Yesterday we kicked off the new blog column, Majestic 12 in which we will give a top
12 and bottom 12 list of whatever we feel like discussing. Unlike the first
post, all future posts will decidedly be either top or bottom (unless there’s a
reason to go all at once). We’ll be posting these every Tuesday and Thursday
and we may even upgrade to videos (once my internet situation is resolved).
This week’s official list… Smash Bros stages.
People generally tend to stick to very particular stages for
competitive play. And while I consider myself a decent player, I don’t play
competitively because I dislike a lot of the rules and restrictions it places
on the games itself. It’s how we ended up with Fox Vs. Fox on Final Destination
so often. As such, stages picked for either list are not solely picked based on
competitive logic, but is the stage fun, interesting, or unique enough to
warrant a spot on the list. Special note, while I would love to include custom
(modded) stages to the list, I don’t think that’s necessarily fair (or possible
to make such a short list of). As such, expect a Top-Modded Stages of Smash in
the foreseeable future.
#12 – Wario Ware Inc (Brawl) – A lot of people hate gimmicky
stages, moving stages, and stages that are full of random elements. Wario’s
stage that represents his very bizarre series (quite accurately I might add) is
all of that in one unique and amazing bundle. While I understand the dislike of
this stage, I find the various mini-games it throws at the players amusingly
fun and it really captures the feel of the Wario
Ware games. That said, the only reason it doesn’t rank higher is because of
how it chooses to reward the players based on successful completion of a
challenge. Sometimes you’ll heal. But other times you’ll grow giant or become
invincible. The size change doesn’t help given that this is a small stage by
default and invincibility on a stage that doesn’t give opponent’s the space to
flee is unreasonable. If prizes were just healing or a consistent item (like a
bomb, bat, or sword) I would be fine with this. As it stands, great concept and
fun level with just one major kink in how it functions.
#11 – Shadow Moses Island (Brawl) – One of the more unique
stages for the simple fact the only way you can knock enemies off the stage (by
default) is up. Most stages at least give you the sides as an option. And while
you can knock other players out the sides of the stage, you have to tear down
the walls to make that happen, which is pretty interesting in that makes this
stage more beneficial to certain characters based on how they generally knock
out targets. But what sets this above so many others are just the Codec
conversations you can get with Snake. Alas, it’s a shame Snake won’t be in SSB4 as this will be a feature I’ll miss
most.
#10 – Venom (Melee) – It’s always been a shame when one of
the StarFox stages always ends up being Sector Z or a Sector Z rip-off where
you fight on the Great Fox. And while Lylat Cruise is an interesting
alternative, I never was all that big a fan of it. Venom, from Melee, on the
other hand was a very fun stage offering a variety of different levels (layers)
to fight on and it is amazing how a simple change in perspective makes fighting
on the Great Fox unique and fun. When this stage didn’t return for Brawl, I’ll admit I was somewhat
disappointed.
#09 – Frigate Orpheon (Brawl) – Metroid Prime, as many know, is one of my favorite games of all
time and the fact it got ANY form of representation in Smash Bros shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it was a nice change
from the generic Brinstar levels. It also has some of the best music in the
game with remixes of the Vs. Ridley theme and Vs. the Paraside Queen. My only
issue is that when the stage flips, I feel like at times it randomly puts
players in spots where they can’t recover, making the flips, while predictable,
hard to really counter against. Not to mention there are some ledges on this
stage you just can’t grab, which has always seemed weird to me. 
#08 – Hyrule Temple (Melee/Brawl) – Known in the game simple
as “Temple” the Hyrule Temple is probably the BIGGEST stage in the entire
series (thus far) and has always been a go-to when my group of friends play for
4-player matches. And while this stage is fun, it isn’t perfect. It only has 2
or 3 songs it rotates through, meaning that the variety in music is almost
none. When players get far apart, it becomes difficult to see your fighters and
even more so if they’re in the bottom area behind the player scoreboards (a
problem that I’m glad is not going to be an issue in Smash 4 on the 3DS. But speaking of that lower area… this area is
the bane of most players’ collective existence. Good players will be able to
keep themselves from falling out for a while… but CPU’s? They can hit damages
nearing 400 or 500% and still be hanging on with various wall-grab cancels. Yes,
you can try to lure them out. But sometimes their AI will also just fall apart
and they’ll be stuck in that area for the whole match. While not game-killing
flaws, these issues do get old after playing this match hundreds of times in a
row. 
#07 – Pokemon Stadium 1 & 2 (Melee/Brawl) – Thus far,
there have been two stages in the series that are just “Pokemon Stadium” and
both offer different variations of the stage as well as Pokemon in the
background. While I think Melee’s iteration was, overall, better for
competitive play, Brawl’s had a few unique variations that I ultimately liked
better. Rather than picking one or the other, I decided they both equally are
good and I look forward to more Stadium variations in future games… should they
continue. If I had to pick a favorite variation, it would certainly be the
Windy-Field from Pokemon Stadium 2 where you have fans and flying Pokemon in
the background and gravity drops by a lot. Brawl always felt floaty, but this
was the fun zero-gravity floating.
#06 – Green Hill Zone (Brawl) – It shouldn’t surprise anyone
that, as a fan of Sonic, I have Sonic’s stage on my top 12 list. But this is a
fun stage. Anything that isn’t just a variation of a boring flat stage is
always worth a look. Destructible stages are also fun because it adds another
element of play to the game (especially if it creates a big hole in the middle
of the stage). The music is also among my favorite in the game (Sonic music is
some of the best music in gaming… for me anyway). So why isn’t it higher?
Because there’s a stage that better shows off the true speed of Sonic the
Hedgehog
#05 – Big Blue (Melee/Brawl) – This is one of my favorite
stages that I know everyone hates. Why? Because it’s a moving stage, A FAST
ONE. On top of that the platforms players have to use are generally pretty
random and you can even get to a point where there are only one or two
platforms left to fight one (for a bit). But the idea of fighting on top of
speeding hovercrafts down a raceway serves for an intense adrenaline rush and
makes this stage visually exciting. Yes, I’ve died a lot here and been mad
about it. But never did I get upset at the stage, but at myself for not
managing to get to safety fast enough. Plus running alongside the cars with the
bunny hood as Sonic is just fun. 
#04 – Halberd (Brawl) – The visual rush that you get from
Big Blue also seems to happen here as you and the other players are whipping
through the air at insane speeds, miles above any visible ground. And while
this stage isn’t as easy to die on as Big Blue, there are still a few tricks it
has that can kill players fairly easily. It contains one of my favorite songs
from Brawl and the idea of fighting
on a big airship has also been something I find endless entertaining. It is
certainly the best Brawl had to
offer, but not the best Smash has
ever done.
#03 – Saffron City (N64) – The reason I even jumped into Smash was because I saw this game had
Pokemon in it (a fact I’ll be sure to mention again at some point). As such,
Saffron City was generally my go-to stage because of the Pokemon Theme. More
than that, it also had cameo appearances of several Pokemon that make this
stage fun to visit every time. It outshines every other Pokemon stage for its
originality and willingness to let the Pokemon in on the action. Yes, Spear
Pillar in Brawl did as well, but it
was only between 3 different Pokemon, they didn’t change during the match, and
some of their abilities just made the game a pain in the ass to play (reversing
controls). Saffron City is what Spear Pillar tried to be, but better in almost
every way.
#02 – Brinstar Depths (Melee) – Forget what I said earlier
about the generic Brinstar levels. Yes, the basic Brinstar we’ve had since the
N64 has gotten old. But Brinstar Depths is a uniquely evil beast all itself.
You have one floating island you fight upon. Behind you, the monster known as
Kraid towers over the stage and torments you by flipping the stage round and
round (slowly). The stage is changing every so often, forcing players to find
new strategies as they fight and even struggling to survive, depending on where
they are. I would put this as number one, but this stage is another one that
has issues with CPUs and if a player get stuck in an area where no one can
safely reach him/her, then they get a free pass while everyone else fights
amongst themselves. That said, I love Kraid’s theme, I love the concept behind
the stage, and I love the dark and intimidating visuals pulling the scene
together. Certainly the BEST stage of SSBM.
#01 – Hyrule Castle (N64) – I’ll admit, I was surprised when
I ended up with this as my top stage. But I look at it as this is the one stage
I went out of my way to find the best version of to mod into my Brawl game. This is the stage I often
think of first when I think of the N64 version of Smash Bros. The music is fitting for a fight. The hazards were
minimal, but brutal if caught. The stage was a fairly good size and visually
simple, allowing players to see everyone and everything without much issue. It
also had lots of varying degrees of elevation, which many characters in the
first game could use to gain an advantage. Modded versions of it only make it
better by adding rain or darkness effects or improving the textures to resemble
that of Hyrule Temple or Castle Siege (Brawl). You may not agree, but the pure
simplicity and elegance of this stage allows it to stand above so many others
that try to do too much at once.
I hope you enjoyed the Top 12 stages of the Smash Bros series (to date). If you want
to check out my Bottom 12 (when available), just click the link HERE. Tune in
next week for more Majestic 12 posts featuring Smash Bros as we get prepared for the Western release of Smash Bros 3DS.
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