Brinstar
| Metroid Planet Zebes: Brinstar | |||||||||||
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     .svg) Brinstar as it appears in theSmash series. | |||||||||||
| Universe | Metroid | ||||||||||
| Appears in | Melee Brawl SSB4 (3DS) Ultimate | ||||||||||
| Availability | Starter | ||||||||||
| Crate type | Futuristic | ||||||||||
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| Article on Metroid Wiki | Brinstar | ||||||||||
| “ | This stage is an underground cavern on Planet Zebes, where the Metroid Series takes place. Although the rising and falling acid at the bottom of the stage can deal severe damage, touching it when you're falling off the stage can actually help you recover! | ” |
| —Super Smash Blog,Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site | ||
Brinstar (ブリンスタ,Brinstar) is the defaultMetroid stage that appears inSuper Smash Bros. Melee,Super Smash Bros. Brawl,Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, andSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. It is a redesigned version ofPlanet Zebes from the originalSuper Smash Bros. InUltimate,Zero Suit Samus is fought here for her unlock battle.
Stage overview[edit]
The battle takes place in an underground cavern.The stage has a similar appearance toBattlefield, consisting of a main, rocky platform, twosoft platforms on the side and a hovering metallic soft platform in the center. The main platform can be passed through from below, and it actually consists of two parts held together by a fleshy blob on the right side: said blob can be weakened by attacks, and when destroyed the main platform gets separated. The same can happen to the fleshy poles which keep the main platform and the side ones together: when they are destroyed, the platforms that were being supported tilt at a very sharp angle.
The destroyable parts will start to regenerate if they are not continuously attacked, fully growing back after a while. While regenerating, the substance that holds the stage together is fall-through.
Occasionally, an earthquake occurs and, just likePlanet Zebes, acid starts to rise, sometimes covering parts of the stage. The acid deals damage and moderate knockback, but will not KO until very high percents, especially inUltimate. While it is rising it will generally prevent characters from beingKO'd on the bottomblast line. It will rise and pause at various intervals, rarely reaching its highest point where it will cover everything except the topmost platform (and the tops of the side platforms if their supports are broken). After a while, the acid subsides.
In the back of the main platforms there are some ruins and a lone Chozo statue, which occasionally gets up and walks around with no gameplay effect. The background is occupied by a large pool of acid with an unidentified life form hanging above it. When the acid rises the brain-like creature may occasionally shake and even grow boils due to possible irritation from the acid.
Brinstar is considered the bestJigglypuff andGanondorf stage inMelee (due toRest combos with Jigglypuff and forward aerial combos with Ganon off the acid) and one of the betterMr. Game & Watch andWario stages inBrawl (due to air camping beneath the platform).
If hazards are turned off inUltimate, the flesh is not destructible, and the acid never rises, so players can always be KO'd at the bottom blast line no matter when.
Ω form and Battlefield form[edit]
InSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, theΩ form consists of a completely flat and larger version of the regular form's middle platform. The acid never rises.
InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, theΩ form andBattlefield form are set on a slightly redesigned version ofSSB4's Ω form, but is resized and reshaped to matchFinal Destination andBattlefield, respectively. The threesoft platform's designs are the same as the walkway of the main platform.
Ω form inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
Ω form inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Battlefield form inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Origin[edit]
Although the stage is named after theBrinstar setting fromMetroid andSuper Metroid, the stage draws inspiration from thePlanet Zebes stage inSuper Smash Bros., which is largely original to the series. Direct references to Brinstar include the yellow acid (featured in some rooms in Brinstar), the blocks with angry faces in the background (which originally appeared in Brinstar inMetroid, in the room where theMorph Ball is found), and the pillars at the sides of the stage (which behave similarly to the Zebetite pillars inMother Brain's room in both games).
The acid rising up and down in this stage is similar to the acid in some rooms inMetroid II: Return of Samus that would lower uponSamus killing enoughMetroids, and the acid in Mother Brain's room inSuper Metroid that rose after earthquakes. A large part ofMetroid's gameplay is exploration, which often involves destroying blocks withMorph Ball bombs to reveal secret passages: in particular, some blocks have a fleshy appearance similar to the one of the middle section of the stage. The bubble-like blobs that can be destroyed and are found on the soft platforms resemble the bubbles that adorn the platforms in the Planet Zebes stage, which are a direct reference to the bubbles inSuper Metroid'sNorfair.
InSuper Metroid,Chozo Statues act as pedestals, carrying items in their hands. Some of them are able to walk, carrying Samus with them and enabling her to reach hidden areas, while others, calledTorizos, are hostile and act as mini-bosses. In this stage, a Torizo is seen in the background and will occasionally walk around.
A room in Brinstar fromMetroid featuring yellow acid.
Samus confronts a Torizo inSuper Metroid.
Tournament legality[edit]
Brinstar used to be a counterpick stage, in bothMelee andBrawl, due to the much more lax attitudes towards stage hazards and unorthodox stage designs. However, as time went on, characters such asMeleeJigglypuff andBrawlMeta Knight proved to be extremely powerful on this stage, as when the acid engulfs the main body of the stage, they can maintain extremely powerful control over the platforms with little to no risk of falling into the acid themselves. Additionally, inMelee, theceiling glitch can cause players to be unfairly K.Oed at extremely low percents by the acid, and the much less forgiving ledge mechanics further benefited floaty characters due to the lack of walls for most recoveries to ride. Meanwhile, inBrawl, the stage would ultimately be banned due to the rapidly growing dominance ofMeta Knight, and growing desires for a more conservative stagelist among regions in which the character was extremely common.
With the addition of the stage hazard toggle inUltimate, Brinstar was initially considered for a counterpick due to the acid no longer being a factor, but its very small blast zones relative to the body of the stage cause greater volatility due to noticeably lower average K.O percents over the course of a match, and its heavily sloped surfaces can disproportionately favor short, small characters who are already difficult to attack. As a consequence, it is rarely, if ever, used in competitive play.
After a significant period of not seeing competitive play, Brinstar was made legal forMelee doubles tournament play atThe Off-Season 2, as a charity incentive.
Gallery[edit]
Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
A battle on Brinstar inSuper Smash Bros. Melee.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
Brinstar half-submerged in acid inUltimate.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese | ブリンスタ | Brinstar |
 English | Brinstar | — |
 French | Brinstar | — |
 German | Brinstar | — |
 Spanish | Brinstar | — |
 Italian | Brinstar | — |
 Chinese (Simplified) | 布林斯塔 | Brinstar |
 Chinese (Traditional) | Brinstar | — |
 Korean | 브린스타 | Brinstar |
 Dutch | Brinstar | — |
 Russian | Бринстар | Brinstar |
 Portuguese | Brinstar | — |
Trivia[edit]
- InMelee'sdebug menu, this stage is referred with the term "ZEBES". This presumably refers to the stage's similarity with Planet Zebes fromSmash 64; the stage is also referred inBrawl andUltimate within game files with the codename "metroid_zebesdx", with the term "dx" coming fromMelee's Japanese name (大乱闘 スマッシュ ブラザーズ ＤＸ).
- There are several references toMother Brain in this stage:
- The fleshy stalks that connect the platforms could reference the Zebetite barriers that Samus had to break before reaching the final boss inMetroid andSuper Metroid.
- The gigantic alien organism in the far background somewhat resembles Mother Brain herself. While the organism lacks several of Mother Brain's characteristics, such as her recognizable single eye, a hacked camera reveals in profile that it is actually a giant brain complete with a spinal cord (which appears to be a "tentacle" otherwise).
- Hacked cameras also reveal that the stage is actually an extremely large tunnel which strongly resembles the one from Mother Brain's appearance inMetroid. The far back of the tunnel makes a very sharp left, presumably to form a "back" of the tunnel for the sake of the game's appearance.
- It is possible to perform theearthquake glitch here.
- InBrawl, duringTraining Mode the rise and fall of the acid and the regeneration of the organic parts are not affected by the player's choice of speed.
- This is the onlyMelee stage inSSB4 to not have a new remix.
- IfMaster Hand orCrazy Hand dies inStamina mode, they will endlessly bounce off of the acid.
- In theSSB4 version of this stage, the Chozo statue doesn't move at all, and bumps do not grow out of the brain-like creature in the background.
- InMelee, when a fighter makes contact with the acid, a unique splash effect erupts from the acid with a distinct sizzling sound. This effect is absent in all future versions of the stage.
- InUltimate, theMoon andNikki cannot be summoned on this stage. Additionally,Giratina andXerneas cannot be summoned fromPoké Balls.
- Assist Trophies that can only appear on the Battlefield and Omega forms of this stage areJeff,Ashley,Kapp'n,Riki,Color TV-Game 15,Devil,Dr. Wright,Yuri Kozukata,Squid Sisters andGhosts.
- Poké Ball summons that can only appear on the Battlefield and Omega forms of this stage areMoltres,Togepi,Lugia,Kyogre,Palkia,Arceus,Kyurem andMarshadow.
- InUltimate, the brain-like creature in the background does not shake along with the bumps like it did inMelee andBrawl. The bumps merely clip through the brain while it stays still.
- Brinstar was used for an edition of "Find the Enderman," a game Masahiro Sakurai created where he would hide the Enderman somewhere on screen for the development team to find.[1]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
| Stages inSuper Smash Bros. Melee | |
|---|---|
| Starter stages | Brinstar ·Corneria ·Fountain of Dreams ·Great Bay ·Green Greens ·Icicle Mountain ·Jungle Japes ·Kongo Jungle ·Mushroom Kingdom ·Mute City ·Onett ·Pokémon Stadium ·Princess Peach's Castle ·Rainbow Cruise ·Temple ·Venom ·Yoshi's Island ·Yoshi's Story |
| Unlockable stages | Battlefield ·Big Blue ·Brinstar Depths ·Final Destination ·Flat Zone ·Fourside ·Mushroom Kingdom II ·Poké Floats |
 UnlockablePast Stages | Dream Land ·Kongo Jungle ·Yoshi's Island |
 Metroid universe | |
|---|---|
| Fighters | Samus (SSB ·SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Zero Suit Samus (SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Ridley (SSBU) ·Dark Samus (SSBU) |
| Assist Trophies | Metroid ·Dark Samus ·Mother Brain |
| Bosses | Ridley ·Meta Ridley |
| Stages | Planet Zebes ·Brinstar ·Brinstar Depths ·Frigate Orpheon ·Norfair ·Pyrosphere Brinstar Escape Shaft (Adventure Mode) |
| Item | Screw Attack ·Power Suit Piece |
| Enemies | Geemer ·Kihunter ·Metroid ·Reo ·FG II-Graham ·Joulion ·Zero |
| Other | Gunship ·Kraid |
| Trophies,Stickers andSpirits | Trophies (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4) ·Stickers ·Spirits |
| Music | Brawl ·SSB4 ·Ultimate |
| Masterpieces | Metroid ·Super Metroid |
