Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[Hadokeyblade]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Stage Morph was the most gimmicky, pointless mode ever added which probably took a colossal amount of dev time when it came to testing. If getting rid of it means getting back Melee-style Break the Targets, I would absolutely take it.

And adding it prevented the Donkey kong country returns stage from 4 coming back.

I liked that stage

 

[Sucumbio]

I'm still waiting to see what all the new system''s capable of. While things like stage morph do take time, a lot of that dev time is linked to the hardware capabilities of the console and advancements in dev tools themselves which after all these years since Ultimate was in development have definitely been advanced in their own right. I also can't rule out the possibility that the new system has a "gimmick" of its own that is unique and may or may not tie into the new game.

 

[Gorgonzales]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Stage Morph was the most gimmicky, pointless mode ever added which probably took a colossal amount of dev time when it came to testing. If getting rid of it means getting back Melee-style Break the Targets, I would absolutely take it.

I like Stage Morph but yeah if sacrificing it would lead to more time for other unique content, I'd take the unique content over it.

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Stage Morph was the most gimmicky, pointless mode ever added which probably took a colossal amount of dev time when it came to testing. If getting rid of it means getting back Melee-style Break the Targets, I would absolutely take it.

Honestly, I feel like Stage Morph was purely something added for the sake of visual spectacle rather than for the sake of the actual gameplay. Like, sure, it does look pretty snazzy, but... I have to imagine a lot of work went into it, and for honestly quite a minimal reward given what it ends up being. Idk, to me at least it always felt like the kind of mode added for the sake of making trailers look interesting rather than actually being interesting.

Interesting to consider that in some small ways, the concept had kind of already been done a little better by PSASBR with the whole "meshing of worlds" thing they had going on within the actual design of each stage. Obviously Smash is way past the point of being able to do that nowadays (unless maybe it were a prominent feature in some sort of soft reboot?) but it's still a funny little thought lol

 

[YeppersPeppers]

I play almost exclusively with Stage Morph on so I'd be a bit upset to see it go. I think it's a super fun feature that just needs to be better incorporated into the main stage select (like stage hazard toggling), though how feasible that is I'm not sure.

 

[Gorgonzales]

I'm still waiting to see what all the new system''s capable of. While things like stage morph do take time, a lot of that dev time is linked to the hardware capabilities of the console and advancements in dev tools themselves which after all these years since Ultimate was in development have definitely been advanced in their own right. I also can't rule out the possibility that the new system has a "gimmick" of its own that is unique and may or may not tie into the new game.

Hardware gimmicks are never used for Smash. Everyone is kept on a level playing field; Brawl didn't have motion controls and Wii U didn't have an asymmetrical Gamepad-exclusive mode.

 

[Gengar84]

Hardware gimmicks are never used for Smash. Everyone is kept on a level playing field; Brawl didn't have motion controls and Wii U didn't have an asymmetrical Gamepad-exclusive mode.

I think the Stage Builder used the game pad didn’t it? It’s been a while though so I might be misremembering.

 

[Gorgonzales]

I think the Stage Builder used the game pad didn’t it? It’s been a while though so I might be misremembering.

Yeah it did.

 

[Sucumbio]

Hardware gimmicks are never used for Smash. Everyone is kept on a level playing field; Brawl didn't have motion controls and Wii U didn't have an asymmetrical Gamepad-exclusive mode.

I mainly mentioned that because I don't know if the new system will be different in any kinda way that would tie into the Smash team's dev ideas like when they made 2 games for console / portable (thank God it's all in one now).

 

[fogbadge]

I'm not sure I've ever used stage morph. I keep forgetting it's there

 

[RileyXY1]

Hardware gimmicks are never used for Smash. Everyone is kept on a level playing field; Brawl didn't have motion controls and Wii U didn't have an asymmetrical Gamepad-exclusive mode.

Although Smash for 3DS did lean heavy into it being on a dedicated handheld. It got so bad that they made a stage that simply couldn't function properly in a game that wasn't released on a purely handheld console, that being Pac-Maze.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Sakurai also keeps in mind the console's target audience when making each game. The Wii being so geared toward casuals was why Brawl was so slow.

 

[Jave]

Although Smash for 3DS did lean heavy into it being on a dedicated handheld. It got so bad that they made a stage that simply couldn't function properly in a game that wasn't released on a purely handheld console, that being Pac-Maze.

Smash Run multiplayer on 3DS was also made with the idea of each player having its own separate screen.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

And of course, Smash Tour leaned into the Wii U idea of taking Mario Party like games/modes and making them worse for the audience via dubious execution.

 

[Golden Icarus]

Stage Morph is one of those features I actually use quite often, but only because "why not?" It's there and it's pretty fun, but I’d barely notice if it was gone.

Smashdown and Squad Strike are the two new modes I very much hope stick around and hopefully that isn't asking too much. Those are both simple concepts that greatly help in keeping the multiplayer experience fresh for both casual and competitive players. It’s kinda crazy it took this long, because rosters with 30+ characters are begging for modes like this.

Actually, Squad Strike deserves to be expanded upon. For competitive players, please make it online and maybe even add an optional “draft ruleset” that allows for character bans and back-and-forth character selection.

For casuals, we need some KoF style easter eggs that occur when you pick a specific team. Kirby / Meta Knight / Dedede doing a special victory dance. Chrom / Robin / Lucina cheering each other on during the match. Cloud / Sephiroth / Sora could have a really awkward victory pose. You get it. Doesn’t have to be much, but these little things add so much soul to Smash. Whatever team worked on the codecs / Palutena’s guidance need to be given more stuff to do, preferably with content that people will actually experience in game.

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

Stage Morph is actually pretty fun. If you set it to random stages switching between themselves at random times it makes things rather unpredictable.
It's also a way to experience a bigger chunk of Ultimate's crazy amounts of content in a short burst.
But yeah, I'd welcome a bigger amount of unique content in its place any time.

 

[BritishGuy54]

I think stages could do with a refresh. A lot of Ultimate’s selection definitely feels a bit samey.

I think will get the biggest refresh out of any series. Some picks I’d be thinking of would be…

• A Bowser stage. Bowser’s Castle has been heavily requested. I could see 3D World get the nod here with World Bowser, or we get a more traditional Bowser’s Castle with my prediction of an NSMBW HD port for around Mario’s 40th Anniversary timeframe. Both of these games also had poor timing around Smash 4.
• A brand new stage from a new 3D Mario. Not much to add here. But we know it’ll be coming.
• A new Mario Kart stage. I don’t think it’s definitive. I could see Waluigi Pinball from Mario Kart DS come if the lean mean man in purple joins. Or we get MK7’s Rainbow Road/MK8’s Mario Circuit back. I think a new Mario Kart could end up coming too late for Smash 6 to take notes on.
• Some other choices I could see could be stages from Luigi’s Mansion or Paper Mario.

It might actually be a good idea to revisit some Wii U games that didn’t get stages the first time around in Ultimate like they should have, such as Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Super Mario 3D World, etc. considering many of them got ports on the Switch.

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

There's a lot I'd change about stages, and also a lot I'd keep, however I've pretty much accepted that my taste doesn't really align with Sakurai's.

 

[superprincess]

when smash 6 is announced, do the entire Toad fandom a favour and stay away from his support thread

See you there

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Stage Morph was the most gimmicky, pointless mode ever added which probably took a colossal amount of dev time when it came to testing. If getting rid of it means getting back Melee-style Break the Targets, I would absolutely take it.

I've had some fun casual matches with stage morph. It can be a bit janky at times but overall it's inoffensive.

 

[PersonAngelo53]

I'm not sure I've ever used stage morph. I keep forgetting it's there

Easy to forget when you can’t even use it online. I mostly play the game now with my friends on rooms and I always thought it was such a miss opportunity not even in rooms you can use stage morph or squad strikes etc. I hope the next smash game has more options for online play and rooms specially.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Stages are probably the Smash element I'd be most in favor of shaking up. I understanding keeping some (there's probably about two dozen that realistically should be consistently appearing in the series) but getting a vast majority of new ones from across various Nintendo series would be incredibly refreshing, development time be damned. It would also be a fun chance of utilizing properties that maybe don't have a character but pop up as levels proper. Get me a Stunt Race FX stage with the four vehicles doing different things on the track or an Eternal Darkness one with varying effects depending on if it's Ulyaoth, Xel'lotath, or Chattur'gha (and maybe a very rare appearance by Mantorok every once in a while).

 

[fogbadge]

Easy to forget when you can’t even use it online. I mostly play the game now with my friends on rooms and I always thought it was such a miss opportunity not even in rooms you can use stage morph or squad strikes etc. I hope the next smash game has more options for online play and rooms specially.

tbh I forget this game has online

 

[Laniv]

Stage morph is like Smash Tour: the thing I used once or twice and then forgot existed

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

My only problem with stage morph is that it doesn't really mesh well with the match length. Each stage is either barely there before tagging out or you get most of the match on one stage and 5 seconds on another.

 

[CannonStreak]

I was excited for something like Stage Morph, but then nearly forgot about it.

if I read things correctly in the past, I bet that if we did not have Stage Morph, some past stages would have been easy to add in Ultimate, as some past stages could not get in the game due to Stage morph if I recall correctly.

 

[Perkilator]

My ideal stage roster for the next game would be this:

1. Almost entirely new stages
2. Stages that didn’t return in Ultimate
   • Planet Zebes
   • Sector Z
   • Mute City
   • Melee Mushroom Kingdom
   • Poké Floats
   • Rainbow Road
   • Pac-Maze
   • Jungle Hijinx
   • Pyrosphere
   • Woolly World
3. Stages that have appeared in every game since their debut or are just generally popular
   • Battlefield, Big Battlefield and FD
   • Dream Land 64
   • Temple
   • Fountain of Dreams
   • A new variation of Pokémon Stadium
   • Smashville

 

[PersonAngelo53]

tbh I forget this game has online

Woah lol

 

[Louie G.]

Regarding returning stages, I think Boxing Ring definitely has to be a series staple at this point. As long as Little Mac is here, there’s no home stage more fitting for him and even just as a general Smash arena it’s become pretty iconic. Between Villager and Ken / Incineroar’s reveals, and all the unique fighter titles, it definitely represents more than just being a Punch-Out stage.

And I think Flat Zone is obvious. Like, I dunno, what else are you even gonna do at that point? They kind of perfected it especially after marrying both versions together into Flat Zone X.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

Regarding returning stages, I think Boxing Ring definitely has to be a series staple at this point. As long as Little Mac is here, there’s no home stage more fitting for him and even just as a general Smash arena it’s become pretty iconic. Between Villager and Ken / Incineroar’s reveals, and all the unique fighter titles, it definitely represents more than just being a Punch-Out stage.

And I think Flat Zone is obvious. Like, I dunno, what else are you even gonna do at that pointThey kind of perfected it especially after marrying both versions together into Flat Zone X.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind a Flat Zone 3 personally so we can get another music track for it, but Flat Zone X pretty solidly covers a lot of bases, and Boxing Ring is pretty iconic for Mac who I don't think is going anywhere.

I'd also add Duck Hunt to this personally, because otherwise Duck Hunt just has Clay Shooting. Could get a stage from Hogan's Alley or Wild Gunman too, so Duck Hunt has some options, but I don't think Hogan's or Gunman would be labeled as a Duck Hunt stage, so it'd be kinda weird for me personally I think? Wouldn't mind seeing them, but I'd be bothered by Duck Hunt's home stage not being Duck Hunt lmao

EDIT: Aside from those and maybe a handful of others from Ultimate's new stages (depending on things like which third parties are in base game and stages from newer Nintendo titles like Spring Stadium, Cloud Sea, and Garreg Mach), I'd like the majority of the stage list to be brand new stages to make the stage list feel fresh, but I've said all that a number of times before.

 

[Watuna4343]

Here's a hypothetical scenario that will never happen but sounds like fun nonetheless if y'all are OK. What if the next Smash Bros goes full on reboot and restarts the roster to 12 fighters as the original 64 game did? (again, this is not going to happen, but just for fun speculation's sake), basically what if a 12-character-roster Smash would look like today vs in 1999? What 12 characters would get in?
I have made a hypothetical version of said scenario: https://imgur.com/a01TNtc
but realistically speaking, what characters would probably make it in such a small roster because I imagine whoever made it in such a roster could very safely be considered untouchable, like bulletproof from any cut whatsoever.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I'd also add Duck Hunt to this personally, because otherwise Duck Hunt just has Clay Shooting. Could get a stage from Hogan's Alley or Wild Gunman too, so Duck Hunt has some options, but I don't think Hogan's or Gunman would be labeled as a Duck Hunt stage, so it'd be kinda weird for me personally I think? Wouldn't mind seeing them, but I'd be bothered by Duck Hunt's home stage not being Duck Hunt lmao

I agree that Duck Hunt should stay, but if they really wanted to swap out light gun games, Gumshoe wouldn't be a bad choice.

Definitely shouldn't represent Duck Hunt though since it's the only light gun game that isn't even in Duck Hunt's moveset.

Here's a hypothetical scenario that will never happen but sounds like fun nonetheless if y'all are OK. What if the next Smash Bros goes full on reboot and restarts the roster to 12 fighters as the original 64 game did? (again, this is not going to happen, but just for fun speculation's sake), basically what if a 12-character-roster Smash would look like today vs in 1999? What 12 characters would get in?

Probably something like:

1. Mario
2. Link
3. Kirby
4. Pikachu
5. Marth
6. Fox
7. Captain Falcon
8. Bowser
9. Inkling
10. Villager

Which would be pretty terrible.

EDIT: Also I can't count. Add Zelda and Samus or something.

 

[Idon]

tbh I forget this game has online

Ngl that explains a lot.

My ideal stage roster for the next game would be this:

1. Almost entirely new stages
2. Stages that didn’t return in Ultimate
   • Planet Zebes
   • Sector Z
   • Mute City
   • Melee Mushroom Kingdom
   • Poké Floats
   • Rainbow Road
   • Pac-Maze
   • Jungle Hijinx
   • Pyrosphere
   • Woolly World
3. Stages that have appeared in every game since their debut or are just generally popular
   • Battlefield, Big Battlefield and FD
   • Dream Land 64
   • Temple
   • Fountain of Dreams
   • A new variation of Pokémon Stadium
   • Smashville

I just want every character to have 1 stage that's dedicated to them specifically. Feels like that adds a lot.

 

[ninjahmos]

It'll probably never happen, but I think Butter Building would make a neat stage.

 

[RouffWestie]

Here's a hypothetical scenario that will never happen but sounds like fun nonetheless if y'all are OK. What if the next Smash Bros goes full on reboot and restarts the roster to 12 fighters as the original 64 game did? (again, this is not going to happen, but just for fun speculation's sake), basically what if a 12-character-roster Smash would look like today vs in 1999? What 12 characters would get in?
I have made a hypothetical version of said scenario: https://imgur.com/a01TNtc
but realistically speaking, what characters would probably make it in such a small roster because I imagine whoever made it in such a roster could very safely be considered untouchable, like bulletproof from any cut whatsoever.

It would look like this


it's okay though they would introduce a new Cappy throw move as the replacement for Corrin's Down B.

 

[Laniv]

Here's a hypothetical scenario that will never happen but sounds like fun nonetheless if y'all are OK. What if the next Smash Bros goes full on reboot and restarts the roster to 12 fighters as the original 64 game did? (again, this is not going to happen, but just for fun speculation's sake), basically what if a 12-character-roster Smash would look like today vs in 1999? What 12 characters would get in?
I have made a hypothetical version of said scenario: https://imgur.com/a01TNtc
but realistically speaking, what characters would probably make it in such a small roster because I imagine whoever made it in such a roster could very safely be considered untouchable, like bulletproof from any cut whatsoever.

1. Mario
2. Link
3. Kirby
4. Samus
5. Donkey Kong
6. Yoshi
7. Pikachu
8. Villager
9. Inkling
10. Marth
11. Shulk
12. ...ummm uhhh Mewtwo

My reasoning: idk

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

A stage for each character would be pretty cool.
Even series with only a little few characters like DKC would force the stage selection to get a bit more spicy. The standard jungle can work for DK, but then you'd have to give Diddy something more specifically associated to him like the brambles stage, and the galleon to K. Rool.
We'd also finally get an actual Bowser stage.

 

[fogbadge]

Ngl that explains a lot.

about what?

 

[Thegameandwatch]

Here's a hypothetical scenario that will never happen but sounds like fun nonetheless if y'all are OK. What if the next Smash Bros goes full on reboot and restarts the roster to 12 fighters as the original 64 game did? (again, this is not going to happen, but just for fun speculation's sake), basically what if a 12-character-roster Smash would look like today vs in 1999? What 12 characters would get in?
I have made a hypothetical version of said scenario: https://imgur.com/a01TNtc
but realistically speaking, what characters would probably make it in such a small roster because I imagine whoever made it in such a roster could very safely be considered untouchable, like bulletproof from any cut whatsoever.

Starting Roster:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. An Animal Crossing character: (Ex:/)
8.

Unlockables:
9.
10. A Fire Emblem character: (Ex:/)
11.
12. An additional Mario character (Ex:,,)

The roster that I came up in a scenario where it was completely rebooted.

 

[DarthEnderX]

What if the next Smash Bros goes full on reboot and restarts the roster to 12 fighters as the original 64 game did? (again, this is not going to happen, but just for fun speculation's sake), basically what if a 12-character-roster Smash would look like today vs in 1999? What 12 characters would get in?

1. Mario
2. Luigi
3. Donkey Kong
4. Link
5. Samus
6. Kirby
7. Pikachu
8. Marth
9. Olimar
10. Villager
11. Shulk
12. Inklings

 

[Hadokeyblade]

Hardware gimmicks are never used for Smash. Everyone is kept on a level playing field; Brawl didn't have motion controls and Wii U didn't have an asymmetrical Gamepad-exclusive mode.

And the one time they did use a console gimmick it prevented the Pacman stage from coming back in Ultimate.

I liked that stage.