Planet Zebes

Planet Zebes
Planet Zebes
Universe	Metroid
Appears in	SSB
Availability	Starter
showTournament legality Super Smash Bros. Singles: Banned (Occasionally Counterpick) Doubles: Banned (Occasionally Counterpick)

This page is about the stage in Super Smash Bros. For locations on this planet, see Brinstar, Brinstar Depths, or Norfair.

Planet Zebes (惑星ゼーベス, "Planet Zebesu") serves as the lone Metroid installment stage for the original Smash Bros. Like most other stages, it did not return in Melee, and is often banned in standard tournaments for its interference with gameplay, but a few tournaments allow it as the size of the stage is ideal for aerial combos while not being too large.

Wavers as well as Ridley can occasionally be seen flying in the background.

It is the home stage of Samus Aran. This is also the stage where Captain Falcon is fought when being unlocked.

Layout

Full view of Planet Zebes from SSB.

Planet Zebes consists of a rough, jagged base, three main platforms (two of which are sloped at an angle), and one smaller platform ascending and descending at the far right of the stage. Hazardous acid rises from below, submerging most of the base and occasionally two of the three platforms, though it never rises high enough to reach the topmost platform.

Touching the acid results in damage and high knockback, being capable of KOing a player if their damage meter is high enough. However, it can also be used strategically as a means of salvage if the acid has risen high enough. In the event of a player being knocked off of the stage and into the acid, it will launch them skyward, allowing them to reuse their recovery or simply fall back onto the stage. Obtaining a Starman (or any form of invincibility) grants invulnerability to the acid, allowing the player to walk through it with no obstruction. However, if while invincible, the player falls off the stage, they will fall through the acid instead of being "bumped up", and can self-destruct if they fail to recover back onto the stage through normal means.

Relationship with Brinstar

Some stages in the original Smash Bros., while not returning, are similar to some stages in Melee, with Planet Zebes and Brinstar being one such example.

Similarities

The two stages share much common ground in that

• Both have rising and falling pools of acid.
• Brinstar's acid moves in the same pattern as Zebes'.
• The music is nearly the same, though Brinstar's is slightly remixed.

Differences

Despite their similarities however, Zebes and Brinstar have numerable differences. For example,

• Brinstar, in retrospect, is much smaller than Zebes.
• The two platforms adorning either side of Brinstar are constrained by fleshy stalks that can be broken if attacked, causing the platforms to slope at sharp angles.
• There are no small ascending and descending platforms in Brinstar, like there were in Planet Zebes.
• Brinstar's acid deals significantly less knockback compared to Zebes', and is incapable of KOing outside of extreme percentages.

There are several other minuter details. A cluster of organic material conjoins the base of Brinstar and splits the stage in two when destroyed. Also, Ridley is no longer seen flying in the background, but is instead replaced with a giant throbbing alien organism, as well as a Chozo Statue that occasionally gets up and roams about.

Origin

A room in Metroid's Brinstar featuring the yellow acid.

This stage is based of the area Brinstar that is on the Planet Zebes from Metroid. However, the only significant reference to Metroid is the yellow acid. In Metroid's Brinstar, there are some rooms which feature yellow acid on the ground. If the player goes in the acid, it damages them. In Metroid II: The Return of Samus, there are times where acid is in the way of the player's path. If the player kills enough Metroids, an earthquake occurs and the acid goes down. Towards the end of Super Metroid, in Mother Brain's room, an earthquake occurs and acid starts rising up.

The song that plays on this stage is from the area Brinstar in Metroid.

External links

Music for Planet Zebes