Grading The Super Smash Bros Ultimate Stages: Wii-U

In the last part we looked at all the stages from Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS. As I said last time, the fourth Super Smash Bros game was unique in that it had a dual release on both Nintendo 3DS and the Nintendo Wii-U. So today we’re looking at the second part of that duology by grading all the stages from Super Smash Bros for Nintendo Wii-U.

Smash 4 was a game I was very much looking forward to when it was first announced. Being such a big fan of Melee and Brawl, how could I not be? I tuned in to every Nintendo Direct and would check the website every day to get new updates on the game just as ii had done for Brawl.

And when it came out, I liked it, but didn’t love it. Smash 4 felt like an attempt to right what went wrong with Brawl. Rather than push too hard towards the casual audience, Smash 4 felt like it struck a balance between the more competitive gameplay of Melee with the more casual elements of Brawl.

It introduced a lot of newcomers to the series with more creative fighting styles, and added more 3rd party characters like Mega-Man, Pac-Man, Cloud and Ryu. It was the first Smash Bros game to add 8-player support which made it even crazier than before. Smash 4 added a lot to the series and was the biggest Smash Bros game we’d yet seen.

And yet, it’s the one I’ve played the least. I played a lot of the 3DS version, but the Wii U version? That one didn’t grab me as much. It was for two reasons. One, I had already played the 3DS version to death and was feeling burnt out by the time the Wii-U version released, and 2, the single player was trash.

Smash Wii-U may have had the best gameplay of the series up to that point, but its single player is easily the worst. The Classic mode was butchered, Adventure mode was M.I.A, All-Star Mode was dull, outside of multiplayer there was dick all to sink your teeth into.

So, I didn’t play much of Smash Wii-U. I would play it with family and friends when they came over, but that wasn’t very often. Smash Wii-U is still a fine game, but it’s probably my least favourite in the entire series. At least 64 has the excuse of being the first game in the series.

But one area where Wii-U didn’t disappoint was in the stages, and boy there were a lot of them. In fact, there is as much to cover here as there was for Brawl. So, I’m just going to get straight into this one. These are the stages for Super Smash Bros for Nintendo Wii-U.

Mushroom Kingdom U

Because the 3DS version got a stage based on the New Super Mario Bros game on that system, it only makes sense that the Wii U version got a stage based on New Super Mario Bros U. Thankfully, this one is a lot better.

Like Paper Mario, this stage has different arena’s it will swap between, 4 in total, each based on areas from the game on which it is based. Unlike Paper Mario though there isn’t a set order in which they appear. You’ll always start in Acorn Plains, but after that it’s random on where you’ll show up next.

The layouts are different enough to make each distinct, but that’s not what makes this stage interesting. Aside from the different layouts, there’s also a variety of effects and hazards that can appear. Sometimes it’ll be a giant Beanstalk which creates new platforms, other times it’s water geysers that have spiny fish on top, or giant icicles falling from the sky, even Nabbit will show up to try and steal you away.

None of these are locked to a specific location, they can appear on any of the different arenas. Sometimes you’ll get the Beanstalk on Acorn Plains or sometimes you’ll get Nabbit, maybe the Geysers will show up in Bowsers Castle or maybe it’ll be some stretch platforms. It’s all different every time you play, giving it a lot of replay value.

I also like how this is all presented. It also does a good job of contextualising all the effects by having Kamek being the one behind the changes. Not only is it cool to see them explain why all this is happening, but Kamek appearing is also a clever way to indicate to players when the stage is going to shift. So you never get caught off guard when it happens.

Like with Paper Mario, the individual arenas are fine but nothing special, it’s how it all comes together that makes it work. I do think Paper Mario is better in this regard since its locations were a little more varied, whereas this relies a little too much on the different hazards to keep things interesting. Take those away and it isn’t as much fun.

Mushroom Kingdom U is way better than it has any right to be. New Super Mario Bros U was not a very memorable game, but this took a lot of its ideas and managed to make something very creative out of it. It may rely too much on its gimmicks, but it’s a solid and fun stage nonetheless.

Overall Grade: B

Mario Galaxy

Right off the bat, I love the presentation of this. If you read my review for Mario Galaxy I did for the 3D All-Stars collection, you’ll know I love outer space settings. That beautiful vast emptiness of space has always captivated me, and this stage does a very good job of capturing that. Seeing the different planetoids floating in the background as various star ships fly by is quite a beautiful sight.

And of course, the music is phenomenal. I know that stages don’t have unique music tracks anymore, which is why I haven’t been talking about it much in these last few parts, but there’s something about the Mario Galaxy music that makes it a perfect fit for this stage. I can’t imagine those songs playing anywhere else.

The stage looks and sound great. That’s a given, but is it fun to play? Eh, kinda. The stage isn’t bad at all, but it feels flat. Do not let the curvature of the stage deceive you, it’s purely there for show and doesn’t add much to the fight. On a structural level it’s simply a flat walk-off stage with some platforms thrown in.

And part of me feels like it would have been better to base the stage on a more memorable location from Mario Galaxy rather than a random planet. Like the Comet Observatory, that would have made a great stage. But no, we just got this random boring planet with not much going on. For as imaginative as Mario Galaxy was, they could have done more with this.

But I can’t hate it much. This is still a decent little stage that’s elevated by an excellent presentation. It’s not as good as it could have been, but I still like it a lot.

Overall Grade: B

Mario Circuit

Mario Circuit is very similar to the stage Port Town Aero Dive in that it’s a travel stage set on a racetrack where you avoid the racers. You could see this as fusion of Port Town and the other Mario Kart stage, Figure-8 Circuit. And honestly, it’s better than both combined. This stage kicks ass.

While Figure-8 Circuit was based on a generic racetrack, this one is specifically based on a track from Mario Kart 8. And the big new feature that game introduced was anti-gravity mechanics, which this stage uses to its fullest advantage.

Sometimes you’re at the finish line and battling on the track itself, other times you’re right above it, sometimes you’re off to the side with the track acting as a wall, you’ll even get beneath the track and have to avoid the racers coming at you overhead. The racers come at you from every angle possible, keeping you on your toes.

I also like how you can knock opponents into the track itself depending on where you are. It’s especially fun when the track acts as a ceiling and you launch them straight up, seeing them bounce off it and shoot straight down is immensely satisfying.

I also like how the stage doesn’t fly by too fast like some other travel stages. You don’t stay on an arena too long, but you do stay on long enough to take everything in, something I wish other travel stages did.

This stage is great. Of the Mario Kart stages it’s easily the best, though I do wish we got the Rainbow Road stage from 3DS as well. That was another stage I liked and I’m sad it didn’t make it in. But we did get this one, and of that I am grateful.

Overall Grade: A

Skyloft

Skyloft is another travel stage, and not a particularly memorable one. Granted it does a good job of representing the location it is based on, and the stage flying around is a good representation of Skyward Sword in general, giving how much of the game revolved around flying.

I’ll also give it credit that the travel platform is the most varied of the travel stage we’ve seen thus far. It has a few different layouts that all feel very different, which isn’t something you can say for most other stages like this.

But Skyloft suffers from the same problem Prism Tower suffered from, it goes by too fast. It feels like you never get enough time before you’re moving on to the next one. You’re there for like 10 second and then, whoosh, of to the next place you go.

Because of this, the battle arenas don’t have enough time to leave a lasting impression. I will say they look nice, some are even quite beautiful, but I don’t remember most of them because I don’t have the time to remember them.

And I understand why, they want to get you to as many places as possible in as fast a time as possible. I get that, especially given that the standard rule set for Smash has a 2-minute timer. But you’re never going to see everything in one match in the first place, so why bother. I’d rather spend more time with the arena’s I do get to see, then try to quickly see everything and have them leave no impression.

So yeah, this stage is kind of lame. I feel like if the arenas were more memorable it would have been a lot better, but as is it doesn’t stand out all that much.

Overall Grade: C

The Great Cave Offensive

I have been dreading this moment since I started this. Remember when I said there was a stage that was worse than 75m? This is what I was referring to. Great Cave Offensive isn’t just bad, it’s untouchably bad. It’s one of the most obnoxious, unplayable, shit-heel stages that I’ve ever played. It’s not only the worst stage in Super Smash Bros, but it might also be the worst stage in fighting games ever.

But what’s so bad about this stage you ask. Well, let me answer that question with a question. What if, we take all the problems inherent with giant stages, and make them 1000 X worse!? I thought New Pork City and Spear Pillar were bad, but this is on a whole other level.

This stage is so obnoxiously huge that it’s borderline unplayable unless you stick to a certain portion of the map. In other words, the only time you can have any fun is when you ignore 90% of the playing area. That’s no fun. The whole appeal of platform fighters is having a wider area to play in. By forcing you to limit the playing area just to have fun, you miss the entire point of the genre.

It gets worse. Not only is the stage too big, it’s also too cramped most of the stage is made up of winding tunnels, so the stage feels very claustrophobic to play. So, somehow, they’ve made a stage that’s both too expansive, and too claustrophobic at the same time. I didn’t think that was possible, yet here we are.

I will give this stage some credit, it did integrate some mechanics from the original Great Cave Offensive. You’ve got mine carts and cannons which can be fun to use, but the stage is so big you’ll rarely be able to take full advantage of them, and more often or not they simply get in the way. Hey I said I’d give it credit, I didn’t say it would help.

One of the big gimmicks of this stage is the lava. Because of how stupid big the stage is, they put lava everywhere that will kill if someone into it at 100% or higher damage. While this mitigates the stages size issue, it only adds more problems of its own. There are moments where it’s very easy to get juggled by the lava which leads to unfair deaths, and because of how cramped everything is this can happen a lot.

But even then, knocking foes out this way isn’t as satisfying as sending them flying. There aren’t any different animations, so it gets stale fast, and because it always kills at 100% there’s no way to recover from it. So those satisfying moments of being hit at high percentages and making a miraculous recovery aren’t possible here.

So, while the lava was added to fix the issue of the stage being too big, it only makes the stage less fun to play. The core design is so fundamentally broken that any attempts to fix it only makes it worse. That’s pretty fucking bad.

And I could forgive all this, if it wasn’t so hard to look at. Great Cave Offensive tries to differentiate its various segments by giving each their own colour palette, both to make them stand out as well as add some visual variety. However, in doing so, all they managed to accomplish was making the stage look like a complete mess. None of the colours mesh which makes the whole thing a visual clusterfuck.

Look, 75m was bad and you could argue that it was worse in some ways, but in my opinion Great Cave Offensive is far worse. At least 75m had some novelty behind it, this stage has nothing. It fails at every possible level a stage in Smash Bros could fail at with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Overall Grade: F

Kalos Pokémon League

Kalos Pokémon League is like a spiritual successor to the Pokémon Stadium stages. It has the same basic idea, a simple arena that changes to match a type of Pokémon, with the types in this stage matching the Elite 4 from Pokémon X and Y, fire, water, steel and dragon.

Unlike the Pokémon Stadiums, the actual arena doesn’t change too much. There are some minor differences, but the basic layout is mostly the same. Instead, the main focus is on stage hazards, with every form having two different types depending on what Pokémon you see. There’s a normal version or a legendary version, with legendary generally being a more difficult variant.

This does help Kalos Pokémon League stand apart from the Pokémon Stadiums, although it also makes it worse. To be honest I find most of the hazards here annoying. What made the Pokémon Stadiums so good was how the different forms shook up the match without being too intrusive. Here it’s the opposite.

To be fair not all the hazards are that bad. Some are actually quite fun, but even those suffer a bit from the stages cramped design. Kalos is a bit on the small side in my opinion, it’s not as wide as the Pokémon Stadiums which makes the hazards even more annoying to avoid.

Kalos Pokémon League is a stage I want to like. I love the setting, the almost church like aesthetic is gorgeous to look at, and the basic idea is still a fun one. But I don’t think it executes its ideas effectively. There are too many annoying hazards to really enjoy this one. There is some fun to be had here, but also some frustration to go with it.

Overall Grade: C

Coliseum

This is basically Smash Wii-U’s version of Arena Ferox. It’s the same basic concept, takes place in an arena that can transform. The big difference being how they change. Whereas Arena had various different forms it would change into, Coliseum has platforms that will raise and lower as the battle goes on.

The changes aren’t quite as interesting as Arena Ferox, but I still think it works in shaking up the fight. Coliseum’s layout isn’t the most creative, even with the platform changes the stage feels a little flat, but I still have a fun time playing it.

A lot of that is due to the setting. Coliseums have always had an appeal to me, and this stage is no different. I love the details in the background like the dragon statues and the audience in the stands, it makes it feel grand and epic.

The stage is also decently big which helps add to that. This really does feel like you’re battling in a massive coliseum. I feel like I’m in Gladiator while playing this. I think Arena Ferox has better designs for it’s different forms, while Coliseum has the better setting and presentation. I’d say both stages are equal in quality.

Overall Grade: B

Flat Zone X

In Super Smash Bros Melee, they had a stage based on the Game and Watch line of LCD games called Flat Zone. In Brawl they included a sequel stage which added more gimmicks and references from the series called Flat Zone 2. And when Smash Wii-U released they made a third stage that essentially took both stages and combined them into one. Hence we have this stage, Flat Zone X.

The idea for this stage is honestly really cool. It takes place within an actual Game and Watch handheld and swaps between different arena’s based on classic Game and Watch titles. It’s like Dream Land GB, only I think Flat Zone is a lot better.

Not only is there no scrolling involved, but they also integrate the different Game and Watch games in more interesting ways. Like how in Chef you need to avoid the food falling down, or how in Fire you can bounce on the trampoline carried by the firemen. Some of these can get annoying, I always hated the Zookeeper part because it was too easy to get juggled, but they aren’t nearly as bad as I remember them.

And of course, the presentation is awesome. I love the border resembling a classic Game and Watch, really helps you feel like you’re actually inside one. There’s a lot of details you’ll never see on it unless you zoom the camera out, I love when they go above and beyond like that.

I also like how they’ll throw in other Game and Watch characters in the background. They don’t interact with the battle in anyway, it’s just a cool detail that makes it feel like the different Game and Watch games are crossing over with one another. I wish more Smash Bros stages did that given that, you know, it’s a massive videogame crossover.

Even the music, which is limited compared to other stages selections, is pretty damn good. I’m impressed they were able to makes some catchy as hell tunes from the sound effects of a frigging LCD game, that takes talent.

So yeah, this stage is great. I did not expect enjoying this as much as I did, but playing it again gave me a newfound appreciation for it. For a stage based on dinky old LCD games, it is way more fun than it has any right to be.

Overall Grade: A

Palutena’s Temple

The giant stage to end all giant stages, quite literally since Ultimate didn’t introduce any new ones, Palutena’s Temple is the largest stage in Super Smash Bros history. And yes, it is a goddamn mess. You already know the problems with giant stages so just imagine how bad it must be with this one.

Palutena’s Temple feels like 4 different stages mushed together to make one huge stage. None of them go together particularly well, so the whole stage ends up being one giant clusterfuck. Even individually they don’t work, the bottom left corner feels more like a segment from the Subspace Emissary, not an actual multiplayer stage.

Hell, the entire bottom half is just bad. Honestly, if you cut the bottom half off entirely and just had the top half it wouldn’t be that bad. The top half still has its problems but at least it wouldn’t be nearly as bloated and the camera wouldn’t be as much of a nuisance.

Like with Great Cave Offence, this stage is only ever tolerable when you focus on a single area, meaning the only way to have any fun is by ignoring the majority of the playing field. But even that doesn’t help its biggest issue, matches on it go on for far too long. Because of how big the stage is it makes it way harder to KO anyone, and if you’re not playing a timed match this can drag matches out to the point of boredom.

There’s a reason Ultimate didn’t introduce any new giant stages. This was the point where I think Sakurai realised he went too far. It isn’t fun at all and the Palutena’s Guidance Easter Egg doesn’t save it. It may be funny, but it’s not worth suffering for it.

Overall Grade: F

Gamer

This stage is absolutely brilliant. It was inspired by the mode Gamer from Game and Wario, which was the only thing from that game that was any good. The premise of Gamer was you were a kid playing video games instead of going to bed. You would play the games on one screen while looking out for your mother on another screen, if you got caught by her it was game over.

It was a very creative idea, so much so that they brought it back in Wario Ware Gold. It was almost a horror game given how creepy the mother was. No joke, she would break down windows, she would come into the room suddenly like a jump scare, she even came out of the TV like she was in the fucking Ring.

So naturally, it makes a perfect fit for a Smash Bros stage. This is one of the most intense and fun stages in Smash Bros history. Having to watch out for the mother really keeps you on your toes, especially all the different ways she can show up. There are even numerous fake outs to make things even more intense. And can I just say that the old man randomly opening a young boys window in the middle of the night is far creepier than the mother is. Like what the hell is up with that?

But it doesn’t end there. The layout of the stage changes every time you play it, not only adding more replay value but also ensuring you never get too comfortable. This stage wants you to feel the pressure, but that’s exactly what makes it so good.

I also like how the stage is presented. It takes place on a child’s desk with textbooks attacked up to make up the platforms. I love that kind of detail. The stage also exudes the same creepiness and sense of dread the original game did, which gives it an atmosphere no other stage has. Not even the other spooky themed stages.

This stage is perfection. It’s in the running for best stage in the whole game. It’s a blast every time I play it and I will be deeply upset if it doesn’t make it into the next Smash game. Assuming we get one, hopefully we get one.

Overall Grade: A

Garden of Hope

Garden of Hope is such a fun stage, especially when compared to the last Pikmin stage, Distant Planet. Firstly, the playing field is a lot wider which makes it a lot less cramped. Secondly, it manages to integrate a lot of ideas from Pikmin series in a much more satisfying way.

In general, I think the design of the stage is a lot better. It’s got destructible elements like the porcelain dome and the bridge, but what I especially like is how the Pikmin will come out to fix both. I like that they have the Pikmin play a part in the stage itself.

There are also platforms that will collapse if you stay on them for too long, a Bubble Crab will occasionally run across the stage and do a ton of damage if he hits you, you can even get trapped in the porcelain if you aren’t careful. There’s a lot going on here, but unlike Distant Planet they all mesh well together. It feels more tightly designed and is much more satisfying to play.

And the stage is gorgeous too. I love how detailed the background is. Not only is the environment pretty, but there’s also some more Pikmin references you can spot like the spaceship and Bulbord. Even little details like the platforms being made of string and trash make it feel like part of the Pikmin world.

Garden of Hope is a solid stage. There are somethings that bug me about it, the falling platforms and being stuck in the porcelain are pretty annoying, but it’s still a fun little stage with some great visuals. It’s the better Pikmin stage by a county mile.

Overall Grade: B

Town and City

Town and City is sort of like Smashville 2.0. It has a very similar design, a simple flat platform with some smaller floating platforms that move around. The big difference, as if the name didn’t give it away, is that the stage will switch between the town and the city, each having slightly different layouts.

It’s still not the most exciting stage, but the changing layouts do make it more interesting than Smashville. The two forms are distinct enough to at least make the two stand apart from each other. It also has the same day and night cycle Smashville had, which is always a cool feature to see.

And let’s be honest, the Animal Crossing stages aren’t designed to be very exciting to begin with. Animal Crossing is known for being a very relaxing and chill game, something its stages reflect very well. I like the simple, calm vibe this stage has, it represents the series it’s based on very well.

Not every stage needs to have big, exciting gimmicks or crazy visuals to be good. Sometimes it’s nice to have one that’s a little more down to earth, it’s good for variety. And this stage does it very well. It’s a nice, chill little stage.

Overall Grade: B

Wii Fit Studio

This is another example of what I was just talking about. This is a stage based on Wii Fit, which was essentially an exercise program sold as a videogame. How do you make a stage based on that? Well you basically set the stage in a big gym, and that’s it.

This is a simple stage. Its big gimmick being that it has three platforms that will go away during a brief yoga posing segment, returning afterwards in various positions. I kind of wish the yoga posing had an actual affect on gameplay as it is just there for show, but I think that’s the point.

This isn’t meant to be like Wario Ware will its wacky mini games, it’s supposed to be a calm relaxing stage that reflects the Wii Fit series. And it does that very well. I like the added detail of the platforms being Wii Balance Boards, and the giant mirror is a cool visual that you don’t see anywhere else.

If I’m being honest, I find this stage to be kind of average. It doesn’t excel in any given area nor does it fail spectacularly. It’s a perfectly middle of road stage, and I think it’s contents with that. This is a stage that knows what it needs to be and does what it needs to do in a satisfying way, and that’s fine with me.

Overall Grade: C

Boxing Ring

Boxing Ring is a perfect example of taking a simple premise and going all the way with it. I mean, it’s a boxing ring, it’s as basic an arena as you could get. And yet, they come up with a bunch of ideas that use the setting in very clever ways.

For example, you aren’t confined to the ring itself. You can jump out and fight on the walk-in platforms leading up to the ring. The ropes, you can jump on them to get to the light fixtures and fight on them. If you want you can even knock the lights down to hit your opponents.

They took everything you could possibly do with a stage like this and threw it in there. This could have been another simple stage, but they went above and beyond to make it as interesting as possible.

And all that’s without getting into the visuals, which are stunning. They captured the look and feel of being in a boxing arena perfectly. The raging crowds, the lighting which changes when you knock the lights down in a nice little attention to detail, even the boxing ring itself has some very nice details to it. It even has two variations, a Punch-Out and a Smash variant, much like how real boxing rings have different matt designs.

The best part of the stage though is the giant monitor. It works similarly to the Pokémon Stadium monitors, but with some neat touches of its own. There’s a little vs display that will appear on it to show some of the fighters, not only showing their stats but also giving each fighter their own cute little nickname. And the vs screen? It’s based on the heads-up display from the original Punch-Out arcade game, right down to the colour scheme.

I don’t know what else I can say. Boxing Ring is a great stage that shows you can take a simple idea and make it interesting. A boxing ring was already a perfect fit for a fighting game, and this a good example of how to make it work in a platform fighter. The only thing that’s missing is making enemies bounce off the ropes, but then it would be a wrestling ring, and that’s totally different.

Overall Grade: A

Gaur Plains

I like how Gaur Plains manages to capture the grandness of Xenoblade Chronicles. Visually it’s awesome, I love the titan looming in the background while the vast plains sprawl out before you, it gives the feeling of being in a massive world.

The stage is also fairly large to reflect this, though it isn’t quite on the same level as a giant stage. I still think it is a little too big, but I wouldn’t say its size is a huge problem like some of the other stages.

No, this stage has its own set of problems. Gaur Plains is set up like a small canyon. You’ve got two halves separated by a small gap, with two large platforms at the top, and various smaller platform below. The top platforms are both fine enough, but the smaller platforms are simply too small to have any kind of decent fight on.

As a result, you spend most of the time on the top platforms and ignore the rest of the stage. Granted, it isn’t nearly as bad here as in some of the other stages we’ve looked at, but it’s still not a good sign when ignoring 50% of a stage is required to have any sort of fun with it.

The only time you go to the lower levels is to get items, or to avoid Metal Face. He will show up on occasion to attack you or temporarily transform the stage. That’s a cool feature, but he doesn’t appear enough to leave much impression. Which can be a good thing depending on how you view these kinds of features. I know some find enemy characters like this too intrusive.

Gaur Plains kind of sucks. I love its visual presentation, and some of its ideas are fun, but I don’t enjoy playing this one very much. It’s too unwieldly for its own good.

Overall Grade: D

Duck Hunt

This is just the screen from Duck Hunt. That’s it, it’s just the screen from Duck Hunt. I mean I don’t know what I expected, it’s not like there was much to work with here, but why stick to just Duck Hunt? Why not make a stage that pays tribute to all the Zapper games like you did with Flat Zone? That would have been a lot more interesting.

But for what this is, they do what they can with it. It’s not a flat stage, you can use the trees, bush and even the dog when he pops up as platforms. I wish you could hit the dog, but sadly such an option is not available. I know you can technically do that by beating up the dog as a fighter, but it’s just not the same.

And I do like how they integrated Duck Hunts gameplay into the stage itself. You can knock the ducks out of the sky which can reward you with items. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it happens enough to incentivise you to go after them.

The big problem with the stage is its visual presentation. While it recreates the look of Duck Hunt perfectly, the black border around it honestly kills it for me. It wouldn’t be as bad if they kept the camera still so it replicated what the game would look like on modern displays, but they don’t do that which makes the whole thing feel empty.

At least be creative with it. Put an old tv border around it or something, anything but a bland black border. This stage feels lazy. It doesn’t feel like much effort went into it, which is shocking considering how much work they put into the rest of the stages.

Overall Grade: D

Wrecking Crew

I’ve already said multiple times that I like stages with destructible elements. So you would think Wrecking Crew, a stage revolving entirely around destruction, would be right up my alley. But sadly, it is not. Wrecking Crew is a massive disappointment.

The idea behind it is solid enough. It takes place on a tower that is held up by destructible walls. Break those walls and the tower will collapse by one level, which can hurt opponents if they hit a bomb, or trap in an oil barrel if they happen to be beneath one.

So not a bad idea, but the execution isn’t great. You never interact with the walls directly; you can only destroy them by detonating bombs that appear next to them. Which is fine, but it takes away a lot of the satisfaction. This results in the destructible elements not being very fun, which is a problem when the entire stage revolves around them.

This wouldn’t be so bad if the stage had an interesting design, but it’s honestly rather flat. I like the increased emphasis on verticality, which does work with the stages gimmick, but that’s all it has going for it.

It’s also not much to look at either. I’m glad they didn’t go for a retro look for this one and made it look like a Wrecking Crew game if it were done today, it helps it stand out from the other NES themed stages. But the city aesthetic is bland here, it doesn’t have the same character other city stages have.

I really wanted to like this stage. It could have been a fun one, but they ruin the one element that would have made it enjoyable. You could almost say they wrecked the whole thing.

Overall Grade: D

Pilotwings

You’d think a Smash Bros stage where you fight on a plane would take place during a big aerial dog fight, dodging enemy planes and machine gun fire. But no, in keeping with its inspiration, Pilotwings is just a nice relaxing flight around 2 different islands.

When I played Wii Sports Resort way back in the day my favourite minigame was flying the plane. I loved going around Wuhu Island and discovering all the secrets. I got a lot of the same vibes from this stage. I love the imagery playing out as the plane swoops around the island.

But Wuhu Island is only one of the Islands you’ll visit. The other one, is the island from the original SNES Pilotwings, rendered in glorious Mode-7, which is just awesome. This stage is a great tribute to the Pilotwings series. The only thing missing is the Island from Pilotwings 64, if they threw that in this would automatically get an A.

But we only got the 2 islands, and that’s still perfectly fine. It gives you a glimpse of the beginning and end of the series and makes for a good nostalgia trip for long-time fans. And in keeping with 2 islands, there are 2 different planes to fight on with slightly different layouts. Changing the fight up without taking away from its relaxing charm.

Pilotwings is an awesome tribute to one of Nintendo’s often forgotten series. Even if you haven’t played a Pilotwings game, the visuals and design are so strong that anyone can enjoy it. It’s one of the best stages from Smash Wii-U and another example of why you don’t need to be bombastic to be great.

Overall Grade: A

Wuhu Island

Man, Nintendo got a lot of mileage from Wuhu Island didn’t they. Not only did it get two racetracks based on it in Mario Kart 7, but it also appeared in 2 stages in Super Smash Bros. Not that I’m complaining, I’ve always had a soft spot for the place. I like how detailed it is and how many different and interesting landmarks it had. It was the first time the Mii’s had a proper world of their own.

As for this stage, it’s alright. It’s another travel stage where you go around and fight on the various landmarks Wuhu Island has. You’ll fight in the sword fighting arena, on the beach, on the fishing boat, on top of the jet ski track, on top of the volcano. Even the platform you travel on is varied with it having several different layouts.

Like other travel stages, you don’t spend too much time in any given arena, but I think Wuhu Island handles it a lot better than most. Because of how varied and distinct each arena is, they do a better job of leaving a lasting impression. So while I would have liked it if we spent more time in them, I at least remember the arena’s here, which is more than I can say for other travel stages.

Visually the stage is, ok. While I like the design of Wuhu Island, it is very simple graphically. But I like the tropical resort setting, the Mii’s chilling in the background, and flying around the island is still a very cool image. I also love how the platform is sort of based on the plane you could fly in Wii Sports Resort, it’s a cute little detail.

Wuhu Island is a decent stage. I think Pilotwings is the better of the 2 Wuhu Island stages, but this one isn’t bad either.

Overall Grade: B

Windy Hill Zone

Remember Sonic Lost World? No, of course you don’t because that game sucked. But Nintendo certainly wanted you to know it existed because they added a stage from it in Super Smash Bros for Wii U.

And I really don’t like this. I don’t like it when Smash Bros includes stuff from very recent games because it makes it feel like an advertisement. I mean Smash Bros is meant to be a tribute to gaming, not an ad for it. It isn’t Space Jam.

And don’t get me wrong, there are times when they have to do it, sometimes the games are just too big and important to ignore. Sonic Lost World is not one of those games. It was a mediocre Sonic game at best and most people forgot about it after it came out. This stage was clearly added in the vain hope they could sell some more copies, because there really is no other reason to include it.

And the area they picked was so bland too. I know Sonic Lost World’s level design was super generic, but why go for the Green Hill knockoff? At least pick something more interesting. I don’t mind Sonic getting a second stage, honestly I wish more third parties would get more than one stage, but he had far better options to pick from than this.

Look, the stage itself is fine. It’s nice and colourful with some cool little gimmicks, but it can’t escape from the fact that it’s here to advertise a game that was somewhat new at the time. There are other stages that do this, but trust me when I say that those were much more justifiable.

Overall Grade: C

Wily Castle

Of course Mega Man’s stage would be Wily’s Castle from Mega Man 2. I meant it’s probably the most iconic location in Mega Man. I love how it looks too, it looks exactly as I would imagine Wily Castle would look in 3D. The lighting, in particular the searchlights, give it the look of a heavily fortified enemy castle. They did it justice.

And I’m just going to get this out of the way, the music is incredible. As it should be because Mega Man has always had phenomenal music. The new remixes are utterly fantastic but they also include some original tracks as medley’s as well. It’s a solid line up of music tracks and it covers a good swath of the Mega Man series.

The stage is a flat platform where other platforms will appear. Some are simple floating platforms while others are moving platforms on a rail, so there is some variety. The big gimmick of this stage though, is the Yellow Devil. He’ll show up periodically and interrupt the fight with his own attacks. But you can hit him back and destroy him, resulting in a smart bomb like explosion that will hurt anyone aside from the player that landed the final hit.

The Yellow Devil is going to make or break this stage for some players. Personally speaking, I don’t mind him at all. I think he adds a nice chaotic element to the fight and the mad dash to try to kill him is very fun. And he really isn’t that hard to kill or avoid, hell just standing behind him will help you avoid everything he throws at you.

But I can see why some players would find him annoying. It can be frustrating to have a match be interrupted like this. Some players, especially those looking for a serious match, will find him very intrusive.

So while I don’t mind him, I can totally see why others are put off by him. My big issue with his appearance is that this is based on Mega Man 2, and the Yellow Devil was not in that game. But that’s just me being a nit-picking Mega Man fan boy.

Wily Castle is a very divisive stage. Some are going to find it annoying, but if you go into it with the right mind set, I think you can enjoy it. There are some great things here that shouldn’t be ignored.

Overall Grade: B

Pac Land

When Pac Man was introduced in Smash 4, he got 2 stages exclusive to each version. Smash 3DS got Pac Maze, which was a great stage based on the classic Pac Man Mazes. The Wii U version, got Pac Land, a stage based on a that weird arcade platform spin off of Pac Man, that is also an auto scroller. And since Pac Maze couldn’t be brought back since it was designed around exclusively around the 3DS’ unique features, that means we’re stuck with Pac Land as our Pac Man stage for Ultimate. Oh God.

I’m just getting into it, Pac Land frigging blows. It’s one of the worst stages in the game, and would be the worst retro stage, if it weren’t for 75m. Visually it looks ugly. I get they were trying to capture the look of the original Pac-Land, but Pac-Land already looked awful. It was flat and simplistic, and by brightening things up the stage makes the colours pop out in the worst possible way. Of all the retro stages, this one looks the worst.

As for playing it? It’s an auto scroller, you already know it’s going to suck. But not only is it an auto scroller, it’s an auto scroller with awkward platforming. Oh what fun. And it scrolls backwards too, so it’s frustrating in both directions.

This stage is awkward incarnate. It’s not a good sign when the earliest thing you run into is a forest whose tree’s will obscure the players vision. Because what makes an auto scroller worse? Not being able to frigging see anything. Who thought that was a good idea.

The only credit I will give this stage is that it does incorporate the power ups from Pac Land into the stage. That is kind of cool, but it doesn’t help much. This stage is awful. On the bright side though, this is the last auto scroller, there are no more after this and thank God! If I see another one of these in the next Smash game, I’ll smash my tv set.

Overall Grade: F

Super Mario Maker

This is a tricky one to grade. Super Mario Maker is a unique stage in Smash Bros because the whole thing is randomly generated. And I don’t mean in the sense that there are a handful of different layouts it cycles through every time you play it, I mean everything, from the basic structure, to the gimmicks, and even the size are all different every time you play it.

The whole point of this stage is that it’s meant to feel like a stage made by a player. You know like one of the custom stages people make in the stage maker, only not as insane. Which makes sense given that it’s based on a game whose whole appeal was designing your own levels.

It makes this clear when you start as it builds the stage in front of you as you start a match. It’s even done in a similar way to how it was done in Mario Maker, right down to the cursor. I love how even the cursor is random as well. You will even see the cursor show up mid battle to replace brick blocks that have been broken.

In terms of presentation, it captures what Mario Maker was about very well. One element I like is how the stage will swap between the four styles of Mario found in Mario Maker, it doesn’t change the gameplay and is purely cosmetic, but it is cool seeing the different styles of Mario’s 2D adventure represented here.

And the different stage layouts do feel like they were made by a player, for better and for worse. While it is impressive how many different combinations and layouts you can get, none of them are as good as a traditional Smash Bros stage made by professionals, which is also kind of the point.

The one big downside to this idea is that there are going to be some layouts you get that just don’t work. And again, that’s kind of the point. Have you seen some custom Smash stages, or even some Mario Maker levels, 90% of them are utter garbage made by people for lulz. So of course some layouts here would be bad.

I guess the stage does succeed in what it’s trying to accomplish. Again, it’s hard to grade it because there isn’t a set design to critique, it’s more an idea than a stage. But as an idea, it’s not a bad one and it executes it very well. It is a good stage overall, albeit a very inconsistent one.

Overall Grade: B

Suzaku Castle

Suzaku Castle has been Ryu’s stage across multiple Street Fighter games. So it only made sense to give him this stage when they added him as a playable fighter. And while it is primarily based on the Street Fighter 2 version, you can see some influence from its renditions in other Street Fighter games. The background of the castle in particular reminds me of its appearance in Third Strike.

It looks really nice. The sunset really makes the place pop out. The music for the stage is great as well. The entire Street Fighter 2 ost is here and there’s some excellent remixes. I do wish there was a few more remixes, there’s only 4 in total which is a shame, but the ones we do get are excellent. Hey as long as Guiles theme gets a remix I’m happy.

And they do a good job of Smashifying the stage, so to speak. You still have the main platform you would fight on in Street Fighter 2, complete with breakable signs, but the extra platform above it and the two platforms to the side help it feel more like a platform fighter style stage while keeping it just familiar enough to its inspiration.

Admittedly though, something about this stage does feel a little off centre. The camera is a little too far to the left, it just feels like the alignment is a little wonky. But that might just be me. The stage itself is still fine. My only real complaint are the two platforms on the left are a little too small, but not by much. It isn’t as bad as it is in other stages.

Suzaku Castle does a good job of translating a classic fighting game stage into the Smash Bros style. It’s funny because other fighting game-based stages don’t really do this, they keep themselves flat like they were in the original games. Which does help this stage stand out even more.

Overall Grade: B

Midgar

When Midgar first came out in Smash Wii-U I was a little disappointed in it. For such an iconic location in Final Fantasy with tons of possibilities for stage designs, it felt very lacklustre to me. It never even felt like battling in Midgar, it felt like I was battling on random platforms over a Midgar backdrop. It made it feel more like a Smash 64 stage and we’d come a long way since then.

It didn’t help that the layout of the stage was essentially just Battlefield. It was the most standard stock design you could get for a Smash Bros stage. They could have done so much more than this.

However, I do understand why this is the case. Midgar’s big gimmick is the Summons. Red Materia will appear during a fight and picking it up will summon of the Final Fantasy Summons, really wish they had a better name, which affect the stage in various ways.

The Summons are awesome. Not only do they greatly shake up the stage, from pushing it to the side with flames, to splitting it in half, to firing a giant death laser, but they just look so cool. These guys are just as flashy and epic as they are in the Final Fantasy games. It’s a visual spectacle when these guys show up.

I get why the stage has such a basic design. The summon effect do have a massive impact on the stage, so they need to keep it simple so it doesn’t overwhelm the players. But they could have at least changed the design a little. Add in an extra platform or 2, just don’t make it Battlefield again is all I’m asking.

But the biggest disappointment was the music selection. Final Fantasy 7 has some excellent musical tracks that would have been great for Smash Bros, and what does this stage give us? 2! 2 lousy stinking tracks that aren’t even remixes. And they aren’t even interesting tracks either, it’s just the battle music. No One Winged Angel, no Golden Saucer, nothing.

I understand that this is no longer the case. They would add other tracks later on in Ultimate, which is great, except those tracks were added with another stage. Another Stage you had to purchase separately as DLC. By default you only get 2 songs, and that is just inexcusable.

Is Midgar a bad stage? Not really. The Summons help it a lot, they’re a ton of fun and a real visual treat to watch. But I can’t shake the feeling that it could have been a lot more than what it was. But I can’t judge it for what it could be, I need to judge it for what it is, and it is a very good stage.

Overall Grade: B

Umbra Clock Tower

Umbra Clock Tower is one of the most visually insane, energetic stages in Smash Bros history. Which should surprise no one given it’s based on Bayonetta, one of the wildest action games ever made. This stage definitely captures the insane spectacle that Bayonetta is known for and is damn fun to play too.

This is a stage that’s all about spectacle. There aren’t any major gimmicks with this one, it’s all about enjoying the ride. Though there are some elements that help keep things interesting. Platforms will fall down alongside the main clock tower which does change up the layout slightly.

But as I said, this is all about spectacle, and it is certainly spectacular. the image of fighting on a broken Clock Tower hurling down a cliff is already visually stunning to start with, but when you add in entering the Angel World and you see all the Angels flying in the background, it’s hard not to be stunned by it.

So yeah, it’s a great stage. Not much more to say on it other than it’s a visually stunning thrill ride. I still wish we got Moon River or Fly Me to the Moon on the track selection, but that’s probably asking too much.

Overall Grade: A

And with that, we are done. Finally! Smash Wii U certainly had a lot of stages, and while some were quite bad, it had some great highlights as well. I’d say the highs here were higher than Smash 3DS, but 3DS was a little more consistent in its quality. I think 3DS had the overall better stage line-up, but Wii-U definitely had some bangers that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Next time we finally end this as we look at all the stages from Super Smash Bros Ultimate itself. And thankfully it won’t be nearly as long. Will we end things off with a Bang? Tune in to the finale and find out.