The Top 10 Stages In Super Smash Bros. History

[@MockRockTalk]

Thanks for watching everyone, and let me know what your list would look like! *Spoiler warning for those of you who haven't already watched the video:* I'd also like to retroactively give another honourable mention to King Of Fighters Stadium. I've personally never liked that stage very much, so when I asked for predictions about this video on Twitter, I was blown away by how many people brought it up. I actually had to check with my Discord server to see if it was a meme I'd missed haha. The explanations I got for its popularity, particularly how well-suited it is for newcomers, do make sense though. This list obviously doesn't make any attempt to be objective so I _technically_ shouldn't be shouting out a stage that I don't personally enjoy, but hey, today I learned something new and that seems worthy of an HM to me 🤷 *Main channel:* kzbin.info *Twitter:* twitter.com/MrMockRock *Patreon:* www.patreon.com/mockrock *Twitch:* www.twitch.tv/mockrocktwitch *Teespring:* teespring.com/stores/mockrock *TimeBolt affiliate link* (excellent software I use to speed up editing on my videos, use code "MOCKROCK" for a discount): mockrock--timebolt.thrivecart.com/order-page/

[@lagspike7763]

1. Reset Bomb Forest (It's just such a sick shoutout to its game and it's so cinematic) 2. Halberd (Fun transitions, solid music, good time) 3. Hollow Bastion (Beautiful backgrounds, excellent music) 4. WarioWare (Probably the most inherently fun stage gimmick) 5. Gamer (Probably the second most inherently fun stage gimmick) 6. Super Mario Maker (Insane concept) 7. Frigate Orpheon (Upside down shit is fun) 8. Castle Siege is the best Fire Emblem stage probably 9. Spirit Train (Goofy ass gimmicks and you gotta keep moving because of the layout changing) 10. Temple (CLASSIC)

[@RealityMasterRogue]

it'd have hanenbow on it.

[@DaRealJake]

If you don’t mind me asking, what are the reasons why you don’t like the stage?

[@williamhowells806]

if i were a melee player i would go to war to play poke stadium with transformations. its so sick.

[@MockRockTalk]

@@DaRealJake I like edgeguards

[@CrazyHand7894]

King of Fighters Stadium has to be one of my personal favorites. The wall mechanic is a really fun one that offsets the classic problems with walk-offs, and the stage itself is the perfect size that it doesn't feel neither cramped nor too big. The cameos in the background are a nice touch too.

[@anonymous7024]

How is this a day old?

[@MockRockTalk]

@@anonymous7024 Patreon/KZbin members/Twitch subs get most videos a day early

[@anonymous7024]

Ahh I see

[@kadabraguy9846]

That's the stage I pick when I'm playing with my parents so they don't have to worry about recovering lol

[@PINE654-s9p]

I kinda wish it was legalized cause of how unique it is and the walls make it so it isn’t a walk off

[@rouge939]

It’s crazy how good and full of content Melee was considering how rushed it was

[@MockRockTalk]

Melee should have been terrible, 13 months to develop what we ended up with is genuinely outrageous

[@AUTTY6242]

@Audiovisual and then it became one of the most memorable stages in the series, yet didn't make it to Ultimate, hell, and future smash game... *and 75m returned*

[@YounesLayachi]

Sometimes the small development time and or small disk space forced the dev to cut down anything that wasn't absolutely top notch xD

[@fupalover]

GOAT status. Simple.

[@MagcargoMan]

@@AUTTY6242 Let's face it, if Poke Floats debuted in Brawl or Smash 4, it would frequent top worst Smash videos all the time.

[@obijuandy-liacco328]

i really really really love Warioware, what a fun time. The base stage is tiny and forces everyone to fight rather than camp, i love the idea of double plats vertically, and the mini games every 10 seconds can change the pace so much its just so fun

[@andymcclurg9916]

Absolutely. That was the shit in Brawl.

[@TheStarsTwilight]

YES love Warioware Inc.; probably my favorite casual stage.

[@jyfa5495]

and that moment when everyone just stops to taunt is perfection

[@wishbushwashbosh6443]

Good choice

[@ScLuigi]

microgames, not minigames

[@runningoncylinders3829]

I like how casual Smashing isn't getting overlooked in this field and seems to be the key factor. Where certain stages lend themselves to a more chaotic battle has a lot to do with being well designed.

[@RealYoshy64]

I have to bring up Fountain of Dreams, it is a relatively simple layout with battlefield like platforms but the small change of them moving is great and the visuals (even in lag) are incredible

[@Zift_Ylrhavic_Resfear]

I always remember the music when i think of this stage.

[@elmaionesosexo]

don't forget about the stellar look in Ultimate

[@RedNK]

Not having a Hazards ON/OFF toggle on the map selection is such a huge disappointment, honestly A really big missed opportunity

[@chuysiogarza]

Am I trippen or is there totally a toggle for hazards on ssbu?

[@AtJoee230]

​@@chuysiogarzaI think what he means is being able to select which stages have hazards On or Off, instead of only All On and All Off.

[@LilMrPizza]

I know the vast majority of people disagree with me on this, but ever since I was a kid, Spear Pillar has been one of my favourites. Admittedly, a big part of that may have been it was the only stage that had that epic Victory Road remix on it, but I always found the layout to be really awesome with the top being great for more standard fights, the bottom being more of a fight club esque arena, and the massive lasers that would appear were slow enough that if you were in their path, you could still get away from them. I love the darker look of the stage, I grew up as a gen 4 kid so I’m biased for those legendaries, and while the things the legendaries could do with the stage were pretty chaotic, I always found them to be fun. Not to mention, if you don’t like them, you could just turn hazards off, and then you get what I feel is overall a very good stage. I know this is controversial because I’ve heard people put Spear Pillar on their worst stages list, but I still love it and it’ll always be one of my favourites.

[@ImLuna_az]

If you have fun with it, that’s great, but I think many people would consider it one of the worst due to the camping potential. If somebody has a lead, they can just go to the level you’re not on and win almost by default. An interesting design, but a bit flawed in its execution.

[@JacobSC_]

Fellow Spear Pillar enjoyer what's good

[@JacobPDeIiNoNi]

@@ImLuna_az With hazards on though (which is usually how you'll play this stage) camping is far more difficult, because the legendary pokemon cause hazards to appear that force you to be on the same level and can also break parts of the stage allowing for much easier traversal

[@RacingSnails64]

Genuinely good stage. No idea why people would hate it casually. Fun layout with the cave on the bottom, and Palkia/Dialgia destroying the stage and their reality-warping powers are great. Competitively I can see why it's unviable but in casual play it's amazing.

[@ImLuna_az]

@@JacobPDeIiNoNi Oh, I'm not familiar with the hazards off version of the stage, so that may be true. If that solves the issue, sounds like a pretty good stage, not sure exactly how that would work though.

[@thegoodthebadthequiky]

I really like Mario Maker actually, it’s surprising how good the stages it makes are despite being largely random. And with hazards off it makes some unique semi-competitive stages as well. I’m also a big fan of Mementos for its size, simplicity, and the walls and trains which are just the right amount of mixing things up. Other personal favorites are Wuhu Island, Hyrule Temple 64, Pictochat, Mute City, Living Room. I mostly agreed with your choices quite a bit but Spoilers: I despise Princess Peach’s Castle. Everything about it comes together in the wrong way for me personally. It feels super awkward to try to get around. But I do like Peach’s Castle 64.

[@TheAntiburglar]

Oooooooooh! I know my two favorite stages of all time are the original Hyrule Temple from Smash 64 and the Hyrule Temple from Melee, but I think the latter is probably one of the actually greatest stages ever made. Also I love the near constant flow of Mock Rock Talk content in between the Mock Rock Classic content :D

[@joey5745]

I completely forgot about Hyrule Castle for my list but I love that stage,

[@Deltan8yt]

A few stages I love personally -Spear Pillar: As a kid when I played Brawl, I HATED this stage, even though I was a sinnoh baby. It felt like the hazards were the main thing, the big factor. However, this stage really grew on me. It's fun casually and shoving your enemies in the blaster when it comes is SO satisfying Super Mario Maker: Needless to say I was disappointed when I learned that each individual part of the stage wasn't random, and that it was a random selection of premade stages (albeit, there is alot of them). But overall, it's fun to play on something random, but not TOO random. Pictochat: My favorite Brawl stage. When I first played when I was 7, the flat layout was nice, but the Drawn out hazards really added to the asthetic..it felt like I was playing on paper, and I loved it, especially since I loved to draw. Summit: Ice can make or break a stage in anything, but I think Summit works because there's more variety besides *_just ice_* , like the water. Garden of Hope: My favorite stage in Ultamite by FAR. It feels like I'm just playing in my backyard, and I live that. The hazards aren't annoying, and can be pretty funny (i.e, the crab falling down the pit). A favorite among my friends as well. Hollow Bastion: Its pretty. Nuff said.

[@Marshall.R]

Super Mario Maker *literally* being completely random would've been an absolute nightmare and make for a completely unplayable stage 99% of the time, but at the same time it would've been funny to see it capture the essence of hot garbage levels

[@CapnShades]

For an honest slugfest, I'm picking Arena Ferox. Transforms for a lot of fun variety without any major hazard interference. On the more casual side, can't go wrong with Halberd. The hazards themselves are fun but that's just icing on the cake for anyone that loves Kirby's edgiest little ball guy. Honorable mention for Flat Zone, which WOULD be my favorite stage if the blast zone's weren't so damn close. I have similar feelings for WarioWare Inc., both stages are just a little too cramped.

[@joey5745]

Arena Ferox made my list too. The best way to play Flat Zone X is in a free-for-all, time mode. It’s too small and chaotic to run away,

[@gamexpert1990]

Yeah, Arena Ferox is just one of those stages that I never fail to have fun playing on. It's just always a good time there.

[@cyohg2660]

I personally love the King Of Fighters stage. I think the invisible walls is a great idea. It allows a stage without walkoffs where recovering isn't mandatory, which is perfect if you want to play with people that don't want to learn how to play but still press buttons and have fun. I play with my parents on that stage and it's much better than playing anywhere else and watching them SD 5 times per game without playing the game. For other aspects, I love the blue zoom each time your opponents hits the walls so strongly they go through, and the combos allowed by the same walls. Great stage! And great video btw!

[@nathanturoff3496]

I think just about everyone is genuinely pissed that Pokefloats isn't in ultimate. Make it dlc, I'll pay for it even, come on Nintendo!

[@RacingSnails64]

I tried counting it up a while ago and I think there's only around like 10 more stages not in the game. Not that Ultimate is lacking variety. It might be greedy, but I really wish those last few got in. Because it's so close to being perfect!

[@Magic_Ice]

Honestly i would prefer a Poké Floats 2 since there are a ton of ideas with 700+ new Pokémon

[@ShinyMew76]

@@RacingSnails64 The main 2 I can think of are Wooly World and Poke Flosts, both should have got in.

[@Marshall.R]

@@ShinyMew76 I think most of the rest were considered too redundant or janky or universally bad to make the cut but two others that absolutely should've made it are 3DS Pac-Maze and 3DS Rainbow Road

[@ThundagaT2]

@@Marshall.R Sadly Pac-Maze was likely cut because of its stage gimmick not really working with only one screen. I really wish they could have revamped it so we could see it come back though. It was MILES better than that shitty Pac-Land stage we got instead...

[@bdt2002gaming]

Some of my personal favorites: 1. Wuhu Island in Ultimate saw a bit of a change from its Smash 4 iteration that I absolutely love. In that game, its Final Destination variant was just some floating platform going around the island, which was definitely fine on its own, but in Ultimate they replaced that completely with the idea of fighting solely on the Swordplay Colloseum's main platform. I like this idea so much because the whole point of Swordplay's dueling mode in Wii Sports Resort matches so well with the idea of a flat platform stage in Smash- and that, of course, is to knock the opponent off however possible. (Also, you can see Matt as an NPC Mii in this one in the background.) 2. I don't think I've ever met another person who actually enjoys playing on the Electroplankton stage in either of its appearances, but for whatever reason I find the extremely obscure visual style to be absolutely charming. It's one of the best looking stages visually in Brawl in my honest opinion, and I always had fun seeing just how quickly I could make every single leaf change color without going back to green. One of Brawl's 30+ event matches is actually based around this exact idea, and when playing against other players, pulling this off can actually be pretty tricky. 3. This one may be a hot take, but it also might be a popular take. I have no way of knowing, so let's just get it out there... I think hazardless Hyrule Castle in Ultimate is one of the best designed stages that could possibly be in a competitive ruleset. Everything is spaced out remarkably well in a similar matter to stages like Corneria, and the combination of the extremely large main platform relative to the side blast zones along with the soft platforms, the wall connecting the main two areas, and that little tent-looking platform can frequently give other characters a chance to shine who might not benefit from a much more conservative stage list. 4. At the time of writing this, I have still never actually had access to Melee, but I wanted to mention it for the same reason I brought up Electroplankton- Fountain of Dreams in Melee is absolutely gorgeous. I was never the biggest fan of Melee's visual upgrades, as they feel less expressive than Brawl and Smash 4 to me while still lacking that weird kind of "nostalgia factor" the Smash 64 art style has. In stark contrast to the rest of the game, I think this stage might even look a little *too good* for the GameCube's engine, as the stage has even been banned by a select few individual players over time not because of its layout, but because the fountain water's reflections are so good that they literally give the players sensory issues while fighting. 5. The 3DS-exclusive Rainbow Road stage in Smash 4 is in my eyes, the one stage that didn't return in Ultimate that I absolutely think should have. Being based off of Mario Kart 7's longer iteration of the course, it functions better as a traveling stage than you might expect. Smash 3DS is probably my least played Smash game out of the four that I have access to, but this is hands-down the best 3DS-exclusive stage in the entire game. Imagine seeing this in Ultimate, potentially without hazards on, and seeing just how big of a graphical jump the Switch is truly capable of compared to this. They at least brought the Rainbow Road Medley song back in Ultimate, which has to count for something, right?

[@Marshall.R]

Bro, not having 3DS Rainbow Road in Ultimate is a bigger disappointment than even Poke Floats imo, like there's literally no conceivable reason to not have it and the existing MK stages feel so lackluster in comparison

[@YeethanFrog]

Fellow hannenbow enjoyer, good to see

[@BLamb]

Super Mario Maker is my favorite Smash stage. I love how the stage layouts are different each time you play on it, and those layouts are genuinely super fun to play on. Plus, as a huge Mario fan, having that concept tied to a Mario stage is pretty nice.

[@frost_6380]

Pictochat and warioware (both hazards on, obviously) are two of my favorites because there are some moments of a regular battle but the drawings and the mini challenges that give overpowered rewards make it way more fun.

[@TheTrueBrawler]

I'm not a fan of Pictochat 2 because I think the drawings aren't as good, but I had a boatload of fun with Pictochat (from Brawl) as a child. That stage was fun as hell.

[@justanasian5747]

Pirate ship is one of my personal favorites, my friends used it all the time during brawl at a younger age and we'd fight on top of that flipping switch a the time, and trying to force people onto the ships hull and get them insta spiked

[@SilverSpireZ]

My likely unpopular list of favorites (excluding what’s already on the list) has got to be * Wuhu Island * Cloud Sea of Alrest * WarioWare, Inc. * King of Fighters Stadium * Super Mario Maker * PictoChat * Halberd * Frigate Orpheon * Fountain of Dreams * Miiverse There’s so many good ones to choose from, though.

[@RedBoi88]

Super Mario Maker has one of my favorite gimmicks out of any stage, randomly generated layouts make for a different battle each time and it is a blast every time

[@BLamb]

Facts 💯

[@JacobPDeIiNoNi]

One of my personal favorites is super mario maker. Some layouts are pretty cheesy of course but I think that variety is one of the best things about casual play, and super mario maker is probably the stage with the most variety out of all of them. You never know what to expect, so you need to react to whatever the layout is and come up with your strategy on the go.

[@TheRedCap30]

I love Ganon battles on Mario Maker lol

[@jonathanlgill]

Oh that's a good call. I think that should have been in the honorable mentions, though I guess the randomness of it would limit the analysis of stage features that MockRock does.

[@GammaFn.]

Mario Maker and Gamer are excellent for this.

[@Moon-nk3co]

I know it’s not ideal, but Magicant is one of my favorite stages for its unique design. As a Mother Fan, I’ve found their stages unique, but usually not fun to play on. Not the same with Magicant. Even with the Flying Men, I think it’s great.

[@MCWaxC]

I’ve always had a soft spot for Spear Pillar, and part of that might just be because it looks so cool. I love goofy, unorthodox characters and aesthetics in Smash, but if you want a match to feel like the very fabric of reality hangs in the balance, Spear Pillar will make it so. (Sephiroth’s stage very much feels this way too but it’s a really plain stage layout without as much to do.)

[@paulnewton2284]

That first pick is a spicy one for sure. I loathe that stage. It feels like no one ever dies on it.

[@trevorkeith3813]

I believe the main theory for why pokefloats was cut from the game was because of stage transformations and how it really doesn't fit nicely with that new function. While it is true, they could have just greyed it out for the feature

[@Liggliluff]

For stage hazard toggle, it really should have been renamed to "dynamic stage" and have three modes: - Everything on - Hazards off - Everything off Hazards would be boss characters, things that enter the stage that are harmful (lava waterfalls, bullet bills, falling swords, spewing fire). But not moving platforms, transformations or travelling stages. But everything off would also disable moving platforms, transformations and travelling stages consistently. Preferably this should be a toggle per stage (where "hazards off" wouldn't be available for Smashville, and locked to "everything off" for Final Destination). But even without a per-stage toggle, I think people would be more happy with this and expecting a "hazards off, but moving platforms on" mode.

[@micahbannister1287]

The fact that you're normally so polite and cautious to consider every possible argument makes the whole "these are the best stages I don't care what you think" intro so much better. Thanks for all the great videos

[@skorie6180]

2 of my favourite unpopular picks are Reset Bomb Forest and Arena Ferox, the former is just beautiful in both forms and the castle part just has a layout I really like and I love specifically the layout with the statues for the latter, one of my biggest gripes with Ultimate is not being able to pick certain forms of stages. Also shout out to all the Ultimate DLC stages besides Spiral Mountain and Garegg Mach, all of the others are so fantastic

[@Liftinn]

8:11 "You died to a get-up attack!"

[@vaderwalks]

Super Mario Maker and Midgar for me. The former just has such a cool gimmick, and having a different layout every time means it never really gets stale. As for Midgar, I love starting on a vanilla BF layout that gets crazier as the match goes on, especially since the changes are triggered by the players. It's a visual treat with (FINALLY) a solid track list to boot.

[@Metalc]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GIVING FOURSIDE AN HONORABLE MENTION!!!! It’s one of my favorite stages and nobody talks about it.

[@MaxWelton]

The “the honorable mentions have to stop somewhere award”? Gold.

[@jigokunabe]

I think my favorite stage has to be Fountain of Dreams, though i'm definitely biased by virtue of growing up with Kirby. But really, it's a competitively viable stage with at least a little variety in the moving platforms, it's absolutely beautiful and has one of the best remixes in Smash history.

[@sherbertshortkake6649]

3DS Rainbow Road was really unjustly treated. Quite a beautiful stage from a beautiful track, and especially considering that you couldn't even see most parts of the stage unless your timer went past ~7 minutes was just wrong.

[@XBC3403]

My personal favorite stage is Cloud sea of Alrest. While not a good stage for anything more than 4 players, I still really enjoy the simple layout and the gimmick of gramps moving his head that influences the fight but never interrupts it. Also has one of my favorite backgrounds for a stage in the game

[@joshuahong8255]

My unpopular but personal favorite casual stage is Mario bros. It does have the issue of being a faithful recreation which makes the stage layout seem like a tech fest, but you can tell the devs compensated for it because the shellcreepers and sidesteppers have extremely strong horizontal knock back when thrown, in a way that usually doesn’t hit any ceilings so can’t be teched. So as a result, the stage does end up feeling like you’re playing Mario bros in a smash bros context, but more importantly, it leads to some very fast paced KOs, which makes it incredibly fun and janky to play on in time mode. Never play this on hazards off (which I imagine is why many don’t like this stage); it’s designed to be experienced on hazards on

[@thedapperdolphin1590]

Imagine the chaos of 8 player Smash on Pokefloats. I always loved how crazy that stage was. It was a blast at parties, and Ultimate could take it to the next level.

[@Magic_Ice]

My main issue with corneria is that the great fox feels too small. I like Sector Z more because it feels more cool to me but that might be my nostalgia

[@MockRockTalk]

Sector Z is leaning a bit too big for me (would probably work better in the later games), but I do agree that Corneria is a little stubbier than ideal in Ultimate.

[@Magic_Ice]

@@MockRockTalk Yeah. I loved the sheer scale of the ship in 64. My friends always tried to find a way to pilot the ships and try to get inside of the great fox. I have too many memories of that stage so that is why I like it more than Corneria

[@Hugo_Prolovski]

The size changes in ultimate are sometimes really weird imo.

[@mrbister8714]

I’ve always been a sucker for brinstar depths. Objectively it’s a really bad stage but for me it strikes that perfect balance between chaotic and giving some room to fight on, if not a lot of room.

[@NtheCat]

Honestly, Prism Tower is probably my favourite stage of all time. I'm a big fan of travelling/transforming stages and as a Pokémon fan, fighting on Prism Tower at night as the Lumiose City theme plays while overlooking the city is a great feeling

[@mettatonex7221]

If I had to pick my top 10 in no particular order: Delfino Plaza: This one might be my number one if I gave it some though. Travelling stages are my favorite category of stages in general, and this one in particular thoroughly covers one of my favorite locations in gaming history. The HD glow-up is great, each location including the various travelling platform layouts are spaced fantastically and each offer their own flavors of combat, and there are no intrusive gimmicks to speak of. All-around a perfect stage and I'm super happy it's been a series staple since Brawl. Wuhu Island: This is another travelling stage covering another iconic location. I don't have the same nostalgia with Wii Sports Resort as I do with Super Mario Sunshine, but the same appeal that applies to Delfino Plaza easily applies here. I also love that the Omega version is the Swordplay Colosseum; great touch. Temple: Yes, you were right. Temple deserves to be in everybody's top 10. Weird place to mention it, but I've never been quite as ire towards Palutena's Temple as everybody else, but I do think it's too large for it's own good and slows down matches very unnecessarily. Temple is everything that stage should have been. Unova Pokemon League: This stage is cheating because it not only comes from my favorite mainline Pokemon game, the series I have the most history with of all gaming franchises, but also takes place during the best part of that game. I would have prefered if it took place inside N's Castle, but seeing it rise out of the ground is still wonderful to see, and with hazards on, Reshiram and Zekrom are a lot more consistant and predictable compared to Dialga and Palkia (and Cresselia for whatever reason) on the Spear Pillar, making matches much less disruptive. Tomodachi Life: A nice, dead simple layout that is easy to navigate yet unique to itself. What really makes this stage for me is the random element of the individual Mii Apartments that have varying layouts and even incorporate Miis you have saved to your system. It's like Luigi's Mansion but with a pleasant atmosphere, no ceilings (so less frustrating), and something new to appreciate each time. Port Town: Aero Dive: I debated if this stage should be here because I tend to find lethal hazards that force evasion from players to be a negative, but the travelling element, the overall design of this track (plus the giant R.O.B. in the back, referencing my main and favorite fighter), and even the fact that the track smacking you back up during travelling still make this stage a long-standing favorite. Plus, the F-Zero racers are completely consistant; they always start at the same point on the track, and on most rest points, you can see them coming in the background and have time to react, and if they're still an issue, there's a decent number of stops where they never show up. Mementos: I'll be real. This stage owes being on this list entirely because it's a Persona 5 stage. Every ounce of style and personality that made Persona 5 so memorable is poured into this absolutely stunning stage. Also, because this is a stage from the Persona stage, I would be so bold as to claim this is the only stage in the game that does not have a single bad or even mid music track; all 11 tracks brought in for this stage is an absolute banger. As for the layout itself, it's simple yet feels unique and offers a different sort of playstyle to most simple stages. My only complaint are the occasional ceilings that appear, that they didn't bring in more Persona 5 tracks, and the fact that Oracle doesn't appear in the background; she's my favorite character from Persona 5. Umbra Clock Tower: I have a lot less appreciation for the Bayonetta series than I do for Persona, but even as someone who doesn't like that sort of game, as an outside observer I can still appreciate the sort of flare and energy it brings to the table, and Umbra Clock Tower as the stage of choice excellently conveys it. The platforms that come by add nice variety and gentle pace changes to any given match (there are some solid platforms that break things up a little bit, but they're few and far between enough to be tolerable), and the enemies that appear in the background offer nice set pieces despite me not knowing a damn thing about any of them. The music also slaps, and that absolutely matters. Rainbow Road: Poke Floats is indeed a harsh loss, but THIS is the most painful exclusion from the Ultimate stage list. It's another travelling stage that just so happens to take place in the absolute best track from the Mario Kart series, complete with the completely untouched gorgeous music track packaged with it. Everything that I've said about Delfino Plaza and Wuhu Island applies here with its own stunning setting and unique platforms, plus the racer hazards that are easier to deal with because they don't hit as hard, they're easier to see coming, and they can even be smacked away for an extra bit of satisfaction. I will never forgive them for choosing Figure-8 Circuit over this. Final Destination (Brawl Version): Final Destination is a classic. It is as dead simple and straightforward as you can ask for. Yes, the lack of platforms makes it a little less interesting, but I find that it's made up for by the transforming background that each version comes with. So why am I specifying the Brawl version? That's the one I have the most nostalgia for since that's where I started the series with, and I don't know if this applies to the other versions, but the background is perfectly timed to go along with the main theme of the stage, which I was able to pick up on and appreciate even as a kid. Even if it does apply to the other versions, I don't care because their respective main themes are far inferior to Brawl's Final Destination theme.

[@chordalharmony]

The transition from the Star Fox music to the Molgera theme was phenomenal

[@TommyCD1]

3:43 Ness could not take it anymore (apparently 10 seconds of the video got edited out somewhere and my timestamp got changed. Hmmmm)

[@lasercraft32]

Honestly... the fact that they aren't technically confirmed to be balloons on Pokefloats is WEIRD. But they easily could have fixed that in Ultimate by changing their appearances to better resemble balloons (which would have been pretty cool). Overall, a really weird stage for sure. I'm betting the reason they cut it was probably something to do with omega and battlefield forms... like, what are you supposed to do for that? Sure you could have one of the Pokemon just take the place of the battlefield, but then it wouldn't be completely flat like its supposed to. They could have a single battlefield with the floats in the background... but AGAIN there's no stage elements they could use to make the island make sense. They would need to make up an entirely new thing completely from scratch and somehow make it fit the stage's identity. (Maybe they could have had it be a ditto battlefield lmao)

[@ltrigga219]

Yay Yoshi’s Island shout out! Agree with your PS, I love the KOF stage. I actually wholeheartedly agree with this entire list. Temple, Corneria and Peach’s Castle are probably my three favorites of all time. Nice job, Melee. Also, the music was really nicely chopped together in this video, the segues were great.

[@kestrel7493]

I actually really like some of the gimmicky ultimate stage, particularly spring stadium and KoF stadium

[@gianlucaloporto7905]

Hyrule castle is probably my favorite stage. I think the platforms are fun and varied, the tornados can make some really good pressure to force people into awkward positions, and it's a good size for small or larger battles

[@bdt2002gaming]

I've been looking for someone who enjoys this one as much as I do. Extremely fun in casual and can even make a small case for competitive play if hazards are off.

[@Rean.Schwarzer]

Arena Ferox is probably my favorite stage in the series, it's criminally underrated. The base layout is nice and straightforward to make it simple and welcoming to newcomers, and the transformations are all wildly different layouts. There's nothing really gimmicky on the stage either, and the transformations rotate through regularly enough that even if there's one you don't like, it'll change before too long. It's a good blend of a fun casual stage with a bit more of a competitive slant than most other transforming stages, though it's kind of a shame it becomes much less interesting on Hazards Off (not to mention randomly picking a layout).

[@screamingnoises5359]

12:04 hey that’s me

[@Paraster]

Pac-Maze, Rainbow Road, and Orbital Gate Assault are some of my favorite stages aesthetically. Then Ultimate cut them. :( Layout/gameplay wise, I'd like to mention WarioWare; incorporating microgames into Smash is brilliant and very fun. I also have a soft spot for "breakable stages" like Luigi's Mansion and Mishima Dojo. In the future, I'd like to see a stage where one of the side blast zones is completely blocked off, maybe with platform layouts designed to make the non-blocked-off side high-risk-high-reward. Outer Wall from Cave Story would fit this idea well. Alternatively, blocking the top blast zone off would be a similar concept, but force different gameplay.

[@thunderfister7536]

My theory as to why pokefloats never came back is probably because it was a rushed stage that Sakurai wasnt too proud of. Keep in mind that melee was originally going to have bellsprout tower as the second pokemon stage, so pokefloats was most likely a result of time constraint.

[@sladewilson2753]

Alternate title. MockRock bitches about competitive players not willing to play around fun terrain and moving platforms. I love it.

[@F0restz]

The hyrule jump along with other "who can" challenges was the first thing that brought me into smash so I've always had a soft spot for stages like temple and big blue even if I've switched towards the competitive scene more.

[@fihsbonez]

love to see how comfortable you've gotten behind the camera. keep up the great work !!!

[@samanthashelly9947]

this is probably a really unpopular opinion but I REALLY miss Orbital Gate Assault. that was easily my favorite casual stage and it was just so chaotic and technically very impressive from a design standpoint. I love it so so much and I'm sad it's not back in ultimate but like I get it :(

[@MockRockTalk]

Idk if it'd be that unpopular an opinion, I thought that was one of the cooler Smash 4 stages too and found it kind of weird that it didn't come back for Ultimate

[@wanost1408]

Bless this comment

[@justinnzamora5366]

I concur with your statement, Samantha.

[@deadheat1635]

My favorite stage in the series is Super Mario Maker. I love the aesthetics and it’s never the same when you play on it. It’s like an infinite number of different stages in one stage, so I always pick it in arenas.

[@beaksters]

Yoshis island is in my top 3, I’m just happy someone else loves it

[@JacobSC_]

I will always have a soft spot for Garden of Hope, the amount of games me, my brother, and his friends have played Pokeball Only is in the hundreds. Love that crab and the weight dependent platforms Other good picks include the Pokemon Stadiums, Kalos League, Bridge of Eldin, King Of Fighters, Kingdom U, and Delfino

[@Magic_Ice]

I love being on that stage because Pikmin 3 was one of my favorite games when I got smash 4 and I loved all of the background elements

[@minorinsomniac2114]

New Donk City, Warioware Inc, and Spring Stadium are stages I’m personally a huge fan of. Also huge shoutout to Mementos for being an amazing stage visually, but I think it’s layout is just barely too awkward for it to be one of my favorites.

[@XEPHOURIA]

Fun-wise? I think my favourite is probably... The cruiseship with the wall (Correia? Idk) But Look wise Hollo Bastion Holow BASTION hollow Bastion Hollow Bastion This could just be my absolute kingdom hearts fanbean brain, but like, just the entire presentation of it, is so GOOD. You start at the beginning of the original hollow bastion and make your way up to the top, and from there you do it again, and you get to see the entire level, like, THATS SO COOL! It's most of the level completely remade just to look at. And the fact that it's legal makes me happy, too. Plus, the transformation Into Dive to the Heart is... So well done. Plus, I genuinely think that it's really fun to play on (as a sora main). Small stage, lots of air (I love air fights its the best part of smash), and a beautiful presentation, simple and deliberate, yet still gorgeous, I dunno, it's just amazing to me.

[@MousaThe14]

So glad to see someone confidently say PokeFloats should've come back because I hard agree, it was always so fun navigating such a bizarre landscape

[@blackmailed1072]

Arena Ferox, KoF Stadium and Yggdrasil's Altar are some of my all time favorite stages. Yggdrasil's is a bit more of a conventional Smash stage (especially with the DLC) but the first few seconds with a walk-off can lead to hilariously funny kills and the overall platform placements in the stage feel fun to fight on.

[@Angel-bz5jm]

VERY unpopular opinion alert. My favourite stage is Palutina's temple To me it just feels so cool and cinematic to have a fight that travels through all these unique areas I remember one of my fondest smash memories was getting bored late at night an doing a 99 stock duel against a LvL 9 pit cpu as dark pit on PT as "Destroyed Skyworld" played. It felt like the climax of an action move. 2 immortal angels locked in combat through the halls an gardens of an abandoned castle in the sky as a choir chants of the destruction of all we hold dear. Awsome stage imo

[@Meese12]

Yet another indisputably perfect MockRock video with no controversial opinions. Keep it up!

[@house382]

"Lets you try out Kirby's stone." I feel called out.

[@beaksters]

Pokefloats wasn’t brought back in ultimate because of issues with state transformation when someone selects 2 stages.

[@fgoodloe]

Temple should be made tournament legal. Those evil TOs just want to make the game more “fair”

[@jojo-ln7zd]

I will always have Shadow Moses on my top stages. When I was a Wii lad playing brawl and all this crazy sh!t was happening in the background with a giant robot, and I could destroy the walls, and the music was so intense. That leaves a good impression.

[@Audentior_Ito]

Might not be my absolute favorite (that might be Peach's Castle or Foreside from Melee), but I really do love Delphino Plaza. Part of that is pure, raw nostalgia but I love its fidelity to Sunshine & the various platform layouts are all fun - plus it was one of the best places to go for a swim in Brawl!

[@BylethsBoba776]

The cathedral in Garegg Mach Monastery is the most beautiful set piece in any smash stage

[@StarmisYTP]

If there's a worst list, I'm pretty sure Palutena's Temple, 75M, Great Cave and some of the ones that are cut from Ultimate will make most of the list.

[@wanost1408]

Pacland is my personal least favorite of all time, how it got into Ultimate is beyond me.

[@SonicTheCutehog]

I'm guessing 75m, Rumble Falls, Icicle Mountain, The Great Cave Offensive, Palutena's Temple, Pac-Land, New Pork City, Mario Bros., Mushroomy Kingdom, and Hanenbow.

[@bigtoblerone8446]

I love great cave offensive ;~;

[@Blu_Moon_VA]

My favorite stage is P3 Mementos. Mostly for the aesthetic, but I also love chaos from the moving walls and the trains.

[@perturbo4253]

That poor ROB at the windwaker stage lmao These were all bots, right?

[@MockRockTalk]

There were a few clips where I'm playing to help direct action to certain spots on the stage, mostly bots though

[@paulnewton2284]

My best guess for why Poké Floats didn't come back for Ultimate is because it might have been a bit awkward to make work with Stage Morph.

[@MockRockTalk]

I've heard that brought up before, but I think there are other similarly complex stages in Ultimate that have worked out just fine so I'm not really sure I buy it

[@FloridusMan]

One of my favorite stages has to be New Pork City, it's open space, unique background and the Ultimate Chimera. I remember playing on the stage a lot when I was younger and at some point I ended up finding out about UCH and watching Chuggaaconroy's let's play of Mother 3 where I remember seeing the Chimera lab and the water area that leads to the mushroom trip

[@zachmowat8994]

King of Fighters stage for sure. I use it in conjunction with stamina battle format to recreate a basic 2D fighter. It's really fun and the lack of ringouts means there's no cheesy grab combos, just a good old fashioned pit fight. My other favorite is Gareg Mach. Fire Emblem Three Houses is one of my favorite games of all time and being able to fight in different areas of the monastery that I am very familiar with just feels great.

[@Evan-mt7bc]

I think Miiverse should have definitely made an honorable mention. That stage was absolute magic when the servers were still supporting it and it's genuinely the only time I've ever had to physically pause a game multiple times just for a laugh break with friends. Just being in a match and seeing softcore porn, incredible fanart or something like "I miss my dad" pop up in the middle of your game was literally euphoric

[@josemembreno3134]

i'm glad to see several levels here i personally love that i didn't expect to see. especially yoshi's island melee! the two big ones i love that weren't here are 3D Land and Paper Mario. i love 3D Land cause i just love the aesthetic, and how the music syncs with the level, and Paper Mario for similar reasons. plus, thousand-year door reference! wow! i also just have a lot of nostalgia for smash 4, so that's probably also a big part of it. i've got pleeenty of honorable mentions - it's so hard to choose just a few with a series as great as this! i'll mention Golden Plains, Skyworld, and Mario Bros., though. yep. i'm a weirdo.

[@AlexisEtoile]

Some Stages I love : My favorite is easily WarioWare Inc, as I'm a huge fan of this series I love the concept of the mini-games in Smash, and the risk-reward you have here, winning a mini-game grant you huge buffs but in the game where you have to do nothing, it's a huge risk if an opponent doesn't play by the rules of this stage. Kazuya's stage, I play it on casual with friends, in the beginning everyone is stuck in the mansion, then when you broke up the walls, everyone can fall. PictoChat, a lot of stuffs happen on this stage, things get drawn and the stage changes. So much things happens, like flames, shoes who bury fighters, a guy who's blowing wind... Also not that important but you can play Megalovania on it, and it fits really well in my opinion. Ice Climber's Mountain, what a dangerous one. A fish can eat you if you wall in the water, you slips a lot, and you can float while the mountain's in the air... I love chaotic stages, yeah xD

[@RacingSnails64]

Gonna be a close call between 75m and Pacland.....

[@newt8655]

The Tekken stage that came with kazuya is a personal fave newcomer. Simple, kinda small, but fun.

[@raymondkim6243]

We all know the best stage: Final destination :)

[@lydia9822]

I'm a sucker for transforming stages in casual, so Delfino and Wuhu Island are some of my personal favorites. Wuhu feels like such a natural progression from Delfino's friendlier layouts, thanks to a few particularly dangerous transformations, especially the boat.

[@aronspiker72]

My favorite Smash 3ds stage is definitely 3ds Rainbow Road! Seriously, why didn't that come back for ultimate yet there were 2 Mario Circuits. People say they would have to remake the stage from scratch to bring it into HD and THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED THEM TO DO, it would've look gorgeous in Ultimate and considering that the MK8D dlc is ripping textures from the mobile game more or less, we likely won't be getting a true HD 3ds rainbow road for close to a decade. Man that stage has been done so dirty in both Mario Kart and Smash Bros. ;_;

[@dakdastardly7692]

I'm honestly surprised Yoshi's Island Melee isn't liked more. It's been my favorite stage to play with items in Smash 4 and Ultimate by far. Iunno what it is, but it gives me Brawl with item vibes that no other stage in the later games gives me.

[@ivrydice0954]

Hold down and you don't die. People don't want their matches to take too long though.

[@-8h-]

Pokefloats is what I like to imagine happens when you store pokemon in your pc.

[@rossfreeman808]

Big Blue has gotta be my favourite casual stage of all time, and honestly, the music is a big part of it

[@julian_4838]

Glad to see big blue. Gotta be one of my absolute favorites. Solid list.

[@erikrevier4053]

As a fellow boomer I have to give props to Hyrule Castle, Saffron City, and Fountain of Dreams. Hyrule being nice and big in Smash 64 giving you the tree different sections to fight with the tornados helping to deter camping as well as being a super fun combo tool is just everything i want in a smash stage. Saffron is iconic, the pokemon appearing, the moving platforms, the death caverns between the buildings, super fun stage that I love to play casually on. Fountain of Dreams, beautiful stage, great mix of competitive vibes with the moving platforms leads to an endless combo and string potential as changing heights can be both very subtle and also very important given the right circumstance. Honorable mention to Lylat, I LOVE Lylat and it should always be legal. Good players adapt, stop playing on PS2 ever single game, i'm so sick of PS2 i would actually support a straight up ban on it moving forward.

[@DeadweightLKS]

Half of these being Melee stages that return in Brawl means that yeah, I think nostalgia probably played a part in this and... I can't blame you, I agree with most of these picks.

[@karma6761]

Absolutely agree on Yoshi’s Island (Melee) if only because one time when I was playing Brawl a Metagross spawned in the center blocks and then proceeded to stomp itself into the abyss.

[@joey5745]

Here’s my top 10 plus a few extra, I love stages that always change on each visit! Tortimore island Mario Maker Corneria Gamer Dreamland Ferrox Arena Onett Living room King of Fighters Icicle Mountain Poke Floats Mushroom Kingdom Melee Brinstar Depths Boxing Ring

[@EmmEDroid]

my fav would def have to be halberd from brawl. I started back in brawl and it was my introduction to my now fav series (kirby). The stage looked awesome and beautiful (especially in ultimate) and always a blast for me to play flying around the halberd and landing on it with chaos from the canon and arm. Whenever it appears online i always watch the halberd fly around in the background cause its so pretty to me

[@Monafide3305]

Impossible to narrow down, but here's my rough top 10 (All of them being the Ultimate incarnations): 1. Northern Cave (Ult) - Best visuals of any stage, amazing music, basic but fun layout. It's Orbital Gate done right. 2. Midgar (Wii U) - Not a diehard FF7 fan, but again it looks beautiful with the iconic music, and the gimmick is extremely cool. 3. Fourside (M, Omega or Battlefield versions) - The prettiest stage in the game. I hate the default layout, but I play BF/FD versions a ton anyway. 4. Mementos (Ult) - Really nice visuals if not that faithful to P5, best OST in the game, and pretty fun layout. 5. Temple (M) - Probably the best casual stage. Looks great, perfect size for free for all matches, etc. 6. Minecraft World (Ult) - Really unique and more faithful than any other stage (Well, top 5). Fanservice for Minecraft fans goes a long way with background, layouts, etc. 7. Fountain of Dreams (M) - Gorgeous visuals, and the music selection is decent. The layout is also pretty good, but the framerate in Ultimate really blows sometimes. 8. WarioWare Inc. (B) - The best gimmick of any stage and a solid layout to begin with. Blast zone is a shame, but perfect for super casual matches. 9. Kongo Falls (M) - Looks amazing in Ultimate and has a super fun and iconic layout. 10. Princess Peach's Castle (M) - Massive upgrade from Melee graphically and the layout was great to begin with. A little more color wouldn't hurt, though. I value layouts that are fairly simple, impressive visuals, references to the games they originate from, and a good amount of music that fits my taste to pick from. Definitely not the criteria most would probably put that much weight in (especially from a competitive POV) but that's just my take.

[@Garomasta]

Very agreeable list. Peach's Castle and Smashville are the only ones I'm personally not that big on. Looking at the different games, I found that Smash 4 actually had many of my favourite stages for casual free-for-alls: Rainbow Road, Gerudo Valley, Magicant, Tortimer Island, Boxing Ring, Pyrosphere, Gamer, Garden of Hope and Wuhu Island are all pretty great.

[@bad-4443]

Jungle Hijinx! The best casual stage.

[@lemonboy5498]

I’ve always thought Mementos is really underrated. Obviously it’s gorgeous to look at (especially with the 3 different colour variants), but I think it plays really well too. The default layout is simple, but definitely has its own feel with the small incline and the missing right platform that sometimes shows up as a piece of solid terrain. I think the moving walls are really neat, and do a lot to guide the flow of battle in different directions. Even the train is fun, since it’s pretty unobtrusive as a stage hazard, and it always makes for a fun moment when someone gets saved at the last second by having the train bash into them.

[@ScLuigi]

"obviously it's gorgeous to look at" it causes me eyestrain

[@spiceitnow5317]

I’m sure people have said this already, but King of Fighters stadium is one of the best newcomer stages in ultimate and in the series. The wall mechanic is so fun to play around with, and the stage is big enough that fights don’t feel too forced. It also encourages a lot more strategies when it comes to what characters you want to go when playing on it, and how to utilize their move sets along with items if you’re playing with them. I’m a more competitive player, so when me and my friends play we usually only play on legal stages, but this is the one exception.

[@SSM24_]

Yeah it has the benefits of a walkoff (not having to worry about recovery which is very nice for casual play) without the downside of being able to just camp the sides anywhere near as much.

[@kirbyofthestarsfan]

It's seriously ironic the majority of best casual stages come from the game infamous for its competitive focus on the community, Melee This list made me really happy

[@sansire746]

great list, still surprised the kof stadium didn't make the list

[@Volcanic_Rave]

Some stages I'd personally mention, aside from the aformentioned Pirate Ship/Big Blue/Smashville/Temple/Pokefloats KoF Stadium - The gimmick here is really fun, whenever I play casual matches with friends we gravitate to this stage a lot. Also doesn't hurt that I happen to think SNK Fighting games are sick Yoshi's Story, Yoshi's Island Brawl, Prism Tower, Arena Ferox - These were always the most enjoyable of the comp stages for me, find them a bit more interesting than the standard hazards off Ultimate stage. I get why the last two aren't legal but they do strike a really good balance of fun and comp play Port Town/Skyloft/Rainbow Road - The travelling stages are usually some of the better ones for casual matches, not sure which is my favorite though. They're pretty much all great though (aside from Garreg Mach that one's easily the most boring new Ultimate stage)