Planet Zebes

Planet Zebes
Planet Zebes in Super Smash Bros.
Universe	Metroid
Appears in	SSB
Availability	Starter
Music Bolded tracks must be unlocked Super Smash Bros. Planet Zebes Stage
Tournament legality Super Smash Bros. Singles: Banned (US ruleset and Japanese ruleset) Doubles: Banned
Article on Metroid Wiki	Zebes

“	Anyone who touches the ebbing and flowing sea of acid on the planet's surface will be severely damaged.	”
—Super Smash Bros. instruction manual

Planet Zebes (惑星ゼーベス, Planet Zebes) serves as the lone Metroid installment stage for Super Smash Bros. Its environment rapidly changes due to the rising and falling acid.

This is the home stage of Samus. It is also considered Captain Falcon's home stage, as he is fought here to be unlocked.

Stage overview

Full view of Planet Zebes from Smash 64.

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

Touching the acid results in damage and high knockback, capably KOing a player if their damage meter is high. The acid can, however, also be used strategically as a means of salvage when risen enough; in the event a player is knocked off 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 strong knockback resistance) 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 and through the acid, they will self-destruct; the acid will not "bump" the player back up, as they are immune to its burn.

Wavers and Ridley can occasionally be observed in the background.

Origin

A room in Brinstar from Metroid featuring yellow acid.

According to the original Super Smash Bros. website, Planet Zebes occupies "an extremely unstable space station." Although not drawing homage to any particular game, this stage is based on Zebes, the planet on which Metroid and Super Metroid are set. A clear reference is the yellow acid featured in some rooms in Metroid. The rising and falling acid is a reference to Super Metroid, wherein the lava in some Norfair and Tourian rooms would rise after earthquakes. The stage's platforms, composed of green bubbles with red highlights, are a direct reference to the aesthetics of Norfair in both games.

Ridley, a reoccurring boss appearing in the majority of Metroid games, occasionally flies in the background, as do Wavers. Both Ridley and the Wavers are based on their sprites in Super Metroid.

Tournament legality

The stage is commonly banned in N64 Backroom tournaments, largely due to the acid's interference with gameplay; star KOing at unexpected moments, covering up parts of the stage, and forcing opponents to avoid the acid causes the fighting space on the stage to become extremely small. Additionally, the sometimes awkward camera can make gameplay unnecessarily difficult. However, the stage is occasionally allowed in non-official tournaments for its large size, making it an ideal choice for aerial combos and a counterpick to Peach's Castle.

Gallery

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  Ridley in Planet Zebes

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  Waver in Planet Zebes

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	惑星ゼーベス	Planet Zebes
English	Planet Zebes	—
French	Planète Zebes	Planet Zebes
German	Planet Zebes	—
Chinese	泽贝斯行星	Planet Zebes

Trivia

• In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the stage in which the false Samus is fought in the Great Maze loosely resembles Planet Zebes.
• Planet Zebes and Sector Z are the only Smash 64 stages to not return in any future game, having been functionally replaced by Brinstar and Corneria respectively. Because of this, Samus is paired with Yoshi during Jigglypuff's Classic Mode route in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.