The Conspired Calamity of the Clone Stage Conundrum (and Similar Shenanigans)

[Mr.X98]

This was a topic I wanted to address months ago, (but to be honest, I did not know how to make a thread at the time...)

The concept of this thread relates towards a minor observation that grew into a basic concept. The idea being that of whether or not Smash Wii U contains a large of assortment of similar Stages be it...

1.) Skin Swap: A stage that may be different in design choice, yet plays nearly the exact same way, excluding Omega form stages of course. (Notable Examples: Town and City and Smashville, Kalos Pokemon League and Pokemon Stadium 2, etc)

2.) Deja Vu-esq Stages: Stages that may be different in area play, yet feel exactly the same in design. (Notable Examples: Palutena's Temple and Skyworld, Mario Circuit and Mario Circuit (Brawl), etc)

I am not truly trying to bring a negative outlook upon this observation (as a matter of fact, I enjoy playing several of these stages without knowledge of this bringing down my entertainment.) I just feel that this would be an interesting topic to impose. Ideas such as...

Could Skin Swap Stages be tweaked further?
Do you feel certain Stages could be added upon this idea?
Should Deja Vu-esq Stages Be moved to the 3DS version as Compensation?
Do stages from the past fit this category as well (in their respective games of course)?

Do you feel like you want to talk about this? go ahead! Do you think more stages have correlations similar to this? Go Ahead and Talk about it! Am I making a big deal out of this? you bet I am!

 

[Mobes]

Here's the changes I would've made if I hade any sort of power over the stage selection process.

• Including both Mario Circuit (Brawl) and Mario Circuit is a choice I don't agree with, probably mostly because they are named similarly and are based on the same location theme, even though they are very visually different. I'd rather make a Mario Kart 8-themed track based on some other level, like Mario Kart Stadium, Electrodrome or Cloudtop Cruise. I'd also consider not including one of these tracks, since they both presumably took up some amount of dev time. It's also a bit annoying that Mario Circuit (Brawl) still isn't attributed to Mario Kart DS.
  
• I don't understand how Smashville was decided to be ported when Town and City does almost exactly what Smashville is trying to do, and slightly more. They even share gimmicks, like the balloon that come in with items to use. Smashville shouldn't have been ported at all.
• As other's have been saying, I'd love a Pokémon Stadium X-type stage.

The rest of your examples I don't have any beef with, although Skyworld sticks out at me since it's essentially a prelude to Sakurai's work in KI:Uprising, when Uprising material is all over Smash 4.

In this presumed alternative world, less stages means development time spent on other things. I'd rather have less stages with a more qualitative stage roaster.

 

[kantoskies]

It did bother me that they brought back Mario Circuit from Brawl when they have a new one with the exact same (albeit better-looking) theme. I would have both gone with a different theme for the new one (Rainbow Road, Sweet Sweet Canyon, or Electrodome maybe?) and not brought back the old one (and instead had Princess Peach's Castle or even Rainbow Cruise). With Smashville/Town and City, I had more of a problem with Town and City being so similar to Smashville (it doesn't even change seasons!) than them bringing back Smashville. Tortimer Island was much more creative and I hope next time they go that route instead of Smashville 3. Also, while I like the concept of Big Battlefield I kind of wish they textured it to look similar to Melee's Battlefield. I know it was probably a quick and easy stage to make, since it re-used all of the assets from the regular Battlefield, but it still would have been more interesting to see two approaches to the Battlefield concept.

Also for some reason I thought we had a lot of those touring stages (like Port Town Aero Dive and Skyloft) this time around but when I went to count them there were only like 6. And I guess it's a good way to show off a big area like Delfino Plaza and Wuhu Island so I guess they're okay.

 

[Khao]

The only one of your comparisons I really agree with is Town & City/Smashville, which are extremely similar in several ways.

The others? Not so much.

Kalos League and Pokémon Stadium are only alike in that they're both a Pokémon stage with multiple transformations. And yet the tranformations themselves work in completely different ways down to their very basic concept; Stadium creates obstacles and platforms, while Kalos League creates damaging hazards and interactive elements. Other than that, they have completely different layouts and looks, and actually can't be played in the same way because of the differences in transformation ideas I already mentioned. In stadium, you get multiple different platform layout, and sometimes a special effect like the low gravity. In Kalos, you kind of have to avoid everything the transformation throws at you, or you'll take damage. I'd go as far as to say they're opposites in a way.

The Mario Circuits are only really similar in theme, name, and nothing else. One of them is a static scene with walk-off edges and platforms. The other is a big moving platform that stops at several points in a huge map, and if anything, it's comparable to Mute City from Melee, or Delfino Plaza from Brawl.

Skyworld and Palutena's Temple? I've honestly never even made the connection, they're simply from the same series.

 

[Saikyoshi]

The biggest problem I have is with Wuhu/Pilotwings, which presumably use the exact same model. Even in Ω, when WuhuΩ should really have been the Swordplay Arena instead of ANOTHER birds-eye view of the island.

As for Town & City/Smashville... I understand the argument against it, but I think they ported Smashville because they knew how popular a stage it was as one of the most competitively neutral stages in the series. So I don't have a problem with that pair.

 

[KEWB]

The only one of your comparisons I really agree with is Town & City/Smashville, which are extremely similar in several ways.

The others? Not so much.

Kalos League and Pokémon Stadium are only alike in that they're both a Pokémon stage with multiple transformations. And yet the tranformations themselves work in completely different ways down to their very basic concept; Stadium creates obstacles and platforms, while Kalos League creates damaging hazards and interactive elements. Other than that, they have completely different layouts and looks, and actually can't be played in the same way because of the differences in transformation ideas I already mentioned. In stadium, you get multiple different platform layout, and sometimes a special effect like the low gravity. In Kalos, you kind of have to avoid everything the transformation throws at you, or you'll take damage. I'd go as far as to say they're opposites in a way.

The Mario Circuits are only really similar in theme, name, and nothing else. One of them is a static scene with walk-off edges and platforms. The other is a big moving platform that stops at several points in a huge map, and if anything, it's comparable to Mute City from Melee, or Delfino Plaza from Brawl.

Skyworld and Palutena's Temple? I've honestly never even made the connection, they're simply from the same series.

This. I agree with the point OP is trying to make, but personally I feel his examples were lacking. Smashville and Town & City really could have been a bit more varied in terms of layout or at least aesthetics (although considering the fact that they're easily two of the best competitive stages in a game that's sort of lacking in that area, I wouldn't have wanted either of them omitted outright). I will say that although the Mario Circuit stages are completely different in terms of gameplay, it is disappointing they went with another Mario Circuit stage when the entire Mario Kart series (or even just MK8 if they wanted to stick with the newest game) has a TON of visually interesting tracks to work with.

 

[Mobes]

The biggest problem I have is with Wuhu/Pilotwings, which presumably use the exact same model. Even in Ω, when WuhuΩ should really have been the Swordplay Arena instead of ANOTHER birds-eye view of the island

Yeah, this. It's weird that they both are "fly over" stages.

 

[ChikoLad]

Wuhu Island having two or more "stages" is actually a tradition that can be observed in every Nintendo game it shows up in. Mario Kart 7 used it twice, Wii Fit used it more than once, and it was the entire setting of Wii Sports Resort, Pilotwings Resort, and Wii Fit Plus. So I'm actually glad Smash followed the tradition. The two stages in Smash do feel totally different to play during gameplay anyway.

I wish the new Animal Crossing stage wasn't near identical to Smashville. It's not that I don't like there being another stage with a similar layout to Smashville, but why not do something completely different for the new Animal Crossing stage, and then make the new Smashville-esque stage themed after a different series (Mother/Earthbound, for example)?

Pokémon Stadium and Kalos Pokémon League are well differentiated. There's very little to compare.

Mario Kart Brawl did not need to come back, should have picked a different stage from Brawl or even Melee. If not, then they should have picked Mario Kart Stadium, Electrodome, or Cloudtop Cruise for the new Mario Kart stage.

Delfino Plaza and Skyloft are identical in concept but the layouts presented are very different and Skyloft is generally larger and has a bit more interactivity. Plus, both are very different thematically.

I'm not a fan of Skyworld but I expected it to come back. And it's not really similar to Palutena's Temple at all. The latter feels like 6 or so stages in one, with different looking areas and all.