Man. I was not kidding when I said these wouldn't be until later. But at last, time for Round 23 grades!
psb123's grades:
The Qb Dimension by
Kevandre
Iconic Status: 3/5
A sad fate for a stage based on a series made the Kirby Developers really. But as interesting as I personally find the series, I don't think it did so hot overall worldwide. Now Japan I do believe has a case to argue against me with in that regard, seeing as how they released a physical collection of all 3 games that came with a Qb amiibo. But that was only released in Japan which is just one territory. So I stand by my 3.
Originality: 9/10
There is one tiny thing that prevents a full score in this category. But it's better explained in Playability. All in all though this is a very solid depiction of a Box Boy stage. Really feels like the puzzles and Qb running through to mess around with them was pulled straight from the source game.
Playability: 8/10
At first your image of the stage made me think it was like one of those big stages made in Brawl's stage builder by people who didn't no what they were doing and thought putting a bunch of block-offs and hard to reach areas was a good idea (spoiler: It wasn't. I can say so from experience). But upon examining it more carefully the size actually strikes me as being like that of Arena Ferox when it brings in some structures.
That saved you a hefty sum of points here. I do think things can be tweaked and moved around just a tad bit to make the stage more accessible (which is the thing that affected your originality score as well) but all in all this is a solid attempt.
Overall Score: 20/25
Night Walk by
TKOWL
Iconic Status: 4/5
You know now that I think about it, I think this may be the first time I'm giving a stage a high iconic score based solely off of Smash demand. A lot of people have been clamoring for a Rhythm Heaven character ever since the Gematsu leak and for a series known for it's mini-games rather than it's settings, I think that's enough to earn it a good score.
Originality: 10/10
My one and only concern I had here was the stage scrolling in the same way as Dream Land 3DS. But as far as I recall DL 3DS is the only stage so far to scroll like that. And since I don't like that stage due to its hefty amount of seal-offs for blast zones, I can let this slide.
Playability: 9/10
I have given scrolling stages that don't show a good amount of layouts a reduction in points before. But the reason for that is because there were other things about the stage that left me concerned that some un-shown layouts would cause issues in playability. As you can see this is an example of that, but a very small one. The lack of footing on the right side of the reference image is what lead to my concerns there.
Overall Score: 23/25
The Watchtower by
splat
Iconic Status: 4/5
A very similar case as Rhythm Heaven to be honest. I would most certainly not claim that Dillon has as much demand to be in Smash (has he been shown as an assist trophy yet?) but Nintendo gave this series quite a push on the 3DS.
Originality: 10/10
Can't really see a reason to take off any points here. Perhaps if Ultimogrock could attack from a distance but given how well this stage seems to mesh with the source material already I do have some doubt on if Ultimogrock interactions would allow that to remain. Plus they might cause too much interference with a fight given the stage's layout.
Speaking of which........
Playability: 6/10
You did say the explosions aren't very frequent but giving a more detailed time table might have saved you an extra point. Even so, those explosions look a little too large and powerful for a stage with this layout. If you kept the towers you already have while adding in some more footing that doesn't explode it would have been a big help for your stage. I won't lie though, I do get a giggle out of how it reminds me of the pre-Ultimate Sudden Death format
Overall Score: 20/25
Elite Beat City by
GolisoPower
Iconic Status: 2/5
This is another series where it hurts to give it such a low iconic score. But I do what I must. The series died after the DS era and the fact that it had a completely different identity in Japan doesn't do it any favors.
Originality: 10/10
Using a specific kind of attack on a Rhythm circle to temporarily boost the power of that attack? Dude, that is brilliant.
Playability: 9/10
As awesome of an idea as your Rhythm circle is, the fact of the matter remains that trying to land the right attack on it is made more difficult on a scrolling stage than it would be on a Stationary one.
Overall Score: 21/25
Concert Hall by
PeridotGX
First of all I want to say that the break you were thinking of, while your call in the end, is not something I would do if I were you. In terms of making quality stages, it remains true for everyone that sometimes you don't do so hot, and sometimes you do.
And as your about to see, I think you've got a solid submission here.
Iconic Status: 4/5
10th best selling 3DS game. I pretty often forget that fact. Jokes on me for it though because I know that it got itself a decent fanbase through all those sales. It already got one stage in Smash. What's the harm in another?
Originality: 10/10
The Tomodachi life stage currently in Smash, while appreciated for representing it's game, is a little on the bare bones side. This one adds a heck of a lot more flare.
Playability: 10/10
The stage adds more platforms for you to fight on. And none of them get in the way. No problems here.
Overall Score: 24/25
Cosmic77's grades:
"The Qb Dimension" by Kevandre:
Iconic Status: 3/5
The Qbby games aren't widely known, but it does have relevancy on its side. It also managed to get an amiibo in Japan, so that might slightly raise awareness of the series to people overseas interested in collecting amiibo.
Originality: 10/10
The use of Qbby was superb. I feel like you really captured the essence of the series with this stage. Very satisfied with the unique layout you created as well.
Playability: 3/10
Sadly, your stage looks like it'll be more frustrating than Temple and Spear Pillar. Not having any passable platforms will make KOs extremely difficult, especially if cheap players want to camp by the door.
Overall Score: 16/25
"Night Walk" by TKOWL:
Iconic Status: 4/5
Ehh... Personally, I would've went with something else. Rhythm Heaven has a vast library of minigames available, and this is essentially the "credits minigame". I think there were better, more iconic options.
Originality: 5/10
What you came up with isn't bad by any means, but this is a Rhythm Heaven stage. Really would've liked to have seen a gimmick that got the players more involved in some type of rhythm game. Even if it was just for fun and had no effect on the battle, I feel like it would've done a much better job of representing the series.
Playability: 9/10
Taking a single point off for the gaps where players could fall. Normally I would ignore them, but Night Walk has a lot of gaps.
Overall Score: 18/25
"The Watchtower" by splat:
Iconic Status: 4/5
Dillon's hasn't gotten as much attention as Nintendo would've liked, but the artstyle and Western theme make it stand out.
Originality: 9/10
I like what you came up with. The gimmick is simple enough to not over-complicate things, but it still keeps battles fresh and exciting. I also feel like this stage does a fairly decent job of representing the Dillon franchise, so good job.
Playability: 6/10
The Wild West is rough, and so are those explosions. There's plenty of opportunities for someone to get KO'd early.
Overall Score: 19/25
"Elite Beat City" by GolisoPower:
Iconic Status: 2/5
Not many people will remember the already niche EBA. A recent sequel to their game would be required if you wanted a higher score.
Originality: 8/10
I enjoyed the implementation of a rhythm game in your stage. It's totally unique to your stage, and it really emphasizes the theme of the EBA.
The layout, however, isn't too stellar. I really would've liked to have seen more variety with the buildings instead of the typical rectangular shape we always see.
Playability: 5/10
This is a scrolling stage with a heaping handful of narrow gaps where many characters would be unable to recover. If you had made fewer buildings with wider gaps, I definitely would've raised your score by a few points.
Overall Score: 15/25
"Concert Hall" by PeridotGX:
Iconic Status: 5/5
Tomodachi Life was a massive success, it's relevant, and it already has a stage in Ultimate. There's a good chance players will recognize this stage.
Originality: 9/10
You didn't provide much detail, but you won me over with your concept. Fighting on the props during a musical performance sounds quirky enough to be a real stage in Smash. I also like how it goes through more than one phase and showcases the other parts of the show.
Playability: 10/10
Everything looks fine to me. Nothing I feel the need to point out.
Overall Score: 24/25
TheMarioAddict's grades:
I'd like to apologize in advance for the "iconic" scores - I'm not well versed in many of Nintendo's smaller titles.
"The Qb Dimension" by Kevandre:
Iconic Status: 2/5
I do have a vague memory of this game existing, but that’s about all I have. That said, I think the game has a unique enough visual design to jog some memories, so I’ll give 2 points for this.
Originality: 8/10
I think Qbby himself really saves you on this one - the platform arrangement itself is unique, as is the art style (it does look a bit like Pictochat, but that’s not your fault). Qbby himself is what really helps, though - a stage with a wall that moves around it is something I feel like we should have seen in Smash already at this point, but I looked around and couldn’t find any, as far as I could tell. The door is a pretty nice touch here, too! On top of that, it’s not often that you see a stage with no passable platforms whatsoever!
That said...
Playability: 4/10
I feel like this stage would be a bit of a clusterf*** to fight on. The lack of passable platforms means that KOs are gonna be pretty tricky to get, and some of the places Qbby can move to could make even
getting to your opponent a bit of a chore (for instance: in Layout 3, look at the path Jigglypuff has to take to reach Ivysaur). More than that though, this stage seems absolutely
ripe for caves of life and cheap camping - in particular, the area just behind the door feels like a spot players could camp a
lot if they wanted to. Overall, I just see a lot of issues that would make me avoid this stage if it were in the game.
Overall Score: 14/25
"Night Walk" by TKOWL:
Iconic Status: 5/5
Rhythm Heaven is super iconic. I don’t personally know a lot about the series, so I’m unsure how iconic Night Walk specifically is, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
Originality: 8/10
Scrolling stages are nothing new (you even pointed out some yourself), but you’ve done something few of them seem to do - leave a lot of space below the platforms. That’s enough to give you a nice bump in originality compared to typical scrolling stages. That said, based off of the source game, it doesn’t seem like this setup would allow for much variety in the layouts, in the way other scrolling stages tend to do. I definitely like this better than other scrolling stages though, so good job with that!
Playability: 9/10
If every position the stage can be in is similar to the one you pictured, then I see no problems with playability. I’m gonna take one point off though for that very tiny platform in the picture (assuming it’s not the only one in the stage) - I feel like that thing would be
hell to try and land on.
Overall Score: 22/25
"The Watchtower" by splat:
Iconic Status: 4/5
I’m honestly unsure how successful/popular Dillon’s Rolling Western was, but I remember Nintendo making a big push for it when it came out, so I’ll give you a point above average for this.
Originality: 7/10
It’s not the most original stage I’ve ever seen (it feels a bit like a cross between Gerudo Valley and Find Mii, hazards and all), but you do enough different and pull just enough from the source series to put you a few points above average.
Playability: 8/10
The layout is fine, but the explosions definitely knock a couple points off here. The explosions
are telegraphed pretty well, though, and you say they don’t appear
too frequently, so they don’t ruin the stage by any means. Still, I could see people hesitating to play on this stage because of those.
Overall Score: 19/25
"Elite Beat City" by GolisoPower:
Iconic Status: 3/5
Once again I’m unsure of how popular Elite Beat Agents actually was, but I don’t remember any kind of marketing push like with Dillon’s Rolling Western, so you get an iconic rating smack in the middle.
Originality: 9/10
Like with TKOWL’s stage, scrolling stages are nothing new in Smash. But in contrast to his stage, you managed to take the mechanics of a rhythm game and work them into the stage, which feels like the kind of wacky thing that Sakurai would try when making a stage like this. It’s a very unique mechanic (for Smash, anyways) that’s interactive, relatively unobtrusive, and represents the source material very well. Well done!
Playability: 6/10
And yet for all that originality in the mechanics, the stage itself kinda suffers in the playability department. And not even
because of the rhythm mechanic (though I can see a few edge cases where it’d cause some concern), but more because of the platforms themselves. The multitudes of walled pits would favor anyone with a wall jump (not to mention absolutely
ruin the Earthbound characters), and the randomized layout
could result in tall walls pushing a character without much jump height (say, Little Mac) all the way to his doom, with nothing he could do about it. Still, it doesn’t look
totally unplayable, and I could see myself messing around with some friends on this stage, so the score isn’t as low as it could be.
Overall Score: 18/25
"Concert Hall" by PeridotGX:
Iconic Status: 5/5
So I was only gonna give you a 4 since I actually knew a thing or two about this game, but then I read the statistics. Tomodachi Life was
really the 10th best selling 3DS game? Like… damn. I knew it was popular, but
that popular? Like…
damn.
Originality: 5/10
So good stuff first: I like the idea of a musical going on in the background of the stage, and you do a decent amount of stuff to keep the platform layouts interesting (though I’m not fully sure I can tell where the platform is supposed to be on the Techno phase). That said, it all feels kind of… bland. I mean, not every stage has to have crazy over-the-top gimmicks and hazards to stand out and be original, but this stage just feels kind of done-before, and I can’t really put my finger on why. Still, there are unique elements for sure, so I’ll give you an average score.
Playability: 10/10
I don’t see any playability issues here. Not much else to say, really.
Overall Score: 20/25
Mr. Cotton's grades:
Kevandre’s “Qb Dimension”
Iconic Status: ⅘
It’s a fairly iconic 3DS title.
Originality: 10/10
I wouldn’t have thought of a Qbby stage. And the gimmicks are very original.
Playability: 10/10
Qbby is basically a constantly changing and moving platform, but it’s not to overpowered.
Score: 24/25
TKOWL’s “Night Walk”
Iconic Status: 5/5
A very popular franchise on Nintendo platforms.
Originality: 10/10
Very original idea! How a side scroller should be done.
Playability: 10/10
Nothing seems unfair!
Score: 25/25
Splat’s “The Watchtower”
Iconic Status: ⅘
It’s not the most iconic game. But it was a very popular 3DS title, so I’ll give you that.
Originality: 10/10
It’s very unique, and I haven't seen a stage that focuses on explosives as it’s key mechanic. (Well, i guess Wrecking Crew...But you know what I mean.)
Playability: 8/10
I can see the explosives messing up a match just a little bit, because every single fighter has to rendezvous over to the other platform, and it’s pretty tiny to fit all those fighters.
Score: 22/25
Goliso Power’s “Elite Beat City”
Iconic Status: ⅘
I have never heard of this in my life, but it’s probably popular...so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
Originality: 10/10
Very nice! I like the Rhythm Note System.
Playability: 10/10
Not much to say. Nothing out of wack here.
Score: 24/25
Peridot GX’s “Concert Hall”
Iconic Status: 5/5
Practically everyone who doesn’t live under a Goron knows what this is.
Originality: 10/10
I love this idea! Tomodachi life was really really fun. And this is not what i would’ve thought of. (I need those funky Mii backup dancers though.)
Playability: 10/10
Very great stage! Everything is Balanced!
Score: 25/25
Total Scores:
Kevandre: 74 points
TKOWL: 88 points
splat: 80 points
GolisoPower: 78 points
PeridotGX: 93 points
The Winner is...........
Concert Hall by PeridotGX
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!
