is the culmination of everything Smash Bros. up to this point in the series’ life. As such, it makes sense that the title features every single stage that has been featured in a Smash Bros. game. Well, almost every stage. There are actually seventeen total stages that for one reason or another didn’t make the cut for Ultimate. Today, we’ll be taking a loo▨k at these stages and ranking them. However, stages that have upgraded versions or very similar stages that aren’t featured, such as Planet Zebes, Mushroom Kingdom (Melee) and Pictochat (Brawl) will not be featured on the list, bringing our list down to ten. Let’s jump into it.
10 ꦬ 🍸 Icicle Mountain (Melee)
Ah, the dreaded vertical stage. These types of stages appeared in both Melee and Brawl before never returning again. Essentially, Icicle Mountain forces players to focus on platforming more than fighting, which kind of takes away the entire purpose of the stage appearing in a fighting game. The stage moves at various speeds and has all sorts of impassible blocks that make this stage more of a hassle than anything to play. Vertical stages really aren’t that fun, which is why it makes sense that🍎 Icicle Mountain didn’t return for Ultimate.
9 ♛ Rumble Falls (Brawl)
Oh, it’s you. The second and final vertical scrolling stage, we have Rumble Falls from Brawl. There isn’t much to be said about t𓃲his Donkey Kong stage that wasn’t said about Icicle Mountain, as the two follow the same structure.
Once again, the focus isn’t on fighting but on platforming, which makes slower char🌜acters with lesser jumps much more vulnerable on this stage. This stage had to be a weird one, it was coming from Donkey Kong Jungle Beat after all.
8 ༒ Mute City (Melܫee)
Melee’s Mute City stage likely didn’t make the cut for Ultimate due to its similarity to its 3DS counterpart. The 3DS version of the stage is based on F-Zero’s SNES days, while the Melee versio🉐n is based on F-Zero X from the Nintendo 64. Both stages have the fighters flying around Mute City, so they likely would have been too similar to both be included, which is why only the 3DS version made it into Ultimate.
7 ܫ 🍷 Pyrosphere (Wii U)
Ahh, Pyrosphere. A great stage to look back on aไnd reminisce about when our boy Ridley was just far too large to ever be a Smash contender. Yeah, Pyrosphere certainly isn’t ever coming back, as it features Ridley as a stage boss. Pyrosphere was fun to play on though, as whoever managed to get the last hit on Ridley would see him joining in on the fight on your side. It’s a shame that we won’t be seeing Pyrosphere again anytime soon.
6 Woolly World (Wii U) ꦉ
The Wii U’s Woolly World stage is based on the system’s sole Yoshi title, Yoshi’s Woolly World. The stage takes inspiration from many of the title’s different levels and has the adorable wool aesthetic that you would ex♋pect from the stage in spades.
Why this stage didn’t make it into Ultimate is a bit less clear than s💛ome of the others. Maybe Yoshi was just far too crafty to be woolly anymore? Just a teen going through his phases I suppose.
5
Rainbow Road was a stage featured in Smash 3DS that, contrary to what one might believe, took players around Mario Kart 7’s Rainbow Road track. You’d never expect that from the title of the stage, huh? This stage wasn’🐷t exactly anything new for the series, sure, but it was a fun romp around an often underappreciated version of Rainbow Road. Why this stage never made a comeback is certainly a mystery, but it sure is a shame.
4 ꦐ Miiverse (Wii U)
Miiverse will never be coming back for obvious reasons, but it certainly was a pretty coo💜l stage while we still had it🐷.
Miiverse was a Battlefield clone that actually displayed messages from Miiverse in support of whatever fighters were fighting on the stage currently. However, with Miiverse shutting down, th꧃e stage is just sad and empty, featuring no messages at all. Well, that’s certainly a buzzkill, isn’t it?
3 Pac-Maze (3DS) ꧙ 🔯
Pac-Maze was the one good Pac-Maꦐn stage that we have and now they’ve left us with nothing but Pac-Land. Thanks, Nintendo. Pac-Maze was a 3DS stage that was heavily inspired by the original Pac-Man arcade games. Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde all appear on the stage, and the fighters 💃can be damaged by them (or eat them if they manage to pick up a Power Pellet) as they duke it out with the other fighters. Why this stage was removed is somewhat of a mystery, but thank God we have Pac-Land to fill that void. Soooo thankful.
2 ♍ Jungle Hijinx (Wii U)
Jungle Hijinx was certainly one of the most unique Smash stages we’ve ever had. Originally from the Wii U Smash title, this stage was based🗹 on Donkey Kong Country Returns and actually had fighters shooting in and out of the foreground and background of the stage. This was a fun stage gimmick and was something that we hadn’t seen from the series before. Why this stage didn’t reappear in Ultimate is a mystery. They could have even followed it up with a Tropical Freeze styled version of the stage. Heck, it could have even featured a New Funky Mode!
1 Poke Floats (Melee) 🎃
Bring. Back. Poké Floats. The most iconic stage in Smash Bros. history, Poké Floats featured an array of d꧋ifferent huge Pokémon floats in the sky you could battle on. Due to the unusual shapes of the Pokémon featured as floats, the stage was unlike any other we had ever seen. This iconic stage w꧑as beloved by fans, but unfortunately, we haven’t seen in return since its Melee days. Hopefully one day we can battle atop Wooper’s head once more.