Fountain of Dreams

Fountain of Dreams
Universe	Kirby
Appears in	Melee
Availability	Starter
Tracks available	Fountain of Dreams Fire Emblem (when facing Marth in All-Star Mode and his unlocking battle)
Tournament legality Melee Singles: Neutral Doubles: Banned
Article on Wikirby	The Fountain of Dreams

The Fountain of Dreams (夢の泉, Fountain of Dreams) is a starter stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It was announced in the E3 2001 trailer.

In All-Star Mode, this stage is played on when the player faces Marth and any of his teammates. Unusually, in Classic Mode, Bowser is fought on this stage during the giant battle, despite this being Kirby's stage and the abundance of Mario stages.

Stage layout

The stage resembles Battlefield in its layout, as it consists of a flat main platform with three overhanging soft platforms, all three with the same size. The middle platform is immobile, while the two on the side gently move up and down in no particular correspondence. They can rise to be as high as just under the highest platform, or drop to the point where they sink through the level, thereby making them impossible to stand on.

On the bottom of the stage there is a solid pillar which characters can wall jump on. It is not possible to pass underneath the stage due to this pillar.

Of particular note is the stage's artistic design, which some players consider one of the most beautiful in the game.

Tournament legality

Fountain of Dreams is a neutral stage in competitive play, and one of the most popular stages for competitive play, due to its general balance: the moving platforms can prevent camping, and the shape of the edges of the stage prevent characters from getting stuck underneath them. Additionally, the pillar on the bottom of the stage allows characters who can wall jump to improve their recoveries, while simultaneously preventing players from stalling by traveling underneath the stage.

Fountain of Dreams benefits characters who gain safer recovery mixups due to the ability to wall jump and/or the very low position of the lower blast zone relative to the stage, such as Mario. It also benefits characters who have largely horizontal KO options but are more vulnerable to being KOed off the top, such as Peach, due to the high ceiling and narrow side blast zones. Fountain of Dreams hinders characters who rely greatly on precise movement, as the moving platforms can mess up the timing of their wavedashing or wavelanding, and the small size of the base stage prevents them from utilizing their dash dance to the fullest potential. This stage is considered excellent for Jigglypuff and Marth, as they realize all of the above advantages of the stage; Marth, in particular, can control space much more effectively due to the small stage size. It is considered Captain Falcon's worst stage, and also one of Fox's and Falco's weakest stages, although some top Fox players do not mind this stage.

Despite its balance in singles matches, the Fountain of Dreams is often banned in doubles tournaments, due to its small size for doubles matches and the water reflection effects potentially causing framerate drops, especially when the Ice Climbers are present.

Trophy information

Fountain of Dreams

This mystical fountain in Dream Land uses the power of the Star Rod to create a gush of pleasant dreams that flow like water. The dreams then become a fine mist and drift over the land, bringing peaceful rest to one and all. It's been confirmed that there are identical facilities on other planets near Pop Star.

• Kirby's Adventure, 05/93

Origin

The Fountain of Dreams, as it originally appeared in Kirby's Adventure.

The Fountain of Dreams first appeared in Kirby's Adventure and was originally named Dream Spring. It is the home of the Star Rod, which gives good dreams to the inhabitants of Dream Land. After the Star Rod was stolen and broken by King Dedede, Kirby had to collect the seven parts by traveling throughout the seven levels of the game. Kirby then fought and defeated King Dedede, and put the Star Rod back into the Dream Spring; however, this freed the evil Nightmare, a dark creature that corrupted the Fountain of Dreams and which King Dedede had sealed by breaking the Star Rod. Afterward, Kirby fought and defeated Nightmare using the Star Rod.

The music played on this stage is an orchestral rearrangement of Gourmet Race's music from Kirby Super Star. This theme was later used for the penultimate fight against King Dedede in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, a Game Boy Advance remake of Kirby's Adventure.

Trivia

The low-resolution models used in the reflection effects of the stage prevent characters from blinking.

• The design of this stage influenced later appearances of the Fountain of Dreams, such as its appearances in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and Kirby Super Star Ultra.
• The reflection in this stage's water is based on the lower-resolution models also used in offscreen bubbles. As a result, it cannot show changes in facial expressions such as characters blinking. This can best be seen by using Jigglypuff's Rest or by crouching with Pichu.
• The Bowser Challenge relies on this stage's small size to provide its difficulty. (This may also be part of the reason why Giant Bowser is fought here in Melee's Classic Mode - to make him harder to avoid and to give his attacks more effective reach.)
• The Fountain of Dreams appears as a stage in Kirby Fighters Deluxe, making it one of five stages in the Super Smash Bros. series to be featured as a stage in other fighting games, with the others being the Pyrosphere, Green Hill Zone, Midgar, and Suzaku Castle.

External links

• Fountain of Dreams - History Behind Super Smash Bros. Melee