Rainbow Cruise

Rainbow Cruise/Rainbow Ride
Rainbow Cruise File:Mushroom Icon.gif
Universe	Super Mario
Appears in	SSBM SSBB
Availability	Starter (SSBM and SSBB)
Tournament legality Melee Singles: Available Doubles: Available Brawl Singles: Counter-pick Doubles: Counter-pick

Rainbow Cruise, also known as Rainbow Ride, is a stage that appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It is based off the "Rainbow Ride" stage from Super Mario 64. It is also one of Mario's home stages, and it is his stage in All-Star mode, along with any of his teammates.

Name Confusion

While the Western localization version of the SM64 stage's name (on which this stage is based on) is "Rainbow Ride", the original Japanese version's is "Rainbow Cruise". The appearance of the Japanese name in the initial North American release of Melee seemed to be an oversight by the localization team and appeared as "Rainbow Ride" in both the PAL release and later North American copies of the game. It also appeared listed as "Rainbow Ride" in North American demos of Brawl, seeming to establish it as the "correct" Western name. Oddly enough, the stage's name in the retail release of Brawl in North America appears as "Rainbow Cruise". In the retail release of the PAL version however, the name appears as Rainbow Ride. CrappyCaptureDevice has also revealed in one of his History Behind Super Smash Bros. videos that, through a GameShark, if one chooses a stage that they wish to start on (the stages won't have their actual names; instead, they will have either Japanese or roughly translated names, if not names that simply refer to the type/theme of the stages), Rainbow Ride will be shown as Rainbow Cruise.

Origin

This stage is from Super Mario 64's 15th level Rainbow Ride (or Rainbow Cruise, depending on which version of SM64 you have). In SM64, one has to jump on magic carpets that follow a rainbow trail. If one were to get off the carpet, it keeps going until it disappears and reappears at it's original location. In Melee, one can jump on magic carpets that float upward. If one jumps off of it, it stops and disappears. There are numerous references to the SM64 level (a swinging platform, falling blocks, a flying boat, etc.)

The music for this stage is a remixed version of SM64's Rainbow Ride and the underwater theme for Super Mario Bros.

Stage Layout

The battle starts off on a flying ship that is facing left. The ship has four propellers on the backside, three propellers on top, one on the front and two on the back, and six giant paddles. These make it fly. The anchor hangs off the front. The ship is flat in the center, but not on the sides. The bow of the ship is just a bit higher than the deck. The stern is clearly higher than the rest of the ship, including the bow. It is wide enough to fit two characters. The stern increases the height of the back of the boat, which is good for those who can wall-grapple. In the middle of the boat is the mast of the ship. It has two level to fight on. The space between the middle platform and the deck is slightly larger in comparison to the space between the top platform and the middle. The top platform is also shorter than the middle one. It is just large enough to fit Bowser. After about thirty seconds, the ship will crash into the next segment of the stage and sink. When the ship sinks, the characters will have to battle on the strange floating platforms that follow. The platforms are different and feature a rotating axle platform, flying carpets, and falling blocks. The stage moves in a clockwise order and at the end, flashing red arrows will appear that point downwards. They indicate that all players should descend to the lower parts of the stage before the camera zooms down. Those who do not make it to the boat, which is waiting below, can be KO'd off the top off the screen. The cycle continues from there. Because of its predictable pattern, Rainbow Cruise is allowed in some tournaments.

Trivia

• During the first little bit of the boat ride, it is possible to jump out of sight, onto a platform above the boat, avoiding the fights below. The only draw back is taking damage being outside the screen.
• It is impossible to fall through the magic carpets. The carpets also only rise diagonally upward to the right.
• In Melee, a character was able to jump through the bottom of the donut lifts, but not drop through. However in Brawl, characters can no longer pass through the donut lifts in any way.
• If Pokémon Trainer is used on this stage in Brawl, he will stand on a special magic carpet in the background that is otherwise not present.

Gallery

• Stage21 080107j-l.jpg