I think the title is self explanatory, but I have to say this before we begin. Smash Bros is the deepest, most dynamic, and most intuitive fighter ever created. Perhaps what is even more amazing is that there are many different types of gamers and people that play it. In this game, characters run around on in 2D jumping on platforms, collecting items and powerups, and doing moves (throwing fire balls, or stomping on enemies) to try and knock opponents off of the stage.
<p style="text-align: center"> <a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/marioss.jpg" title="marioss.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/marioss.jpg" alt="marioss.jpg" /></a></p>
You already know all of this I assume and presume. But what’s most interesting is, the way I described melee just know is very similar to another game. Super Mario Bros. Some regard it as the greatest game ever created, and it’s hard to argue with them. This is probably why we like smash so much. It’s the same reason the world loves Mario. Smash Bros. is basically a Mario game that you can play non Mario characters, fight, and have whimsical Nintendo fun with three aditional people. What can Mario teach us about level design and smash? <!--more-->
One of the things that made Mario Bros. so great was tight controls. The controls were designed to really give Mario a sense of weight and momentum and he traversed the Mushroom Kingdom. Another thing that made Mario shine was level design. Nintendo practically wrote the book on level design. If it weren’t for the properly spaced and placed blocks/pipes/enemies/gaps, the game would have fallen flat. No matter how much control you have over a character, if the level is too hard, too easy, or too boring, the game doesn’t function.
<a href="http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/674708/Hardest_Mario_Game_Ever.html" title="The BAD" target="_blank">The BAD</a>
<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=PIEXFrBRt6U" title="The GOOD" target="_blank">The GOOD </a>
So now we look at Smash Melee because it’s time for another list. Before we start, it’s important to keep in mind that this list doesn’t mean these levels don’t have cool music, good graphics, or that you can’t have fun on them. This list reflects game design. These levels have flaws in them that can easily corrupt, stop, stall, or warp the gaming experience. Even if you and your friends have signed a blood oath not to run away on Temple, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve to be on the list.
<span style="font-weight: bold">1 Past Stages Yoshi’s Story:</span> Like many past stages this stage is far too large. It takes most characters too much effort just to jump from one platform to the other. The large size also destroys any semblance of design on the main part of the stage. This is bad enough. But then there’s the clouds. Just having the cloud on the left isn’t too bad, but there are two more to the right. Fighting on these clouds is unbalanced because some characters have more air control than others. Any character can repeatedly jump preventing the cloud from disappearing. But if you tried to challenge a character like Kirby, he can use his jumps to over come you and even return to the stage. What’s worse is the game forces you to play with the clouds every time you’re knocked far off the stage. I continually forget this level is even in Melee.
<span style="font-weight: bold">2 Icicle Mountain:</span> This level has an interesting idea behind it. Fighting on a randomly generated scrolling mountainside sounds like fun. Unfortunately, this level lacks any design as far as platforms and stability is concerned. The platforms seemed to be placed haphazardly close together. Perhaps they wanted the player to have a way to quickly climb vertically if they were slows or small jumper. The down side is, when you don’t need to go up or down quickly, all the platforms simply get in the way. Also, the fast vertical characters (Fox, Falco) have a lot more control than others giving them a strong advantage. When playing on this stage, I always feel like I’m just trying to survive by continually jumping rather than fighting. If there’s no way to get a footing on the stage, then there’s no stage. It’s not a good idea to constantly be in trouble, in danger, or off balance.
<span style="font-weight: bold">3 Venom:</span> So many glitches, so little time. But seriously, glitches aside, Venom is composed of four slanted surfaces. It’s hard to fight on platforms that are sheered at such a sharp angle. The characters don’t even stand with both feet on the ground on this stage. The body of the ship provides a wall to bounce or tech off of, prolonging the life of players. This also gives the players an easy way to camp the position close to the wall. When the Great Fox is passing through the cave, it’s possible to bounce off the cave wall. This is yet another way to prolong the match. Most characters can attack through the fin of the Great Fox. This is another camp spot. If you want to get over the fin, the only way around is up and over it. If the player camping the fin knows this, they can do many things to keep you from jumping over. This level wasn’t designed for the balance and flow of many different characters.
<span style="font-weight: bold">4 Big Blue:</span> I’ve wanted to fight on the back of cars my entire life. It’s a dream of mine. Ok, maybe not. However, just like in real life, fighting on the backs of moving cards is hard and dangerous. This level is a hodgepodge of platforms and junk on the screen. There’s no design or flow to the way the cars are positioned. Also, because they added floating platforms and other ways to escape from battling on the backs of cars, the level is unfocused. Putting so many things on the screen also makes the level too big. This is not even mentioning how dangerous the track is. Even teching to recover more quickly doesn’t always work on the track. This level is too wild.
<span style="font-weight: bold">5 Temple:</span> The cave/cove/catacombs/caverns. We all know it by a different name, and we all know it’s life giving powers. The little spike at the left side of the cave provides an additional life prolonging “wall.” The Temple is the biggest stage in the game. It actually looks like four large stages put together. Unfortunately, the fast characters can run away making it difficult to fight or counter them. Because the stage has an internal loop (out the cave, up the stairs, across the top, and down into the cave again [clockwise]) running away becomes an unbreakable strategy. Besides that, when the level zooms all the way out, you can hardly see what you’re doing. Besides living forever in the cave, the level is unfocused. If only there was a way to make the players play on different parts at different times like Pokemon Stadium. It would be cool if the different sections crumbled and fell away forcing the players to keep on their toes.
<span style="font-weight: bold">6 Mushroom Kingdom I: </span>The bricks and holes on this stage are terribly positioned. The bricks make everyone a camper whether they want to be or not. Most characters achieve kills by knocking their oponenets up-and-out or down-and-out. This stage eliminates the down-and-out possibility because the sides run to the edge of the stage. With all the bricks polluting the air, the up-and-out gameplay becomes strained. Also, the potential for an item overload makes this level broken beyond repair.
<span style="font-weight: bold">7 Four Side: </span>Just like with Venom, this level has a “fin” in the middle. This fin also provides walls for staying alive. Though close to being usable, even with the unruly UFO. However, if your character can’t wall kick, you automatically lose on this level. Because the traditional “off the stage kills” are to the far left and right side, a player can stick to the middle and camp using the wall. If you try to knock them down one of the holes, they can tech and wall kick back to safety. You can’t even spike them down there. With such a strong advantage to this style of play, this level is tossed to teh wayside.
<span style="font-weight: bold">8 Brinstar Depths: </span>I really like this level. All the lumps and bumps make the stage interesting. Also, the design involved to make a level that can be rotated four ways is admirable. But, the ceiling is a little too low on the top for those characters that like to do the “up” thing (Fox/Falco). Other than that, the stage favors characters that defy gravity. Kirby. Jigglypuff. Peach. Everyone else has a hard time staying on the stage even when it’s not rotating. If this stage had edges in specific places it would be more “non-floater” friendly. Also, being trapped on that little floating piece when it’s stuck down at the bottom, often stalls the game until Kraid comes back.
<span style="font-weight: bold">9 PokeFloats:</span> Throwing a bunch of Pokemon at me is not cool. Some parts of this stage seemed well designed. Other parts seem random and crazy. Without edges to grab onto, everyone is constantly watching their step. With everything constantly moving as it does, this becomes a little taxing.
<p style="text-align: center"> <a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/flatzone_360.jpg" title="flatzone_360.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/flatzone_360.jpg" alt="flatzone_360.jpg" /></a></p>
<span style="font-weight: bold">10 Flat Zone:</span> This is actually a really well designed stage. The left and right side protect you from the falling tools. The platforms shift in the middle of the stage. The hut on the right provides interesting strategies. The biggest problem for this stage comes from the fact that the sides run right up against the stage. In other words, if you run too far left or right, you instantly explode. The problem with this is that Melee wasn’t designed or balanced around this type of stage. Melee was designed around floating stages where the player has an opportunity to stay alive by using the techniques of recovery to grab edges. Because of excessively strong grabs and throws, wave shinning, and crouch canceling, the balance for this stage is thrown into chaos. This can lead to camping. The only thing that contains the madness is if you camp near the sides of the stage, you put yourself at risk for an easy reversal. It’s too bad Jigglypuff can nearly throw you from the center of the stage and kill you at 0%. Oh well, Flat Zone. It’s been fun.
So what does this mean for Brawl? Hopefully Brawl with have the same ratio of good to bad stages in the game. Why? There’s nothing like a bad stage to teach you what’s good about the good ones. And beyond that, where else are you going to get a playing experience like Temple if there isn’t a Temple? Even if these stages can’t be played seriously, they’re still extremely interesting and a lot of fun in certain situations. Brawl needs all kinds of stages and items because it’s a game that appeals to all kinds of people. If we all had an attitude like this, we could set the stage for Brawl right.
<p style="text-align: center"> <a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/marioss.jpg" title="marioss.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/marioss.jpg" alt="marioss.jpg" /></a></p>
You already know all of this I assume and presume. But what’s most interesting is, the way I described melee just know is very similar to another game. Super Mario Bros. Some regard it as the greatest game ever created, and it’s hard to argue with them. This is probably why we like smash so much. It’s the same reason the world loves Mario. Smash Bros. is basically a Mario game that you can play non Mario characters, fight, and have whimsical Nintendo fun with three aditional people. What can Mario teach us about level design and smash? <!--more-->
One of the things that made Mario Bros. so great was tight controls. The controls were designed to really give Mario a sense of weight and momentum and he traversed the Mushroom Kingdom. Another thing that made Mario shine was level design. Nintendo practically wrote the book on level design. If it weren’t for the properly spaced and placed blocks/pipes/enemies/gaps, the game would have fallen flat. No matter how much control you have over a character, if the level is too hard, too easy, or too boring, the game doesn’t function.
<a href="http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/674708/Hardest_Mario_Game_Ever.html" title="The BAD" target="_blank">The BAD</a>
<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=PIEXFrBRt6U" title="The GOOD" target="_blank">The GOOD </a>
So now we look at Smash Melee because it’s time for another list. Before we start, it’s important to keep in mind that this list doesn’t mean these levels don’t have cool music, good graphics, or that you can’t have fun on them. This list reflects game design. These levels have flaws in them that can easily corrupt, stop, stall, or warp the gaming experience. Even if you and your friends have signed a blood oath not to run away on Temple, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve to be on the list.
<span style="font-weight: bold">1 Past Stages Yoshi’s Story:</span> Like many past stages this stage is far too large. It takes most characters too much effort just to jump from one platform to the other. The large size also destroys any semblance of design on the main part of the stage. This is bad enough. But then there’s the clouds. Just having the cloud on the left isn’t too bad, but there are two more to the right. Fighting on these clouds is unbalanced because some characters have more air control than others. Any character can repeatedly jump preventing the cloud from disappearing. But if you tried to challenge a character like Kirby, he can use his jumps to over come you and even return to the stage. What’s worse is the game forces you to play with the clouds every time you’re knocked far off the stage. I continually forget this level is even in Melee.
<span style="font-weight: bold">2 Icicle Mountain:</span> This level has an interesting idea behind it. Fighting on a randomly generated scrolling mountainside sounds like fun. Unfortunately, this level lacks any design as far as platforms and stability is concerned. The platforms seemed to be placed haphazardly close together. Perhaps they wanted the player to have a way to quickly climb vertically if they were slows or small jumper. The down side is, when you don’t need to go up or down quickly, all the platforms simply get in the way. Also, the fast vertical characters (Fox, Falco) have a lot more control than others giving them a strong advantage. When playing on this stage, I always feel like I’m just trying to survive by continually jumping rather than fighting. If there’s no way to get a footing on the stage, then there’s no stage. It’s not a good idea to constantly be in trouble, in danger, or off balance.
<span style="font-weight: bold">3 Venom:</span> So many glitches, so little time. But seriously, glitches aside, Venom is composed of four slanted surfaces. It’s hard to fight on platforms that are sheered at such a sharp angle. The characters don’t even stand with both feet on the ground on this stage. The body of the ship provides a wall to bounce or tech off of, prolonging the life of players. This also gives the players an easy way to camp the position close to the wall. When the Great Fox is passing through the cave, it’s possible to bounce off the cave wall. This is yet another way to prolong the match. Most characters can attack through the fin of the Great Fox. This is another camp spot. If you want to get over the fin, the only way around is up and over it. If the player camping the fin knows this, they can do many things to keep you from jumping over. This level wasn’t designed for the balance and flow of many different characters.
<span style="font-weight: bold">4 Big Blue:</span> I’ve wanted to fight on the back of cars my entire life. It’s a dream of mine. Ok, maybe not. However, just like in real life, fighting on the backs of moving cards is hard and dangerous. This level is a hodgepodge of platforms and junk on the screen. There’s no design or flow to the way the cars are positioned. Also, because they added floating platforms and other ways to escape from battling on the backs of cars, the level is unfocused. Putting so many things on the screen also makes the level too big. This is not even mentioning how dangerous the track is. Even teching to recover more quickly doesn’t always work on the track. This level is too wild.
<span style="font-weight: bold">5 Temple:</span> The cave/cove/catacombs/caverns. We all know it by a different name, and we all know it’s life giving powers. The little spike at the left side of the cave provides an additional life prolonging “wall.” The Temple is the biggest stage in the game. It actually looks like four large stages put together. Unfortunately, the fast characters can run away making it difficult to fight or counter them. Because the stage has an internal loop (out the cave, up the stairs, across the top, and down into the cave again [clockwise]) running away becomes an unbreakable strategy. Besides that, when the level zooms all the way out, you can hardly see what you’re doing. Besides living forever in the cave, the level is unfocused. If only there was a way to make the players play on different parts at different times like Pokemon Stadium. It would be cool if the different sections crumbled and fell away forcing the players to keep on their toes.
<span style="font-weight: bold">6 Mushroom Kingdom I: </span>The bricks and holes on this stage are terribly positioned. The bricks make everyone a camper whether they want to be or not. Most characters achieve kills by knocking their oponenets up-and-out or down-and-out. This stage eliminates the down-and-out possibility because the sides run to the edge of the stage. With all the bricks polluting the air, the up-and-out gameplay becomes strained. Also, the potential for an item overload makes this level broken beyond repair.
<span style="font-weight: bold">7 Four Side: </span>Just like with Venom, this level has a “fin” in the middle. This fin also provides walls for staying alive. Though close to being usable, even with the unruly UFO. However, if your character can’t wall kick, you automatically lose on this level. Because the traditional “off the stage kills” are to the far left and right side, a player can stick to the middle and camp using the wall. If you try to knock them down one of the holes, they can tech and wall kick back to safety. You can’t even spike them down there. With such a strong advantage to this style of play, this level is tossed to teh wayside.
<span style="font-weight: bold">8 Brinstar Depths: </span>I really like this level. All the lumps and bumps make the stage interesting. Also, the design involved to make a level that can be rotated four ways is admirable. But, the ceiling is a little too low on the top for those characters that like to do the “up” thing (Fox/Falco). Other than that, the stage favors characters that defy gravity. Kirby. Jigglypuff. Peach. Everyone else has a hard time staying on the stage even when it’s not rotating. If this stage had edges in specific places it would be more “non-floater” friendly. Also, being trapped on that little floating piece when it’s stuck down at the bottom, often stalls the game until Kraid comes back.
<span style="font-weight: bold">9 PokeFloats:</span> Throwing a bunch of Pokemon at me is not cool. Some parts of this stage seemed well designed. Other parts seem random and crazy. Without edges to grab onto, everyone is constantly watching their step. With everything constantly moving as it does, this becomes a little taxing.
<p style="text-align: center"> <a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/flatzone_360.jpg" title="flatzone_360.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/flatzone_360.jpg" alt="flatzone_360.jpg" /></a></p>
<span style="font-weight: bold">10 Flat Zone:</span> This is actually a really well designed stage. The left and right side protect you from the falling tools. The platforms shift in the middle of the stage. The hut on the right provides interesting strategies. The biggest problem for this stage comes from the fact that the sides run right up against the stage. In other words, if you run too far left or right, you instantly explode. The problem with this is that Melee wasn’t designed or balanced around this type of stage. Melee was designed around floating stages where the player has an opportunity to stay alive by using the techniques of recovery to grab edges. Because of excessively strong grabs and throws, wave shinning, and crouch canceling, the balance for this stage is thrown into chaos. This can lead to camping. The only thing that contains the madness is if you camp near the sides of the stage, you put yourself at risk for an easy reversal. It’s too bad Jigglypuff can nearly throw you from the center of the stage and kill you at 0%. Oh well, Flat Zone. It’s been fun.
So what does this mean for Brawl? Hopefully Brawl with have the same ratio of good to bad stages in the game. Why? There’s nothing like a bad stage to teach you what’s good about the good ones. And beyond that, where else are you going to get a playing experience like Temple if there isn’t a Temple? Even if these stages can’t be played seriously, they’re still extremely interesting and a lot of fun in certain situations. Brawl needs all kinds of stages and items because it’s a game that appeals to all kinds of people. If we all had an attitude like this, we could set the stage for Brawl right.
