Smash Wii U The stages in Smash 4 are ridiculous!

[NintendoPSX]

It's not just me is it? I feel like every single stage has some gimmick or hazard that screws over play. Then, the ones that don't have those kinds of things, are crappy stages like Wii Fit and Wuhu Island (Really?).
It's like, you think "Huh this stage could be lega-Nope. Nevermind"
It's almost as if Sakurai is just going ham for the stages because he made "Omega" modes for them. Forcing us to that for almost everything.

 

[Kinglypuff]

You have to remember that Smash is designed first and foremost as a fun multiplayer experience. These stages make perfect sense.
And there still are some neutral stages and the Omega versions.

 

[Niala]

I've noticed this as well. As compared to previous versions, the new stages all have some sort of gimmick, and very seldom do we have a stage that could be competitively viable-- especially as neutrals.

But @ Kinglypuff is right. The stages are not designed with a competitive mindset in mind, mostly. That's why he did Omega stages to begin with. Whether or not it's a good choice, it's a sign of respect.

And, I have to say, with the new and improved stage builder, there's little need for a mountain of competitively viable stages-- we can just make our own.

 

[Lugubrious]

There are a whole lot of crazy fun stages, but there are a few legal stages too. Someone counted about 15 out of the 40ish. People who want to limit themselves to legal stages have a limited selection, which makes perfect sense to me. There's no 'forcing' happening. If you like a stage's aesthetic but not its hazards, then use Omega mode. If you want a stage only for the competitive legality, then you can't conscientiously object to using only the smaller amount of legal stages with no regard to aesthetic.

It boils down to this: if you want fun, you can choose all stages. If you want legality, you shouldn't really care about the smaller selection because you've consigned yourself to only valuing legality, instead of things like aesthetic and favoritism.

 

[the8thark]

Buy SSB4 WiiU, go play the stages, then come back and talk to us. You won't know how you feel as you play the stages till you actually play them.

 

[NintendoPSX]

Buy SSB4 WiiU, go play the stages, then come back and talk to us. You won't know how you feel as you play the stages till you actually play them.

I've seen combat on most of the new stages. A lot just have too much going on to be competitively viable. While I do care about that I do also care about having variety. Because Omega is getting REALLY boring. Arena Ferox and Prism Tower were good choices to spice things up, but not much else.

 

[Hippopotasauce]

I want to think Sakurai's ideology is that since basic stages with platforms could be made with the stage builder, he went all out with the new stages.
Of course this doesn't work for competitive play, but it's definitely a thought.

 

[Maxoxpower]

we just need hazard on//off

 

[Squadaloo]

I'm reserving total judgement until the final game, but I do have serious concerns about a lot of the stages shown: Orbital Gate seems to give almost no warning when the entire stage will transform dramatically, or what is about to be a platform and what isn't a platform, and there's apparently no Danger Zones in Palutena's temple (according to GameXplain) despite it having a pretty good amount of indoor areas so it seems like it could make for horribly drawn out matches. Great Cave Offensive looks confusing. I'm also not a fan of tour stages in general, and there seems to be more than ever. I find gimmicky stages to be insanely irritating even in casual play which is why I hated a vast majority of Brawl's stages.

There are some pretty fun stages, though. Mario Circuit is already looking to be the exception to my "Tours are terrible" rule because it looks amazing and uses the gravity to its advantage. The Pikmin stage looks mostly fine although I'm not a fan of the Aristocrab running through the stage. Even though I hate Sonic Lost World, Windy Hill looks nice. Wrecking Crew looks like everything I like in gimmick stages: There's something that makes the stage unique, but it doesn't totally disrupt the flow of gameplay. Kalos Pokemon League is like a less...transformy Pokemon Stadium. Yoshi's Wooly World probably could have done without the floor giving away, but at least there's plenty of time to react.

Until we get the game, I don't want to jump to conclusions, but my first impressions are that it's a mixed bag so far.

 

[RelaxAlax]

Battlefield
Big Battlefield
Smashville
Town and City
FD

Five legal ones already. And I'd wager a few more to be CPs. Isn't this the same amount Melee or Brawl has total?

 

[BelowZer0]

Battlefield
Big Battlefield
Smashville
Town and City
FD

Five legal ones already. And I'd wager a few more to be CPs. Isn't this the same amount Melee or Brawl has total?

Will Big Battlefield really Be legal? I know in Playstaton Allstars the Large Practice Room (basically Large Final Destination) was not legal due to its huge size

 

[SuaveChaser]

Yeah there alot of gimmick/silly stages but decent amount of legal ones.

 

[Dinoman96]

I want to think Sakurai's ideology is that since basic stages with platforms could be made with the stage builder, he went all out with the new stages.
Of course this doesn't work for competitive play, but it's definitely a thought.

Don't forget the FD forms of every stage.

 

[Doc.Pringles]

You know how Nintendo addressed your concern? They added Omega stages..

On a more serious note, what defines "crappy" for Wii Fit and Wuhu island? Because whatever it is, I'm sure it's applicable to Yoshi's Story, Dreamland, Smashville, (VERY common tournament legal stages). Honestly, between these and Battlefieldx2, final destination, and now Town and City, they have plenty of standard stages. Add Omega stages and you can choose something more your style.

I, personally, welcome the extravagant new stages if only to play on them once in awhile.

 

[BerryBomber]

There's always stage builder

 

[Syrek]

Actually there seems to me more stages in the Wii U version that aren't as crazy or full of hazards compared to the 3DS version, at least from what I can tell. Not to mention, almost every stage will have an Omega/Final Destination version to them so even if they look ridiculous, they can still be tourney legal for all of you competitive players out there. But really, I like a mixture of both competitive stages and crazy, off the wall stages. Keeps things interesting and fresh cause at the end of the day, Smash Bros. is meant to be a little out there and full of creativity so I welcome such stages as well. To each they're own of course. ^_^

 

[GlitchyFireEmblem]

I love the new stages. There's always Battlefield, FD, the Omega stages and Stage Builder for legal stages.

 

[Gamingboy]

As others mentioned, the Omega forms make basically every stage "legal", there are still other stages that probably will be legal, and plus a bunch of these stages are going to be fun, which, remember, is what SSB is for, not competition. Competition is just a very happy side-product.

Also, the fact is we still haven't FULLY seen all of these stages. We've yet to fully see their rhythms, how common, avoidable or deadly the hazards actually are.

 

[TroperCase]

While I think there will prove to be a good number of neutral stages, I do feel that there should have been a, I'll call it a Beta Form, for each stage. Same as Omega form, except with some soft platforms on it that are different for each stage.

I mean, a few stages don't have a soft platform graphic, and programming in the feature itself might be easier said than done. But the stage design itself would take next-to-no time. In fact, they already designed such stages with those battles in the Great Maze. It's a feature-creep kind of a request for sure, but tourney players would have loved it, I think.

But like I said, there will probably be a decent number of legal stages as is.

 

[IceAnt573]

Battlefield
Final Destination
Castle Siege
Town and City
Smashville
Delfino Plaza
Pilot Wings
Miiverse
Halberd
Skyloft
Lylat Cruise
I don't see what's wrong with Wuhu Island to make it "crappy".

The Maybe Legal:

Kalos Pokemon League (not sure if Rayquaza is a hazard or just chilling like all the other Pokemon)
Mario Circuit
Big Battlefield
Windy Hill
Jungle Hijinxs

And that's still not all of the stages...

 

[Hayzie]

Will Big Battlefield really Be legal? I know in Playstaton Allstars the Large Practice Room (basically Large Final Destination) was not legal due to its huge size

PSA was cared enough for to have a decision made for whether a stage was legal or not? LOL

*looks at sig* omgoodness.



IMO, the traveling stages seem not that obtrusive to me while giving variety to platforms often. Smash Wii U seems to have a good amout of those stages, as well as neutral stages. Kongo Jungle is an amazing example!

 

[[mastershake]~~]

Since the stage bulder stages will have the ability to be shared, it gives some credence to custom stages being tourney legal. Im sure there will be plenty of popular stages created that will become standard d/l on most ppls consoles.

 

[Wintropy]

...ly good? Because if so, I agree with you, yes.

I'm sorry, but it isn't Sakurai's priority to cater to the whims of competitive players, nor is it to do the same for more casually-oriented players. He goes by what's fun and what works in the game. He does that with style and aplomb, as far as I'm concerned. I've yet to see a stage that genuinely does not work in Smash.

Spoiler

And I legitimately like New Pork City, Hanenbow, Pac-Maze and Pokéfloats, so good luck convincing me otherwise~

 

[Saltwater Gem]

Yeah, I agree. I play casually but I still don't want obnoxious **** thrown at me all the time. I'll be fine with stupid zany stages but give me something simple like the N64 stages. I know there's the Stages Builder but I don't want to have to go into some bleak featureless, dull looking cave backdrop every time I want to not be molested by Flying Men or random platforms dropping off or giant crab monsters walking by or whatever else nonsense is happening.

And GCO and Palutena's Temple are so zoomed out and completely unplayable and definitely seem like New Pork City part 2. I definitely see myself sticking to Big Battlefield and FD for 8 player Smash.

 

[Datdashtho]

Hey btw why are custom stages banned if people can jist build battlefield variants? Seems like a wasted opportunity

 

[Toon612Link]

Looks like someone needs to sing the fun song to this guy.

 

[Donkey_Inferno]

I don't think Sakurai and the development team give a crap about it being tournament legal xD they are just all about making stages super crazy and original unlike any other fighting game.

I play competitively and personally I freaking love crazy stage hazard maps. (Except Wily Castle..... Yellow Devil is so annoying..)
I always make jokes at tournaments saying "OH BOY FINAL DESTINATION?!?! I HAVEN'T PLAYED HERE IN FOREVER!!"

With that said I think the stages in Sm4sh WiiU are better than any of the stages I've seen in the series.

 

[GlowingOrangeOoze]

I'm pretty astounded that some people on smashboards still think competitive players can just have a stage list of 10 Ω stages and call it a day, or that they don't appreciate a variety of environments/layouts. Playing the game competitively does not actually mean we don't like fun.

But I think this game's stage list will make do. It'll be easier to quantify the truly enjoyable competitive stages when the stage list is in front of me and well understood, but between a handful of starters and a couple of stage-builder environments, I think we'll be able to skate by with at least a little variation. We'll be at least a little better off than Brawl was, I think.

 

[Kain6th]

I'm sorry, but im really not seeing any issue here.

I know there's the Stages Builder but I don't want to have to go into some bleak featureless, dull looking cave backdrop every time I want to not be molested by Flying Men or random platforms dropping off or giant crab monsters walking by or whatever else nonsense is happening.
.

Have you not seen the ign video of stage builder? they are definitely not bleak looking backdrops anymore

 

[Fathom778]

Stop complaining and enjoy the game ( When it comes out)!
If you hate the stages THAT much, don't forget about Omega forms.

 

[BerryBomber]

Looks like someone needs to sing the fun song to this guy.

F is for friends who do stuff together

 

[Unbounded]

Stage legality is a bunch of self-imposed rules.

It's not Sakurai's job to make stages that cater to the rules that competitive players force themselves to play with.

 

[Kevandre]

Is it weird that I consider the Omega stages to be totally different from each other? I'm not sure if they're all the same size or whatever but some seem way bigger than others. It feels like there's a lot of actual variety between them, though maybe it's only aesthetics and the underside of the stage being there or not

 

[Toon612Link]

F is for friends who do stuff together

U is for you and me!

 

[GlowingOrangeOoze]

Is it weird that I consider the Omega stages to be totally different from each other? I'm not sure if they're all the same size or whatever but some seem way bigger than others. It feels like there's a lot of actual variety between them, though maybe it's only aesthetics and the underside of the stage being there or not

It's been confirmed that they're all the same length and have the same blast zones. But their undersides are, of course, different.

 

[Datdashtho]

Also doesnt melee have like only 5 legal stages?

 

[Eternal phoenix Fire]

There are a whole lot of crazy fun stages, but there are a few legal stages too. Someone counted about 15 out of the 40ish. People who want to limit themselves to legal stages have a limited selection, which makes perfect sense to me. There's no 'forcing' happening. If you like a stage's aesthetic but not its hazards, then use Omega mode. If you want a stage only for the competitive legality, then you can't conscientiously object to using only the smaller amount of legal stages with no regard to aesthetic.

It boils down to this: if you want fun, you can choose all stages. If you want legality, you shouldn't really care about the smaller selection because you've consigned yourself to only valuing legality, instead of things like aesthetic and favoritism.

This is true, but you're forgetting one thing: Platforms.

While having an FD version is nice, some of us like having variance in stage design and geometry. It's one of the reasons why I personally loved Lylat cruise in Brawl. You can platform cancel with 3 available platforms, and the angles of the wings allow you to fast fall into them for some mix ups since you'll slide from the momentum.

Even though we have that stage back, I wouldn't mind having some NEW legal stages.

 

[sheersahw]

I'm a casual player who enjoys simpler stages as well. Sometimes I am in the mood for wacky and zany, but other times I want something more focused.

 

[Reila]

They look ridiculously fun to me. Also, it is a good thing I don't hate flat stages, so I can always play Omega Mode if I don't want to be bothered by hazards.

 

[Gamingboy]

I think based on what we've seen of the Wii U omegas that they may have different lengths, unlike in the 3DS.