Onett, have no lower blast line, while others, such as Bridge of Eldin, 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 Rumble Falls scroll continuously up 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 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 Klap Traps; local items such as apples; and interactive objects such as Barrel Cannons. While water has no effect on movement in Melee, Brawl introduced swimming, and many 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 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: Mushroom Kingdom, shown in bold.

Stages

Congo Jungle

Dream Land

Hyrule Castle

Mushroom Kingdom

Peach's Castle

Planet Zebes

Saffron City

File:StreetFighterSymbol(preBrawl).svg Sector Z

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.

Melee Stages

Battlefield

Big Blue

Brinstar

Brinstar Depths

File:StreetFighterSymbol(preBrawl).svg Corneria

Final Destination

Flat Zone

Fountain of Dreams

Fourside

Great Bay

Green Greens

Icicle Mountain

Jungle Japes

Kongo Jungle

Mushroom Kingdom

Mushroom Kingdom II

Mute City

Onett

Poké Floats

Pokémon Stadium

Princess Peach's Castle

Rainbow Cruise

Temple

File:StreetFighterSymbol(preBrawl).svg Venom

Yoshi's Island

Yoshi's Story

Past Stages

Kongo Jungle

Dream Land

Yoshi's Island

In Brawl

The stage select 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.

Brawl Stages

75 m

Battlefield

Bridge of Eldin

Castle Siege

Delfino Plaza

Distant Planet

Final Destination

Flat Zone 2

Frigate Orpheon

Green Hill Zone

Halberd

Hanenbow

Luigi's Mansion

Lylat Cruise

Mario Bros.

Mario Circuit

Mushroomy Kingdom

New Pork City

Norfair

PictoChat

Pirate Ship

Pokémon Stadium 2

Port Town Aero Dive

Rumble Falls

Shadow Moses Island

Skyworld

Smashville

Spear Pillar

Summit

WarioWare, Inc.

Yoshi's Island

Melee Stages

Big Blue

Brinstar

Corneria

Green Greens

Jungle Japes

Onett

Pokémon Stadium

Rainbow Cruise

Temple

Yoshi's Island

In SSB4

The stage select for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, in the E3 2014 demo.

Stages in Super Smash Bros. 4 differ depending on the version. While some stages appear in both (albeit in different forms), the majority of stages are exclusive to that version, with 3DS stages primarily pulled from handheld games and Wii U stages from console games. Many stages now have an optional omega (Ω) Form, changing their layout to that of Final Destination. In addition, this is the first game where stages from multiple past games return at once.

The stages in bold are unlockable.

Both Versions

Battlefield

Boxing Ring

Final Destination

Gaur Plain

Wily Castle

Nintendo 3DS Stages

3D Land

Arena Ferox

Balloon Fight

Dream Land

Find Mii

Gerudo Valley

Golden Plains

Living Room

Magicant

Mute City

Pac-Maze

Paper Mario

PictoChat 2

Prism Tower

Rainbow Road

Reset Bomb Forest

Spirit Train

Tomodachi Life

Tortimer Island

Unova Pokémon League

Familiar stages

Brinstar

Corneria

Jungle Japes

Distant Planet

Flat Zone 2

Green Hill Zone

Mushroomy Kingdom

WarioWare, Inc.

Yoshi's Island

Wii U Stages

Big Battlefield

Coliseum

Duck Hunt

Flat Zone X

Gamer

Garden of Hope

Jungle Hijinxs

Kalos Pokémon League

Mario Circuit

Mario Galaxy

Miiverse

Mushroom Kingdom U

Orbital Gate Assault

Pac-Land

Palutena's Temple

Pilotwings

Pyrosphere

Skyloft

The Great Cave Offensive

Town and City

Wii Fit Studio

Windy Hill Zone

Woolly World

Wrecking Crew

Wuhu Island

Familiar Stages

Kongo Jungle 64

Onett

Temple

Yoshi's Island

75 m

Bridge of Eldin

Castle Siege

Delfino Plaza

Halberd

Luigi's Mansion

Lylat Cruise

Mario Circuit (Brawl)

Norfair

Pokémon Stadium 2

Port Town Aero Dive

Skyworld

Smashville

Single player stages

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

• Melee and Brawl's Home-Run Contest stages 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.
• Brawl's Online Practice Stage is playable only while waiting for an online match to load.
• Brawl's controls test stage is playable only for the purpose of testing custom controls, and only as Mario.

In Super Smash Bros.

• Battlefield
• Board the Platforms stages
• Final Destination
• Meta Crystal
• Race to the Finish
• Target Test stages

In Melee

• Adventure stages
• All-Star Rest Area - The stage the players are teleported to and from between All-Star Mode matches.
• Entei - the stage on which Event 26: Trophy Tussle 2 is played.
• Goomba - the stage on which Event 14: Trophy Tussle 1 is played.
• Home-Run Stadium
• Majora's Mask - the stage on which Event 47: Trophy Tussle 3 is played.
• Race to the Finish - a Classic Mode bonus game stage.
• Snag the Trophies stage - a Classic Mode bonus game stage.
• Target Test stages - a set of single player mode stages that also appear in Classic Mode as bonus games.

In Brawl

• Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary stages
• All-Star Rest Area - The stage the players are teleported to and from between All-Star Mode matches
• Controls Test stage
• Home-Run Stadium
• Online Practice Stage
• Target Smash! stages - a set of single player mode stages that also appear in Classic Mode as bonus games

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.

• Kirby Beta Stage 1
• Kirby Beta Stage 2
• Tutorial Stage

In Melee

• 10-2
• AKANEIA
• DUMMY
• IceTop
• Test

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.

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.