I think this'll probably get ninja'd because of how long it'll take me to type, but here's my own take. One of the most beloved Square RPG games out there would be fun to see, right?
Stage Name: The Epoch
Stage Origin: Chrono Trigger (1995)
That's right! Rather than basing it in a single, specific location, I wanted to represent Chrono Trigger's themes of journeying. Whilst I came close to suggesting
The End of Time due to it's very unique and interesting appearance, I instead went with the ship used toward the second half of the game to journey through time.
The
Epoch would, as you'd expect, work a little like stages already in Smash - similarly to
Lylat Cruise,
Venom and
Pilotwings. Essentially, fighters would fight atop the
Epoch as it flies between different times and locations, visiting eras from Chrono Trigger such as (in "chronological" order,):
65,000,000BC (Prehistory): Flying close to the ground, the Epoch would mostly be close to Ioka Village, the home of the party member (and village chief) Ayla. During the time you're there, there's a battle between the humans and the Reptites taking place, similar in concept to the raid that the Reptites made on the village in the original story. There's also Dactyls that'll fly around the Epoch during this time, acting as temporary platforms on which you can stand. You'd travel to another time period before a large meteor (happening to be Lavos) hits the ground.
12,000BC (Antiquity): This section would transition between the two major "locations" present during the time period, specifically the floating Kingdom of Zeal above the clouds, and the never-ending blizzard of the surface world below. The
Epoch would start below, before lifting upward, passing through the clouds (that also fog up the stage a little) and then reaching Zeal, which it flies around briefly before leaving.
600AD (Middle Ages): This would have a lot more focus on passing by notable locations from the era, given that there are quite a few. These would predominantly be Guardia Castle, Manolia Cathedral, Truce and Truce Canyon and the Zenan Bridge. Whilst this area has more outright landmarks than anywhere else, it'd have some of the fewest gimmicks.
1000AD (Present): This would be quite a short section, where you'd fly over the Millenial Fair - as well as transitioning here from the Middle Ages close to Guardia Castle, allowing you to see the changes that have taken place in the four hundred years you've travelled through. I'd say here'd be one of the more prominent ways to see the passage of time.
1999AD (Apocalypse): This would take place directly during the emergence of Lavos resulting in the apocalyptic future following. This would be close to Arris Dome, which we'd see in its ruined state in the Future - but for a moment, before Lavos arriving and laying waste to the world, all would be peaceful. Again, you'd have to escape before being hit, but a couple of explosive spines would land on the
Epoch and cause damage.
2300AD (Future): The world is in ruins, and we'd see that very clearly in this section. We'd mostly fly around the now-ruined Arris Dome, with the world being in constant cloud cover as we see how dark this place has truly become. We could also see Death Peak in the background, but the scariest thing about this place is how... eerily quiet it is.
The version of this stage without Stage Hazards would have the Epoch fly at a consistent yaw, as well as avoiding hazards like the fog and spines, and the Dactyls from Prehistory. The Battlefield/Final Destination designs would have a platform designed to look like it's been plucked from the End of Time, complete with paving and the like, but would have the same background. (However, if you hold the L button whilst selecting the FD/Battlefield forms, the background is instead replaced with a black void with a slight noise texture, representing the End of Time more directly. The input is the same as selecting the Punch-Out form for the Boxing Ring stage, though this doesn't work on the normal form.)
Costumes:
1. Cloud would get a costume based on his appearance in
Kingdom Hearts. I feel like this one just fits really well, and we could argue "magic" could be the specific category it'd fit under.
2. Pac-Man would get a unique costume giving his head/body a Gilgamesh helmet! Whilst being based on Namco as a whole, it also fits with "swords" and "magic", plus it'd give him a unique look that isn't just "oven gloves". I think the idea of "classic Namco" being a sort of singular IP.
3. Greninja finally gets his Ash-Greninja look, fitting in with his origin from a turn-based RPG. It's a model swap a lot of people were confused as to not being here, and whilst I did consider introducing the Armoured Mewtwo alt into Smash proper, I think Ash-Greninja would be easier to promote due to being arguably more prominent.
Update: poop. Really sorry about accidentally taking your submissions, I'll change it up in a moment.
