Intro[]
Welcome back to my 100 New Stages for the Next Smash project! Today we're covering Stages 71-80, and remember that these are in a pseudo-randomized order and aren't a definitive ranking of how much I want each stage.
With that all out of the way, let's get into our eighth set of 10 stages.
71. War Zone [Nintendo Wars - Famicom Wars][]
Despite the seeming curse that is on the Advance Wars games, I think there is fun potential for a stage here. One idea could be to just pick a specific battleground or HQ and use that as the setting for a stage, but instead I'm going to take a cue from Fire Emblem and nominate a generic war battleground. With this idea you could represent not only the GBA's Advance Wars games, but also the original Famicom Wars and all the other games inbetween.
I think I'd probably lean towards the art style of Advance Wars for the stage design, but the more generic setting would allow for references across the whole series to appear including both symbols of the different nations as well as characters. If they can get it to work maybe we could even get some kind of Fog of War mechanic where a fog would cover most of the stage and only the area around each fighter would be easily visible. I'm not too sure how well that would work on a technical level, but I think it's a fun idea. Although to make the gimmick not just be pointless, I think the stage would need to have some kind of element with either shifting terrain or moving platforms because if it's just a static platform layout then it'd be pretty easy to memorize what the layout of the stage is making the fog rather pointless.
72. Hyrule Depths [Legend of Zelda - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom][]
Man, when Breath of the Wild was only represented with the Great Plateau *Tower* in Smash Ultimate I was pretty disappointed. All the great locations in that game, and you just do a single tower? If you wanted to do the Great Plateau you could have made it a traveling stage with the tower being one of the locations. Ugh. So instead, let's look at what we could get from the sequel, Tears of the Kingdom. Compared to Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom gave us not only a set of islands floating high above the sky, but also a dangerous underground world known as the Depths where light is scarce and Gloom is plenty.
I have two basic ideas for how to make a stage like this work. The first thought is to just base it solely on the Depths themselves. Have a generic location in the Depths with perhaps a Lightroot in the background. The stage would be mostly dark, with just enough light to tell characters apart, with Gloom Spawn hands serving as hazards that are dangerous for anyone to even touch. Then after a time the Lighroot could light up, making the stage brighter and banishing the Gloom Spawn for a time. That's one idea. But what if we did more? What if instead of just being a stage about the Depths, you could incorporate all three layers of Hyrule into the stage? For a stage like that I'd have it start off high in the sky as you fight on floating platforms. Then after a time those platforms fall down to the surface and crash into the ground taking the fight from a mid-air stage to a grounded one with parts of the floating platforms embedded in the ground. After you fight on the ground for awhile another floating island would fall into the center of the stage causing the ground to collapse and the fighters to fall down to the Depths where they would fight for awhile before Smash Bros magic causes the floating islands to be repaired and the fighters to be brought back up to them.
73. Burned Tower [Pokemon - Pokemon Gold/Silver][]
Pokemon has so many good options for stages in Smash beyond just Pokemon Stadiums or stages that function like a Pokemon Stadium such as Kalos Pokemon League. One idea I like is Johto's Burned Tower. In Johto lore, this tower used to be Lugia's home until a mysterious fire broke out and burned it down, as well as three Pokemon who were trapped inside. It's an important location in Ecruteak City and is where the three legendary beasts of Johto were created.
This would be a very vertical stage as fighters can go between four different levels of the tower with the bottom being a solid platform. As the fight goes on the stage could be visited by one of the three legendary beasts who would each join the fight with a different hazard. Entei would cause a towering flame to reach up from the bottom of the stage and reach up to the very top platform. Raikou would unleash an electric blast across the majority of the bottom section of the stage. And Suicuine would cause large icicles to fall down from the top of the stage and pierce everything in their path as they fall below. Ho-oh could even get in on the action, but in a more helpful way as in its grief it could cause a single Rainbow Feather to slowly drift down to the stage which would heal the first fighter that makes contact with it.
74. Mahi-Mahi Resort [Splatoon - Splatoon][]
I've talked about four idea for a new Splatoon stage so far, and yet I haven't even touched on the actual stages where you can fight in Turf Wars. So let's finally address them. I was surprised when Smash Ultimate revealed that Moray Towers was going to be a stage, but I eventually realized why it was the choice with both its verticality and also the ability to do something completely new with the stage's layout. So I decided I need to consider other stages that have some kind of vertical element to them and after considering several good options I landed on Mahi-Mahi Resort due to its gimmick of the water receding halfway through a match revealing more surface to be inked.
For Smash, I think this stage could start with either the water being high or low, perhaps randomly, each time a match starts. When the water is higher there would be fewer platforms to fight on so fighters would have to be careful to not fall in the water and drown. But as the fight goes on the water level could change. So when the water recedes new platforms would appear further down the stage allowing for more room to fight. There would still be some water that fighters would need to be wary of, but not as much. Additionally, some of the platforms on Mahi-Mahi Resort are actually floating on the water. So when the water recedes in Smash you could have those platforms follow the water down. This would mean that not only are new platforms appearing on the bottom of the stage, but some of the platforms that were on top are suddenly missing. Several years ago I considered making a stage with a similar mechanic based on Super Mario 64's Wet-Dry World. But now I think I'd rather see that gimmick with Mahi-Mahi Resort.
75. Saturn Valley [Earthbound - Earthbound][]
Saturn Valley is a fan favorite suggestion whenever I see people talk about new stages that Smash could get from Earthbound and honestly I like the choice. It has very different vibes from the stages we currently have as its more of a peaceful valley than a big city or mystical dream land. Saturn Valley is home to the Mr. Saturns with cliffs towering over it and features both a small pond and a hot spring. It appears in both Earthbound and Mother 3 making it more of a central location for the franchise compared to other options.
I think a Saturn Valley stage would be set in the middle of the village with the pond just off to the side. Maybe the pond is on the actual stage itself and can be jumped in, but it wouldn't be deep enough to serve as a water hazard. Instead fighters would just battle amongst the houses as Mr. Saturns waddle around the valley with some even stopping to look at the fight. I think this would be a rather peaceful stage and the first from Earthbound to not have any hazards. I think we could also make use of the cliffs of Saturn Valley to had some verticality by letting fighters jump up to higher cliffs (or climb ladders to reach them) to fight on another level or two of the stage. If we get high enough, fighters could even splash about in the hot spring, but I think it'd be more of an aesthetic thing like the pond at the bottom of the valley.
76. Giant's Hearth [Pikmin - Pikmin 4][]
Pikmin has a lot of great looking environments which could work for Smash. I previously talked about the Underground Cavern as a fun idea that could represent both Pikmin 2 and 4, but I also wanted to include an actual overworld location as a stage idea. I started looking at Pikmin 4 since it's the latest game and I settled on the Giant's Hearth. I've seen a lot of people suggest the Hero's Hideaway since it's a very different kind of location for a Pikmin game, but it's a little too outside of the norm for me to want to pick it as a stage in Smash. If we were going to get a new stage with that kind of concept I'd rather it be the Sanderson's House from Chibi-Robo.
I would want to set this stage around the proverbial “hearth” of the Giant's Hearth which would set the fight in front of a campfire. This wouldn't be the only platform of the stage, but it would be its primary feature. Perhaps the Giant's Hearth could be the first grounded Pikmin stage with the hearth itself being a platform in the middle with brick walls that separate it from the sides of the stage. One key feature I would really want to see in this stage would be a fire gimmick. While the hearth wouldn't always be lit, I would want there to be a hazard that could cause the hearth to catch fire which would see flames reaching up from below the hearth's center and effectively dividing the stage in two for a time.
77. The Skeld [Among Us - Among Us][]
Now here's one that might surprise you. Our third of four stages from unrepresented third party franchises comes from Among Us. Among Us exploded with popularity in 2020 and kinda took over things for awhile. While I don't think Among Us would actually *get* a stage in the next Smash, I do think it has a solid change at some Mii Fighter costumes. That said I think it has interesting potential and of its maps The Skeld is easily the most recognizable.
That said, I also realized when doing this writeup that my original idea for how to do a stage for The Skeld wouldn't work! My first idea was that the fight could start on top of the Skeld but then fighters could fall into the ship and the 2D Skeld interior would be translated in a very Great Cave Offensive manner. But after seeing what the actual Skeld ship looks like... that idea just doesn't work. So instead, I think you'd start the fight in the Cafeteria and travel to the other areas of the ship and just fight in each of the rooms. The traveling would be portrayed by seeing one of the Crewmates jumping into a vent (Imposter!) with the background then fading to white before changing to show whatever room they vented into. The “story” of the stage would basically be the fighters watching the Imposter traveling through the ship and killing the crewmates as the Crewmates try to figure out what's going on. Another form of stage travel would be when one of the Crewmates hits the emergency button which brings the fight back to the Cafeteria as you watch the Crewmates argue and bicker and try to figure out who the Imposter is. You could even take the Sabotages and turn them into hazards. The screen could darken as the lights go out, everyone could take constant damage as oxygen is depleted, or for a new idea you could say the engines are damaged and the ship is crashing causing the ship to tilt hard diagonally down to the right until they are fixed.
78. Lightning [F-Zero - F-Zero GX][]
In the first entry of this series I talked about Death Wind, with F-Zero 99 mechanics, but I knew I wanted a second F-Zero stage pulling from GX. But which course and perhaps more importantly how do you want to fight on it? I had a few courses I picked out as standouts from GX, namely Cosmo Terminal, Aeropologis, Casino Palace, Sand Ocean, and Lightning. Obviously as you can tell, I chose Lightning and the reason for that is largely because of what archetype of racing stage I decided I wanted to have a new stage for.
So how do I want this stage to work? Well, between F-Zero and Mario Kart I feel like we've seen each of the four possible archetypes we could get for a stage based on a race track. You can set the fight at just one location that racers will drive through at various points, have the stage travel between multiple points on the track, fight on top of the cars with a side view, or fight on top of the cars with a rear view. At first I was thinking of doing the last option to make a more modern version of the Mute City (SNES) stage, but I shifted gears and chose the third option so we could make a new Big Blue. I like Big Blue, but I thought it'd be nice if we got a new stage with its core design so that we aren't just carrying the same stage in each game. Additionally, another reason I chose Lightning as the stage is because we can have a hazard around lightning strikes which could strike and damage fighters, or even strike an entire car, electricity that entire car (and whoever is on it), and potentially outright destroy that car and have it fall off the stage.
79. Serenes Forest [Fire Emblem - Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance][]
For our final Fire Emblem stage we're once again moving away from castles or other war-torn fields as instead I want to focus on a peaceful forest. Or, what's usually a peaceful forest that is. The Serenes Forest is where the Heron laguz call home and 20 years ago it was set ablaze by members of the Begnion Senate and it was this act that kickstarted the war between Begnion and the Laguz Alliance. However many years, and a lengthy battle later, the forest was restored to its former beauty. The Tellius games don't yet have a stage in Smash and considering that a huge core of the games are about the relationships between the Laguz tribes and the Beorc, I think the Serenes Forest would be a good representation of the games.
First of all, the point in the Tellius timeline where I would want to set this stage would be after the Serenes Forest is restored in Path of Radiance. No fire, no destruction, just pure beauty of the forest wit the Serenes Altar serving as a structure in the middle of the stage. Fighters would be able to battle on top of the altar and there could possibly be additional platforms floating to the sides of it. The main gimmick I have in mind here is the Herons. Whether it would be just one of Rafiel, Reyson, or Leanne, or perhaps even all three of them at the same time I don't know. But I'd love to have a “hazard” where the members of the Heron tribe make an appearance and sing either the Galdr of Vigor or the Galdr of Recovery. Vigor would increase the movement and attack speed of all fighters on the field while Recovery would slowly heal all fighters over time of some amount of damage every second.
80. The Last Resort [Super Mario - Luigi's Mansion 3][]
As much as I love the Luigi's Mansion stage from Brawl and think it's fantastically done, I think the Luigi's Mansion games could use another stage just to mix things up and not have to only rely on one. You could easily set the stage inside of or in front of any of the mansions from Dark Moon, but I decided to go with the haunted hotel, The Last Resort, from Luigi's Mansion 3 since it would let you play with the idea of traveling up different floors and seeing a variety of settings and ghosts.
I would start this stage in the Grand Lobby which I think would either be void of additional platforms or just have a simple one floating above. You'd see Toads coming into the hotel as guests and checking in at the front desk. Eventually a Toad would go into the elevator and the stage would transition into another floor. Whether every floor would be included in this stage, I don't know, but at minimum I'd like to see Boilerworks, Hotel Shops, Castle MacFrights, Garden Suites, Paranormal Productions, Unnatural History Museum, Twisted Suites, and The Dance Hall. You could have the boss ghosts making cameos on their respective floors, either as pure cameos or causing mischief as a hazard, and you could also have Gooigi and the Polter Pup appearing on any floor as they explore and possibly take out any troublesome ghosts in the background.
Outro[]
And with that, we have another 10 stages in my 100 New Stages for Smash project, bringing us to 40! This time, only 2 of these currently exist on the wiki. Maybe someday I'll get around to making the rest.
Teasers for next time: Someone's home, a black and white stage, and a stage where childish imagination dwells.