"2019-2020 Potential Stages" Smash Speculation Corner

Venus of the Desert Bloom · Apr 21, 2023

Back during Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's development and downloadable content period, five stages were created that were from games that were either new to the Nintendo library or from newly released games. These were:

New Donk City (Mario Odyssey)
Great Plateau Shiekah Tower (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
Moray Towers (Splatoon)
Garreg Mach Monastery (Fire Emblem Three Houses)
Spring Stadium (ARMS)
Cloud Sea of Alrest (Xenoblade Chronicles 2)

There is a typical pattern with Smash where games that were released shortly before a new Smash game release typically are featured. Other examples include Eldin Bridge from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Forest of Hope from Pikmin 3, and Prism Tower from Pokemon X & Y. Not every game is given a stage though with notable exceptions being Pokemon Sun & Moon, many modern Kirby games, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Fire Emblem Fates, and so on. As we walk into a period where the foundations of a new Smash game could be taking place, it's really a golden opportunity to investigate what stages could be included that were released after Ultimate's release but weren't included in its downloadable content. For this article, I am focusing on games developed and published by Nintendo and released between 2019 to 2020. We will be exploring games released in 2021-2022 in our next article.

Sunshine Station

Yoshi's Crafted World
March 29, 2019

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U introduced a new stage called "Woolly World" based on the game, Yoshi's Woolly World. This stage didn't make the cut into Ultimate though. What better way to celebrate the "artistic" side of the Yoshi games than to include a stage based on the 2019 game, Yoshi's Crafted World? While there are a plethora of ideas that could be used, the goal of brainstorming this stage was to set it apart from Woolly World. Calling it "Crafted World" would make for a nice pattern but I went with the "first stage" route that some stages take. This is based on the first world, Sunshine Station, which features pleasantly crafted hills, cardboard cutouts of Yoshi series staples, and even a train. We don't have many side-scrolling stages in newer Smash games so, given Crafted World's gameplay, this seems like a good way to go.

Players start on a 2D-crafted plane while the stage moves forward as players fight it out. There could even be cardboard cutouts of enemies that can be knocked over for items! The stage would be a nice contrast between the action on the screen and the cute and adorable crafted elements of the stage. Finally, it wouldn't be a "station" stage without a hop on the Crafted World Express! We could finish off the stage with a ride on the Crafted Express that would basically be Spirit Tracks but... adorable. In addition, it would be pretty fun for elements of the stage to "pop" up as if it was crafted as the stage progresses forward.

Here are some songs that could go with this stage!

Dragaux Stadium

Ring Fit Adventure
October 18, 2019

There are plenty of inspirations to draw a stage from for Ring Fit Adventure including In the First Place and Nation of Sporta, but I felt Dragaux Stadium was a far better fit due to its importance to the overall story as it's the location where the Ring Fit Adventurer… Trainee… person goes to fight against the dark dragon who was summoned to the world. The stage, in typical stadium design, features a large Final Destination platform. It functions similarly to Battleship Halberd where the stage will start off at the entrance of the stadium and then progress forward up the stairs leading to the main stage which is placed directly in front of an exercising Dragaux. This stage is played out similarly to Dragaux's first boss fight.

After the stage sets the players down, Dragaux will finish exercising and take notice of the fighters. He will flex and pose in the background while occasionally getting pumped up when a good hit lands and do a huge flex if someone is KO'd. He will even jump into the air and fly into the background for added dramatic effect. Crates from Ring Fit Adventure could also appear which contain items. Unlike Yellow Devil and Metal Face, he does not act as a stage boss but could potentially take a boss role should they return in a future Smash game.

Should Ring Fit Adventurer not make an appearance as a playable fighter, this would also be a good opportunity to add the Adventurer and the Ring as a background character. In this fashion, they would appear as running up the stairs along with the stage until it comes into the phase where Dragnaux appears. While the Adventurer could take the "spectator" role while watching the battle from afar, they could also take on Dragaux within the background. So we would technically get 2 battles going on instead of one.

The Last Resort

Luigi's Mansion 3
October 31, 2019

Seeing Luigi's Mansion 3 not even get a Spirit Event during Ultimate was a surprise, to say the least since most of the games listed in this lineup got Spirit Events. This led some people to assume that it was possible that King Boo or Gooigi was a potential DLC candidate. While some may say that having one Luigi's Mansion stage is enough since we didn't get one from Dark Moon, The Last Resort is fairly unique as it's a hotel. How would The Last Resort differ from the Luigi's Mansion stage? How about instead of opening the entire hotel up as the stage, allowing the stage to move up vertically like a traveling stage so various rooms could fit in its entirety? It would be like Castle Siege in a way but just moving up the length of the hotel. In terms of stage composition, it would be flat with ledges in the same vein as Heihachi Dojo with the walls being able to be broken unless stated in the table below. Below is a list of floors available to fight on:

1st Floor	Grand Lobby	This floor is lit up and ornately decorated with the Steward in the background along with bellhops. Standing on the balcony and looking down is Hellen Gravely. On the return trip, the lobby becomes dark and dull.
2nd Floor	Mezzanine	This stage occurs in the room "Kitchen". In the middle of the stage is a burning stove that turns on and off unnaturally which can burn opponents. Chef Soulfflé is in the background; cooking up a storm.
3rd Floor	Hotel Shops	This stage has two levels with a staircase bisecting the second-story ledge. These ledges are in the form of a balcony. Kruller patrols this area but doesn't interact with the stage.
5th Floor	RIP Suites	This level houses the hotel suites for patrons. This floor takes place in Room 503 which was Luigi's room. There are various pranks and tricks that can be interacted with by touching them but have zero effect on the stage. The stage will have the lights on but occasionally turn off.
7th Floor	Garden Suites	This stage takes place in the Atrium and has three levels with three staircases going up and down. There are various vines twirling the area which bask the area in an eerie green glow. Dr. Potter appears in the background; pacing up and down the stairs.
8th Floor	Paranormal Productions	This is based on the Backstage area which connects to the various studios. To help represent these studios, various "scenes" from them appear on television picture screens. On some of the cycles between the floors, Morty will randomly appear sitting in the director's chair.
9th Floor	Unnatural History Museum	This area is based on the Exhibit Hall where the Skeletons come to life when lightning flashes. When you first enter it, the skeletal T-Rex will snatch and eat the Toad portrait which is purely cosmetic.
14th Floor	Dance Hall	Situated on a dance floor of alternating colors while DJ Phantasmagloria is in the background making some mad beats.
15th Floor	Master Suite	The floor is home to Hellen Gravely, owner of the hotel. The stage is based on the Master Bedroom area and Hellem Gravely with Polterkitty can be seen sitting on the bed or flying about the air.
Rooftop	Rooftop	This stage is a single platform stage and could be used for a potential King Boo Boss battle. That being said, having King Boo in the background flying around would be permissible. Besides King Boo, lightning flashes in the background with smaller Boo's flying around.

Here is some music that could play during The Last Resort:

Galar Wild Area

Pokemon Sword & Shield
November 15, 2019

Our two current Pokemon titles are in a really weird spot considering that Sword & Shield never got a DLC fighter despite it being prime time for such a character. Pokemon is currently in a situation like how it was prior to Smash 4. We now have two titles to consider again. That being said, we are not looking into fighters - just a stage. Pokemon Sword & Shield had some amazing locations such as Rose Tower, Galar Pokemon Stadium (complete with Dynamax), Crown Tundra, and more. That being said, including Galar Wild Area is a no-brainer considering it was a huge landmark in Pokemon's gameplay evolution and was pivotal in Game Freak taking an open-world route for Scarlet and Violet. Personally, I would prefer the stadium option as we could include Dynamax as a stage element.

The stage would be better suited as a traveling stage in the same vein as Skyloft, Gran Mach Monastery, and more. It would move from place to place with each phase having a stage layout fitting the area. Including Dyamax could be possible by having one phase included within a Raid Battle in a Pokemon Den. That being said, for this write-up, I am listing the potential locations including the pokemon that would appear in it.

Watchtower Ruins (The stage has a Reset Bomb Fortress-type set up)
- Purrloin
- Ghastly
- Polteageist
- Cursola
Lake Axewell (Is set on the island Eye of Axew with water on either side that can induce drowning. The tree can be used as a platform.)
- Gyarados
- Seismitoad
- Cramorant
- Grapploct
Dappled Grove (A grove of trees around with walk-off blast zones on either. The trees are larger than in the original game and can be used as platforms.)
- Budew
- Pangoro
- Skwovet
- Orbeetle
Motorstoke Riverbank (A stage with two walk-off blast zones with a bridge situated in the middle.)
- Shellos
- Ribombee
- Arrokuda
- Dreadnaw
Hammerlock Hills (An outcrop that is stated in front of the Hammerlock city gate. It is almost a sort of King of the Hill-type stage.)
- Honedge
- Impidimp
- Copperajah
- Corviknight
Dusty Bowl (Two walk-off blast line stage that is, well, a bowl, with various rocks situated inside of it.)
- Dugtrio
- Suudowoodo
- Runegirus
- Duraludon

This leaves six locations: three for both the southern and northern Wild Areas available to be able to be traveled. There is also a chance for the weather with sun, wind, rain, sandstorm, and even snow available. The weather changes are purely cosmetic and don't affect gameplay. Here are some tracks from Pokemon Sword and Shield and Crown Tundra:

Wild Area 1
Remix of Battle! (Pokemon Sword & Shield) and Battle! Switching
Sonia's Theme
Battle! (Galarian Legendary Birds)

Koholint Island

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
September 20, 2019

Legend of Zelda stages always seem like the type of stage to have amazing, breathtaking visuals such as Great Plateau Shiekah Tower and Skyloft. However, unlike these stages, we never get a full tour of the locations in full view. Take Skyloft for example. While we do get to see it, it gets interrupted by stage transitions. I envision this stage playing more like Hollow Bastion or Yggdrassil’s Altar in that we are given a full view of his island without fully interacting with it. That is why Koholint Island, a rather small island with most of its locations in view, would be perfect for a tour-type stage without having to make stops at each area. It would allow every player to see the island in its entirety without setting players down. The stage platform itself has a design based off the remake. The background has a house modeled off Marin’s House in the remake along with bushes, tree stumps, and rocks. There are two platforms on either side thus totaling to four platforms each on the stage.

Here are some areas that the stage will zoom past:

Angler's Tunnel		Manbo's Pond
Ancient Ruins		Mt. Tamaranch
Animal Village		Mysterious Forest
Crazy Tracy's Health Spa		Seashell Mansion
Dampé's Shack		Signpost Maze
Eagle's Tower		Tal Tal Heights
Graveyard		Toronbo Shores
Goponga Swamp		Turtle Rock
Kanelet Castle		Witch's Hut
Mabe Village		Yarna Desert

With that out of the way, let's take a look at some music!

Deserted Island

Animal Crossing: New Horizons
March 20, 2020

For a series that first started off with a stage, Animal Crossing has created quite the Smash legacy for itself. Most of these stages typically incorporate the place where the player lives with the exception of Tortimer's Island. Moving to a deserted island is the big "gimmick" for New Horizons. I thought it would be interesting to have a stage that changes with every match. It still incorporates the same "feel" but it changes the layout. The only static feature is that there would be a shore on the right side, walk-off blast zones on the left side, a river, several hills, and houses. The stage would be rather long, the same size as Bridge of Eldin, or even longer to emulate the feel of New Horizons. Houses can be used as platforms as well. Much like the land features, the placement of the houses and trees also change with each match, and even the fruits and villagers present change. It follows the console's internal clock as well so there would be morning, afternoon, evening, and night variations. Furthermore, upon selecting the stage, players can choose from one of four seasons. Even though technically winter would induce tripping, the ground is not slippery.

Here is a list of villagers that could appear followed by some music! * indicates a new Villager to the series.

Ace (Bird)
*Audie (Wolf)
*Cephlobot (Octopus)
*Dom (Sheep)
*Ione (Squirrel)
Goldie (Dog)
*Marlo (Hamster)
Peewee (Gorilla)
*Reneigh (Horse)
Rosie (Cat)
Sterling (Eagle)
Tom (Cat)
Wart Jr (Frog)
Harvey (Dog)
Label (Hedgehog)
Flick (Chameleon)
C.J. (Beaver)
Daisy Mae (Boar)
Orville and Wilbur (Dodo)
Niko (Monkey)
Wardell (Manatee)

Next, the music!

Toad Town

Paper Mario Origami King
Jul7 17, 2020

I struggled with this one as I wanted to avoid a stage that, like Luigi's Mansion, was similar to the stage "Paper Mario". Instead of creating a stage that melds elements of Origami King, I chose one area that spoke to me as the series and that is Toad Town. The reason was that it represents Toad (a mainstay in the Mario series), was the first location, and was fairly neutral in terms of appearance. Death Mountain was never chosen as a stage to represent Zelda since it's only a part of the series whereas Bridge of Eldin was chosen as it was a pivotal and reoccurring moment for that game. I had considered Origami Castle, Graffiti Underground, Autumn Mountain, and Overlook Tower as potential stages but I felt Toad Town wasn't only a suitable stage to represent the game but also the Paper Mario series considering it's been a mainstay since Super Mario RPG.

The stage chronicles the results of being attacked by King Olly and ravaged by Paper Macho Goombas but, eventually, the Toads start coming back. While not entirely canon, seeing them fly in and then unfold would be rather interesting to see. The final phase would be the Origami Festival. The set up of the stage would have an edge on the left side and a walk-off blast line on the right that is only reachable by accessing the roof of a building. The space between the house to the right and the edge is mostly flat, though medium sized paper boxes litter the area which sometimes gives items when broken. There is a two-story house to the right which can be used for additional platforms which then ends with a ledge. Behind this, in the background, are additional houses that can’t be interacted with. Finally, there are two floating platforms that will move back and forth that appear to be made of origami. Stand on one long enough and it will sink. Occasionally, a Not-Bottomless Hole will appear which is a blackened area that appears to have ripped apart from the rest of the world. Falling into one induces a helpless state so avoid them! They can appear on the ground, ledges, and platforms. The background has Paper Macho Goombas running around.

Let's take a look at our final list of songs!

These are most of the first-party games that were released from 2019 to 2020 that are either from a series that is represented in Smash or from a series not yet represented. While it’s not set in stone, there is a good chance these games will be a stage representation whenever the next Smash game comes. We will also be covering games 2021 to 2022 as well so make sure to check back again to see what stages we pick! You can for sure see games such as Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, Super Mario World 3D + Bowser’s Fury, Metroid Dread, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and more!

Smash tends to add new stages from new games from existing franchises much like how Garden of Hope from Pikmin 3, Kalos Pokemon League from Pokemon X & Y, and as well as first-party stages in Ultimate. We have had a number of games released between the launch of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and 2020. For some, waltzing down memory lane during 2019 and 2020 might not be the most pleasant of memories but there were for sure some gems that were released that deserve to be recognized in one of the greatest gaming crossovers in history. Please tune in next time as we venture into 2021 to 2022!

Author's Note: What do you think of these stage choices? Do you think we could see them in the future? Or perhaps you have other ideas. Even better, how about some first-party games I missed? Let us know down below!

Credits:
Writing:

Venus of the Desert Bloom
Editing: @Sari
Thumbnail Graphic: @Zerp
Social Media: @Zerp

"2019-2020 Potential Stages" Smash Speculation Corner

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