Stage
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, the Fire Emblem universe lacked one in Melee (though one was planned), and the R.O.B. universe has, for unknown reasons, never had a stage. 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. Ultimate changes this, giving various stages a more refined and detailed design.
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 Castle Siege, and Smash 3DS's Paper Mario 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, Balloon Fight'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.
List of Stages
| Starter | Unlockable | Downloadable |
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.
- 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.
In Smash 4
Note: On the Wii U version, most of these stages can be played with two players.
- The Credits - A small stage where the player smashes names to reveal a picture.
- Trophy Rush stage - Raining blocks appear on the stage. If they are too far up, the stage will disappear and KO the player.
- All-Star Rest Area
- Home-Run Stadium
- Target Blast Stadium - A stage similar to the Home-Run Stadium. The player breaks the targets by smashing a bomb at them.
- SSBU's Online Practice Stage - Same as Brawl, but looks like an Omega version of the Miiverse stage with a Sandbag.
- SSB4's control test stage - Same as Brawl.
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]
In for Wii U
- Photo Studio backgrounds - The backgrounds are all considered separate stages, and can only be played by 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.
References
| Stages in Super Smash Bros. | |
|---|---|
| Starter stages | Congo Jungle · Dream Land · Hyrule Castle · Peach's Castle · Planet Zebes · Saffron City · Sector Z · Yoshi's Island |
| Unlockable stage | Mushroom Kingdom |
| Stages in Super Smash Bros. Melee | |
|---|---|
| Starter stages | Brinstar · Corneria · Fountain of Dreams · Great Bay · Green Greens · Icicle Mountain · Jungle Japes · Kongo Jungle · Mushroom Kingdom · Mute City · Onett · Pokémon Stadium · Princess Peach's Castle · Rainbow Cruise · Temple · Venom · Yoshi's Island · Yoshi's Story |
| Unlockable stages | Battlefield · Big Blue · Brinstar Depths · Final Destination · Flat Zone · Fourside · Mushroom Kingdom II · Poké Floats |
 Unlockable Past Stages
|
Dream Land · Kongo Jungle · Yoshi's Island |
