A Critique on Every Smash Bros. Stage Ever

[Vintage Creep]

Mario Bros. (Mario Bros.)
This stage follows the steps of 75m and is an exact replica of the very first classic starring the italian plumber. I think the fundamental flaw of 75m (not everything translates perfectly to Smash Bros.) is present here too, but it's a little better this time around, making the stage at least bearable.
It's a walkoff on multiple levels, and the platforms cannot be trespassed in any way, making this stage a "prepare to bounce over and over" fest. Common enemies from the original game appear and act exactly as they did back then, with some of them being untouchable at least you hit them from below the platform they're standing on, making them vulnerable. A POW Block is also present at the center of the stage and acts as it should, creating small earthquakes. Even flames appear as hazards but they're pretty boring.
The stage itself I believe looks a little better than 75m, but still is a complete slugfest. I always hated these two stages, they are pretty nice to look at but end up being extremely boring nonetheless, and they strike me as a lazy by-product.
The next game will add a stage that will make it possible to get out of the blast zone on, let's say, the left by yourself, and reappear from the right part unscathed. It's a pretty nice touch for these old games that used to act this way, but I guess that for Mario Bros. it was too soon and this mechanic was not in here. It's a small update that somehow I think would make this stage a little more interesting, while still being one of those you'd want to avoid.

 

[Vintage Creep]

Flat Zone 2 (Game & Watch: Fire / Lion / Oil Panic / Chef)
Thi stage takes the basic idea of the first Flat Zone in Melee and makes it four times more gimmicky by making it a transformation stage with four forms. The first one you see is the Fire one, it's always the first one appearing and the one the stage reverts back before transforming into another one, so you may consider it the main one. It's also the most basic and with less hazards, being a walk-off place with a few platforms here and there, firemen with trampolines appear from time to time, and you can bounce on it, but other than that this form isn't really much of an hassle to navigate.

The Oil Panic transformation isn't much of a problem either if you avoid attacking the people in here since they will counter-attack. The layout is even simpler and I love how this stage looks, in general Flat Zone 2 is much better looking than 1 by using simple palette colors here and there. For some reason this transformation always reminded me of Onett. The animations of the characters in this stage are pretty funny too.

The Lion transformation is the one I loathed the most when playing this stage. The layout remains extremely simple but two hazards are added in the form of two men holding a chair (basically the same move Mr. Game & Watch has too). They're trying to keep the lions in the cage at the center, but there's no lion, instead the players get bounce right and left everytime they touch those chairs. It's extremely annoying and in general this is the transformation in which you are a victim of the stage. There's really not much you can do to avoid these hazards, especially if four players are in the battle, and you'll just have to wait to get back to Fire.

The final Chef transformation is pretty intrusive too even if not as much as the Lion one. Basically a bigger Mr. Game & Watch continuosly uses his standard B attack and throws boiling food at you. The attack is stronger but it's a little easier to avoid, also if you team-up with your opponent you can actually defeat the enemy and revert to the Fire form.

In general, even if even more gimmicky than the first Flat Zone, I prefer this one because it has forms in which it is not so annoying to fight in. Except for the Lion one, all the others are in my opinion much more comfortable and easy than the original Flat Zone, reducing the amount of annoyance of at least 75% of the time. The stage also looks a lot better thanks to the little colored details here and there and the higher resolution.
The stage came back on 3DS as standalone, while the WiiU got Flat Zone X, a combination of 1 and 2 which makes perfect sense to me. I think this will also probably be the last we'll see for Mr. Game & Watch's stage representation in Smash Bros., and it's okay. In general I'm not the biggest fan of these stages but I don't think there's much more you can do with the source material really.

 

[Vintage Creep]

PictoChat (PictoChat software)
In an interesting spin, Sakurai made the first stage which is not based on a videogame, but instead on a software built-in the Nintendo DS console which was meant for players to make them able to, well, chat with each other. I really like the idea itself because it expands greatly the possibilities we can have in the series, and give Sakurai freedom to express his madness.
PictoChat made it possible for players to communicate not only with words, but even with drawings thank to the touch screen, so technically, everything appearing on this stage outside of its general aesthetic look is original material, and I like the idea of Sakurai just using the software alone and coming up with random ideas by drawing one thing after the other.
PictoChat turned out to be a transforming stage, at this point, the one with most transformations ever, accounting to 27. The first form is basically yet another Final Destination rip-off, with the main platform being the screen where messages would appear when the software was used. I loved this back then, it reminded me of the giant screen in the back of Pokémon Stadium, but now even more explicit.
The transformations are so many and so different from one to the other which describing them all would be too much of an effort honestly for me, so I'll talk about the more interesting ones from a gameplay standpoint.
First off, I like the fact that the drawings can act as different elements, some, like the whale, the house, or the random platforms one, just act as modifications of the terrain. They're not hazards, but they can be traversed by the player making for some interesting results. A transformation consisted simply of a diagonal line dividing the stage in two, with each section having a creppy eye drawn in the middle: the line was not possible to trespass, so if two players found themselves in the opposite part of the stage, they wouldn't be able to hit each other until a new one came up. Another one consisted of a Minecart going left and right over a curved platform, you could jump on it and get a ride, but it could also hit you.
The transformation involving Blocks also was pretty interesting, the drawing was in 3D but acted as it was in 2D resulting in major mind****s for me back then. Another one was about a man blowing wind from his mouth on the right side, effectively acting like Whispy Woods back in the day, while another was just two flames in the middle dealing fire damage.
The stage rapidly transformed into its different forms, to the point at which we can consider PictoChat some sort of middle ground between Pokémon Stadium and WarioWare, Inc.
I love the snack biting feel this stage gives, all its hazards aren't really much of a deal-breaker, and instead continuously bring interesting mechanics and strategy to the battle, since even a simple yet not very common layout can bring some surprise even to veteran players.
It reminds me of the Nintendo Gamecube or Nintendo DS stages in the battle mode of Mario Kart titles. PictoChat got a new version on Smash 3DS, and one which I consider its spiritual successor on WiiU even if acted completely different. Sadly, considering most recent Nintendo consoles don't have interesting built-in softwares like this one, I guess we won't have much surprises like this one anymore, but who knows.

 

[Vintage Creep]

Hanenbow (Electroplankton)
Sakurai felt finally comfortable in Brawl to represent franchises which didn't have playable characters in the roster, and while Smashville will get its rep in Smash 4 in the form of Villager, I can pretty much confirm you right now that Hanenbow will remain a one-off. The main gimmick for this stage is extremely interesting because it's one of those which don't affect gameplay and are just an aesthetic spin (or kinda). Being the game it originated from a rhythm music one, depending on which leaf/platform you'd touch or hit, you'd create music. So, the flow of the battle actually is indicative or the tune you'd listen during the match, which is pretty fun and a mechanic which I guess took some time to be made during development.
To be honest though, touching these leaves would also make them tilt a bit in different positions, so I guess this alterates gameplay a bit, but still no hazards appear.
The main problem doesn't derive from this leaves tilting here and there, but by their original position already. The stage layout is extremely complicated to traverse, the water isn't actually swimmable (which is my main problem here, if you'd be able to swim in it the stage would be much better).
If the water was swimmable, this stage would've been the only "swim-off" stage in the series. I'm not counting Jungle Japes since the current made it impossible to swim in, here the water is calm and relaxing. By since it's not, falling off this stage is pretty damn easy which makes it actually quite hard to fight in.
All in all, I like the idea, but it's one of those stages when a single mechanic decision ruin it for me. I guess we'll never see something about Electroplankton ever again which is also kind of sad, but if this is the best Sakurai could come up with, I guess it's for the best.

 

[Vintage Creep]

Shadow Moses Island (Metal Gear Solid)
We're reaching the end of the Brawl write-up, and with this stage we break some conventions. With Snake's addition to the roster, third party franchises are finally invited to Smash Bros., and this is the first of many examples to come. For the occasion, Sakurai goes to the first game in the Solid series, which was remade exclusively for Gamecube as Twin Snakes. My favorite Metal Gear is Snake Eater, but at the time it still had to be featured on a Nintendo console, so this choice made sense.
The result is a mixed bag to me. It's a walkoff stage with two big watchtowers at each side, making the layout of this stage one of the most peculiar in the Smash Bros. series. Until those towers aren't down (they're breakable), essentially characters can be launched out of the stage only from the higher part.
The stage itself looks pretty good and I love the details in general, but the best part is the animation of the Metal Gears which get into the stage from the center of the building, even though they don't touch the players at all. I remember they're animations to be one of the best Smash Bros. has made until that point, and even the sound design was pretty good with their screeches.
Even today though I have no idea if I like this stage or not. I'm a big fan of the source material, I've played every major Metal Gear Solid titles, and seeing them appear in Smash Bros. is still crazy to this day (too crazy maybe since the Snake cut in Smash 4), but there's gotta be a better stage to go with his inclusion, right?
Shadow Moses Island looks absolutely fantastic from a graphics standpoint, and you can tell the amount of attention Sakurai brought to it even by the addition of the CODEC transmissions, which were a fantastic easter egg, but the stage itself never impressed me from a gameplay standpoint. It always looked and felt too small and restricted, it felt like you were in prison, and even if you destroyed the towers the landscape didn't change that much.
It is not bad at all, it just could've been better, even if I don't know how. Not a big deal anyway, since we're not getting anything related to Metal Gear in Smash Bros. anytime soon.

 

[Vintage Creep]

Green Hill Zone (Sonic The Hedgehog franchise)
Probably the biggest, most important addition to the roster of Smash Bros. was Sonic, the most requested character ever in the history of the franchise, and probably the third party which made the most sense. Green Hill Zone as his stage was also pretty damn obvious, so here it is, and it's pretty good too. The layout is like Bridge Of Eldin, but with a small "valley" in the middle that causes a depression, and the two walkoff sides are at a different height. In the same fashion of Bridge Of Eldin, the center of the stage can be broken by players to create a pit that regenerates after a while. The terrain breaks in tiles, so the pit isn't necessarily always the same, it depends on which part you attack.
The depression feels great to run through as Sonic, it seems like we're actually in the game, but I would've paid top dollars to be able to have that big loop in the background actually being a part of the stage. Yeah I know, it would be hard to implement, but seeing all the different characters do a loop like that if they ran fast enough would've been hilarious.
I like the stage, but it would've been nice for Sonic to have a scrolling one like Mushroomy Kingdom, it just feels right to me but to this day I still haven't been pleased. I guess there will be many occasions anyway, Sonic isn't going anywhere as long as Smash Bros. is released, unlike Snake and other third party characters that could be more of a one-off.
Another hazard is present in this stage anyway, the checkpoint poles: if hit, they'll start moving and hit back. This could be cut to be honest and would be nice enough as an easter egg, these are just victim of Sakurai's hazard fever he had in Brawl.
The stage came back on Smash 3DS, while the WiiU installment will get a stage based on the most recent Sonic game at the time. I would like for this stage to return many more times anyway, it looks great and I love Sonic.

 

[Vintage Creep]

And here we finally are to the final installment in the Smash Bros. franchise, or to be more precise, the final two. Smash Bros. 3DS and WiiU were launched with a couple of months of difference with each other. Sakurai considers them both Smash 4, which is not surprising since they have the same engine and gameplay, but while the roster of playable characters is the same for both, the stage selection differs greatly between the two. Between the two, the total stage count is massive, 84 (I'm not counting double the stages that appear in both versions), with 30 of them being returning stages from all past games as we've seen. Getting them out of the way, and also Battlefield and Final Destination, that means there are still 52 stages to analyze which is still pretty impressive. Smash 4 also introduces the Omega Forms for all stages, Final Destination-like renditions of them which mantains their aesthetic look but puts them on a competitive level by removing all sorts of hazards and consisting of one single platform. It's a nice idea, but fans have been clamoring for an Alpha Form in the vein of Battlefield since release, and hopefully in Smash 5 / Smash 4 DX, whatever is going to be for Nintendo Switch, Sakurai will respond to this request.
With 52 stages, the variety in here is incredible, but Sakurai held back on the party game inspiration of Brawl, making a lot of them less gimmicky and more bearable for people who don't want to play against the stage. This doesn't mean many of the stages ended up being still quite of a mess to like because of some questionable choices.
I'll start talking about the 3DS stages since it's the first which has been released. I'll leave DLC stages for last, trying to follow the release date as best as I can, and for the few that are on both 3DS and WiiU, I'll post mainly about the WiiU version of them since it's by far the best one of the two both in graphics and features.
3DS is kind of a mixed bag for me, it's my least favorite Smash Bros. game (while WiiU funnily enough is my favorite) because of the graphics (still impressive for the hardware) and the limitations it has, but it still features some amazing stages which I hope will come back on a console soon.
3DS stages mainly focused on handled games or installments from each franchise, but that as we'll see is not a rule, and I'm honestly quite sure that Sakurai broke that rule just to put some more stages on this version of the game since the rule isn't broken as many times on the WiiU one. The first is...

3D Land (Super Mario 3D Land)
The first stage is of course based on a Super Mario game, and it's a pretty good one to start things off. It's a mixture of scrolling sections and travelling sections, so already we're seeing something new and Sakurai having fun playing with staples created in the years on working on this series. It starts off on a simple layout with Peach's Castle in the background: there are no hazards in here, you just fight following the stage along. Blocks contain items, and some platforms move, but things remain simple.

One of the best part of the stage in my opinion is this one with blocks that roll on themselves: it gives you a nice platforming challenge without throwing at you too many problems in the form of enemies and hazards. The terrain becomes hard to traverse, so having a fight in this part of the level isn't easy at all, but the novelty of it all makes it quite interesting anyway.

This part with the sea is the only one which presents actual hazards in the form of those Skewers which emerge from the sea and destroy the platforms, while also hitting players in the way. Already I have a theory about 3DS holding back ideas because of its hardware limitations: the platforms represented here in the original game moved based on the position of the character on them. So, if you stayed on the right platform, the entire couple of platforms would move to the right, and viceversa. This doesn't happen, they move automatically. If they made this feature possible it would've been an incredibly interesting twist on the stage, with players walking together (or alone) to avoid the Skewers coming from below.

All in all the stage is pretty great anyway. I like how sometimes the stage moves towards the background, it gives freshness to the whole experience by not being always from left to right. It also looks amazing, with vibrant colors and beautiful textures throughout. It is a pretty good stage for Super Mario, and to be honest most of them should be in this vein. Rather than this one to return, Sakurai should complete the couple and come up with a 3D World stage in the next installment.

 

[ryuu seika]

Skyworld was great thematically and, while getting spiked through the stage was a tad annoying, it made sense. My one issue with it was how the solid platforms always seemed to respawn at just the right time to cut off recovery.

Summit, on the other hand, feels like it tried to do too much. Having it stationary and putting a little more care and attention into how it represented the series (clouds over the blast zone, pterodactyls above, maybe some elements in the layout that would also better reflect Ice Climbers' actual summit) could easily have made it a far better battleground.

Hanenbow was an excellent representation of its series, though, and just sadly not that playable.

I did, however, love pictochat.

 

[Lola Luftnagle]

I say, 75m and Mario Bros. really do bring back memories but generally unplayable for me. Especially on Mario Bros. those stage enemies get in the way much too often for my liking.

Spear Pillar I can't stand because that goddamn Palkia can flip the stage and alter my movements, causing utter confusion. But I am tolerable of the time-slowing effect from Dialga.

Shadow Moses Island, though, I enjoyed so much that it's really the only stage I use outside of Battlefield/Final Destination/Smashville. No hazards to get in the way here; don't have to worry about edge-guarding; good place to practice chaingrabs.

 

[InauspiciousPio]

Pokémon Stadium (Pokémon series)
Finally we reach another new mechanic Sakurai introduced in Melee: transforming stages. And Pokémon was basically the perfect fit to introduce this new idea, because of its massive possibilities to be represented in a game like Smash Bros.
Pokémon Stadium starts in a pretty simple way: it's basically a flat platform with two little ones on top of it in the middle of nowhere. A giant Poké Ball logo appears in its surface to remind us that we're actually in a Colosseum-like field, with millions of people watching us battling each other to the death. I loved the idea of putting a giant screen in the background: its purpose was to report the player about many informations regarding the match taking place, from the protagonists to the time left before the ending.
Even as a simple stage like this it could've worked, by not being much memorable, it was serviceable. But then...

Randomly, one of four transformations would occur, changing the stage layout completely because why the hell not. Every transformation was based on one of the 17 (back then) different types Pokémon could be identificated with. This one is the grass type, one of the main trifecta, which is pretty simple. The main platform is a little more complicated, but basically it just changes the position of the two platforms of the main form, and adds a couple of trees.

The same happens with the fire type. Everything is burning, but that doesn't actually affect the player at all. The left part was a pretty annoying part where to fight in in my opinion, and for some reason the entire stage reminds me of Donkey Kong regarding the style. Still, this is a pretty basic transformation, it looks cool, but doesn't introduce any new ideas gameplay-wise.

The water transformation was by far the most interesting in my opinion thanks to the windmill. Out of all the four transformation, this was my (second) favorite for that element alone. Many probably find it weird to navigate, but me? I like when simple platforming is used in an original way, if it doesn't end up being particularly annoying. The best transformation though?

You'd think that having fire, water and gress (the three main types in Pokémon games since forevere) would be more than enough for this kind of stage, but Sakurai throws in a curveball in the form of the rock type. This was the most complicated and uncomfortable place to fight in, but it actually makes sense to me: it's supposed to represent the infrangible, undestructible personality of the rock type. You have to adapt yourself here, battling against the element itself, which is something you don't actually do in the other forms. Do you escape fire in the fire form? No. Do you swim in the water form? No. Do you, I dunno, get hit by leaves in the grass form? Nah. Here, though, you actually are grinding against rocks, trying to hit your opponent while that giant mountain on the left just sits there, giving you a literal hard time.
In general, the whole stage is pretty damn awesome. It was something completely novel in Smash Bros. and worked perfectly. I like the fact that the whole concept heavily reminds me of the gym locations in the actual games, here completely done from scratch but following the same idea of battling against a certain element, in its own element. Sakurai probably realized this worked because the stage came back in Brawl, followed by a completely new Stadium with more elements, expanded to actually have an effect on gameplay out of the simple platform design.[/QUOTE

One of my personal problems with this stage is not being able to see the ledges! It’s so annoying sometimes I don’t know where I’m recovering to!

 

[Vintage Creep]

I'm BAAAAAACK! Sorry for the wait, but I simply lost interest in this project and abandoned it. Will try to finish it before Smash 5 gets out though. Without further ado, let's go on:

Golden Plains (New Super Mario Bros. 2)
The New series will be represented in Smash 4 twice, and this is taken from the handheld installment of the sub-franchise. At that point in time the New series reached its peak of franchise fatigue, risulting in technically well developed games that simply felt so boring. Golden Plains is a perfect representation of that feeling: technically, I believe the stage is pretty good, but it's also extremely forgettable.
A weird fusion of transforming and traveling stages, Golden Plains has various setpieces taken from the game with usual Mario fluff: moving platforms, bottomless pits, moving platforms. Nothing surprising nor interesting. Every once in a while, a signal tells players that the camera is going to move to a different setpiece, and so it happens. It's an interesting spin and I believe Sakurai did it to make it a little different from Mushroomy Kingdom.
The gimmick for this stage are the coins, like in the game they're everywhere, and if you were able to collect at least 100 of them, you'd gain super armor and a stat boost. I liked this idea actually.
Sadly enough though, the whole ordeal is barely memorable. It's just yet another colorful Mario stage, and like his series was struggling with franchise fatigue back then, this stage struggles with samey fatigue. With this one, there are just to many Mario stages that are just "X level from certain 2D game but in Smash Bros.". Didn't help that for the aesthetic part of the stage, Sakurai went again for the most obvious and easy choice ever, the first world of the game.
If I had to rank this stage, it would probably be the most mediocre one of the entire franchise, and the sad part is that I feel it did indeed reach its full potential. It's the potential itself that wasn't that interesting to begin with.

 

[Vintage Creep]

Rainbow Road (Mario Kart 7)
With Smash 4 Sakurai pushed Mario Kart representation further beyond with two cruising stages taking place in majorly important and famous landscapes from the racing series. In this case I think the 3DS took the better example of it with a much needed and requested Rainbow Road stage. Luckily enough, the infamous recurring track got the best iteration of it in the last title released on the handled, and this stage actually is almost completely ripped from the same game.
I wouldn't be surprised if Sakurai managed to get ahold of the data from Mario Kart 7 and simply port the track, to then build on it the engine of Super Smash Bros. and apply the usual style used for F-Zero stages.
It's absolutely gorgeous to soar through space and visit planets and satellites like Saturn or the Moon. It always struck me as a bit odd that this installment of Rainbow Road takes place, apparently, in the "real" world. Other Rainbow Roads were just, well, roads made of rainbows in the middle of nothing, with stars and constellations to give a nice spectacle about it and that's it. This time around, everything feels strangely realistic but still looks pretty damn good.
I especially like the section on the moon, which is also the best location in Mario Kart 7, and then one inside the mind-numbing rainbow tunnel. As always, and I expect this to become standard for Mario Kart stages, Shy Guys roam the track and act as an hazard. It's nothing Mute City or Port Town hasn't done before, but as I said, sometimes tradition and safety reap pretty great rewards, and I think this is a perfect example for it.
Sadly, being this stage taken from the handled game, it didn't appear on the Wii U version, and I can only imagine how it would've looked if it happened so.

 

[Vintage Creep]

Paper Mario (Paper Mario Sticker Star / Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)
Another sub-franchise that was in serious need of a representation in Smash was of course Paper Mario. I'd argue that the series deserves even more than a stage, and Paper Mario as his own character should be added, but whatever.
This stage is also great but has some weird touches to it than I honestly did not comprehend. First of all, it's a transforming stage, something I didn't expect for a Paper Mario stage, formed of three variations. Two are taken from the much criticized Sticker Star installment, and only one is from Thousand-Year Door, a console game. That's the reason I guess the stage appeared on 3DS, even if in this case also it would've been nice to have on Wii U too.
The first variation is the one you're seeing, and it's pretty standard. Nothing incredible happens, the windmill functions in a similar way to the one appearing in the original Pokémon Stadium, and the pipe is a small hazard. After a while, a giant fan appears on the left and pushes all characters and element of the stage away, creating the second "chapter" of the stage.

In a bizzarre turn of events, Sakurai chose a pretty obscure moment of the Thousand-Year Door story, basically a prologue to the fifth chapter of the game. I believe it was made simply because Sakurai could rip easily some assets from the Pirate Ship stage. It looks beautiful, quite simply the best looking variation of this stage, but I can't help but feel a little underwhelmed by it. If it wasn't for the giant blooper appearing every once in a while I couldn't even tell it was a Paper Mario stage. A whale also appears that elevates the ship in the air, similar to the tornado in Pirate Ship. All in all, it looks fantastic, but my hunger for a Thousand-Year Door shoutout was not satiated in the slightest.

The last phase is yet again taken by Sticker Star, and it's now based on the final stage of the game. I've been clamoring for a Bowser's Castle stage since forever, and this is the closest we've got so far. And... Uuuh, it's not very good. The main gimmick is basically a miniature version of Brinstar Depths, with a giant head of a statue of Bowser rotating on itself changing the terrain the players have to fight on. The head is also an hazard that can bite enemies generating considerate damage. The idea, even if totally random, is kinda neat but it's executed pretty badly. Sakurai's polish is kinda lacking in this phase, making it in my opinion the buggiest, messiest stage ever in the history of Smash Bros. Something about Bowser's head just doesn't feel right, it's hard to operate on it and it just becomes a chore after a while.

So really, if I had to say something about all three, I'd say the first works even if it's kind of boring, the second is good even if kinda random, and the third looks cool but functions pretty badly.
As a first step into giving Paper Mario its much deserved spot under the light, it's kind of a mixbag. The stage looks incredible, possibly one of the best looking 3D stages ever, but it seems put together randomly, like some pieces of cardboard taped together to create a provisional box. Hopefully next time they'll do better to the franchise.

 

[Vintage Creep]

Gerudo Valley (The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D)
In the wake of the 3D remaster of Ocarina Of Time, Sakurai pulled another setpiece from said game to then represent Smash Bros., and well, it took one probably nobody expected. Gerudo Valley really feels random to me as a place chosen to represent one of the most beloved and important games of all time, but whatever, the stage is OK.
A smaller version of Bridge of Eldin, with a small bridge acting like the terrain in Green Hill Zone and being destructible, the stage features Koume and Kotake, two bosses of the game which also never appear in this place (so it's even more random), and that in here act as hazards. Half the stage is engulfed in flames, while the other in ice, but only when the two witches appear.
Other than that, nothing much can be said about Gerudo Valley, stilistically is extremely boring to me, and doesn't translate the atmosphere of the original game at all. The colors are drab and depressing, which is understendable being this just a valley in the middle of nowhere. It plays good though and is one of the first "normal" stages of this installment, with no gimmicks or crazy mechanics going on it.
Sadly though, I can't imagine this not being completely forgotten in the coming years, with other Zelda stages doing everything this one does a lot better.

 

[Vintage Creep]

Spirit Train (The Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks)
The second 3DS Zelda stage is a much better and more interesting one than Gerudo Valley, even if it's taken from, imho, a much less interesting game. Spirit Tracks is in my opinion the worst mainline Zelda ever made, and yet I really like this stage.
As the title implies, it takes place on a train travelling in the overworld of the main game. The train is divided into two different carriages, the one with the commands in the front never changes, while the other sometimes randomly detaches from the main body and is substituted by a different one. This means the platform layout of the stage is continously changing, thematically making it really similar and close to the Pirate Ship one.
Of these various carriages, my favorite is obviously Linebeck's house, but also the broken one is interesting. The road functions similarly to Big Blue's, you can land on it but you quickly need to jump back on the train or the camera will leave you outside of the blast zone. Also similarly to Pirate Ship, if you fall in front of the train, you will get viciously rammed by it receiving damage.
Dark Trains appear as obstacles in front of the main train and can explode. In general, the stage looks very busy but is efficient into placing every element in its right place, with the end result of not feeling too complicated.
I have only one nitpick about it, and it's the background, I would've loved if the stage moved around the actual entire overworld of Spirit Tracks showing its different sides.

 

[Vintage Creep]

Super Mario Maker (Super Mario Maker)
I thought about leaving DLC stages for last since I've been following a somewhat cronological order with these critiques, but whatever, it doesn't change much. This is one of the few stages appearing in both versions of Smash Bros. 4, 3DS and Wii U, like almost every single post-launch DLC stage in this installment.
Following the runaway success of the omonimous game on Wii U, Super Mario Maker is a randomly generated stage, the first we're discussing about, even it it was predated by another on 3DS we'll look on later. This means that every time a match in this place starts, a hand (or sometimes the paw of a cat) positions the elements randomly wherever it pleases to. The end result can vary from a Battlefield-like floating island to a walk-off stage with pits, and also everything from lava to moving platforms to slopes (oddly enough not featured in the actual game this stage generates from), or ice platforms, ? blocks which gives you items, etc...
As in the game, the artstyle is also chosen at random between Super Mario Bros., Bros. 3 (my favorite), World or the New series.
I really like this stage even if its gimmicky nature makes it a once every 100 matches type of deal, and it's kind of hard to talk about being literally a random stage.
So I'll instead expose to you my wishlist for a possible Mario Maker sequel in Smash Switch. Smash Bros. has featured a stage editor in both Brawl and Wii U, and being Mario Maker an actual editor game gave an idea. What if you could actually create the stage at the beginning of the match in a few seconds? I'm not talking about a deep, interesting and versatile editor like the game it's based upon, but a sketchy fast-paced one just for laughs.
That obviously will never happen so let's leave it at that, but I'd say that as it is right now, this stage works perfectly fine anyway.

 

[link3710]

Just caught up on this thread, gotta say I love it. Since no one responded otherwise, I'll explain that Halberd was the setting for around a quarter of the length of Super Star, and you explored the entire ship, slowly taking it down from the inside. As for Fountain of Dreams? It had appeared thrice as a recurring location in the Kirby games at the time Melee released, and was the site of the final boss fight of the original.

Anyways, just wanted to say I was really enjoying this, and with almost all these stages coming back for Smash Ultimate (along with a stage hazard toggle) it makes this all more timely than ever.