Great Bay

Termina: Great Bay
Great Bay in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Appears in	Melee Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Maximum players	8
Tracks available	Great Bay Saria's Theme (Alternate) Fire Emblem (when facing Marth in Classic Mode)
Tournament legality Melee Singles: Banned Doubles: Banned
Article on Zelda Wiki	Great Bay Coast

Great Bay (グレートベイ, Great Bay) is a stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It could be considered Young Link's home stage, as he is fought here during his unlock battle and he is the main character in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, from which this stage originates.

In All-Star mode, this stage is where Link and any of his teammates are faced.

Stage layout

An in-game battle from Melee.

The left side of the stage consists of three platforms. The bottom ones have enough space for two fighters, and the left one floats and reacts to the fighters' weights by rocking. The raised platform, which has barely enough space for four characters is solid: this can be exploited by throwing opponents against its bottom to cause a stage spike and possibly an early KO.

The right side is occupied by a large turtle which acts as a platform. When the battle starts, the turtle is present and looks to the left: after about 30 seconds it sinks, carrying away any fighters still on it. It periodically emerges and sinks again, and can either look left or towards the screen. The trees on its back act as further platforms. The parts not covered by grass have lower traction, like ice and oil. Notably, when the turtle is absent the right blast line is very far from the stage: therefore, staying on the right is in this situation very advantageous.

File:Melee Tingle.jpg

Tingle standing in front of the Owl Statue in Melee.

Tingle floats around on a red balloon over the bottom right platform. Its balloon acts as a platform: standing on it for enough time or attacking it makes it pop, causing Tingle to fall down on the ground or in the water while flailing his limbs. Contact with him in this state causes 1-2% damage and negligible knockback. After a while, he reinflates his balloon and floats back up: if Tingle falls on the lower left platform, when he reinflates his balloon he is trapped under the main platform and his balloon automatically pops.

The Moon in the background steadily falls: when it gets close enough to the ground, the Four Giants appear, stop it and throw it back up into the sky. The cycle lasts about three minutes, and has no effect on the gameplay.

Ω form and Battlefield form

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Ω form and Battlefield form are set far above the water with the coast seen in the background. The main platform is the same structure that the Marine Research Laboratory is on, but resized and reshaped to match Final Destination and Battlefield, respectively. The three soft platforms of the Battlefield form are metallic and are unique to this form.

• SSBUGreatBayOmega.jpg

  Ω form in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

• SSBUGreatBayBattlefield.jpg

  Battlefield form in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Tournament legality

Great Bay is banned in tournaments, the primary reason being that the stage allows for ample camping opportunities, including circle camping, by allowing characters to easily go from one bottom platform to the other, through going underneath the impassable main platform or over the top of it. The main platform can also allow very early KOs from stage spiking when players fight on the lower platforms.

Origin

The Great Bay Coast as it originally appeared in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

The moon as it originally appeared in Majora's Mask.

This stage is based on the Great Bay Coast of the Great Bay region from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, and takes place on the platforms that the Marine Research Laboratory is on; however, its structure and orientation are slightly different in this stage. In Ultimate, the design of the Marine Research Laboratory and the buildings in the background have been changed to reflect their appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, and Ultimate also includes small additions to detail, such as the Heart Piece in the left background that is in its same location as in Majora's Mask.

In Majora's Mask, Owl Statues act as warp points and, in non-Japanese versions of the game, as quicksave points. One of such statues is outside the laboratory in Great Bay.

The Turtle in Majora's Mask allows Link to reach the Great Bay Temple after it is awoken; however, it is found in a different location of Great Bay nowhere near the laboratory.

Tingle's design and behavior is also taken from Majora's Mask, which is also his debut game. He appears in several locations floating from his balloon, including the Marine Research Laboratory. Link can pop his balloon to make him fall to the ground and purchase maps from him.

In Majora's Mask, a Skull Kid, under possession by the evil Majora's Mask, sends the Moon on a collision course with Termina. Link has three in-game days, which can be extended by traveling back in time to the beginning of the first day, to stop it by freeing the Four Giants who are able to catch the moon before it hits Clock Town. The 3-minute cycle in this stage is a likely reference to the original 3-day cycle.

Gallery

• 

  Great Bay in Melee.

• 

  Ness walking out of the laboratory in a beta version of the stage.

• 

  Remnants of the laboratory within the stage in Melee.

• 

  Only three beams can be seen in this beta version.

• 

  The full view of Great Bay in Melee, including the underwater ground.

• 

  Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong on the stage in Ultimate.

• 

  Marth on the Ω form of the stage.

• 

  Cloud grabbing Mega Man on the Ω form.

• 

  Holding a Fairy Bottle while running to Link in Great Bay.

Trivia

The hidden islets in Melee.

• In early builds of the game, the Marine Research Lab in the background was part of the arena, allowing characters to walk in and out of it. It was moved into the background in the final version, though some remnants of the idea can be seen by using unrestricted camera hacks. Furthermore, the platform on the right side of the stage was composed by only three beams instead of the final five, much like the lab's appearance in Majora's Mask.
• Hacked cameras show that there's a complete underwater floor below the stage.
• To the left of the main cove where the platform exists is a second cove; within it is a cluster of 6 islets, matching the location of a minigame in which the player must jump to the designated island in Majora's Mask.

External links

• Great Bay - History Behind Super Smash Bros. Melee