Melee'sBattlefield showing platforms. Hard platforms are denoted with gray, soft platforms are denoted with blue.

Platforms arestage features that make up thefloor upon which characters may stand and objects may land. The main difference between a platform and a standard floor is that a platform is mostly disconnected from other parts of a stage and usually hover in place like floating islands. There are four distinct types of platforms: hard, semisoft, soft, and supersoft, each of which differs in its tolerance of the vertical movement of characters and objects through it. Platforms sometimes accommodateledges from which characters can hang, and may also incorporate slopes, movement, hazards, and destructible and interactive features. Somebosses are also platforms, and characters can stand upon them. The appearance of platforms ranges from simple or abstract polygonal solids and flat planks, to recognisable objects such as buildings, ships and creatures. Items can land upon platforms, and some, such as theHothead andMotion-Sensor Bomb, interact with them. Most versus stages involve a large, central, hard or semisoft platform with ledges that may be grabbed, and additional, smaller platforms elsewhere.Stage Builder inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl offers a variety of platforms, someunlockable, that can be arranged and customized by players, andSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U allows players to draw platforms of different shapes with the Wii U'sGamePad.Super Smash Bros. Ultimate also gained the ability to create and draw platforms in Stage Builder that was added in version 3.0.0.

Platform types[edit]

Battlefield consists of a hard platform with three soft platforms floating above it.

Hard platforms[edit]

Hard platforms are solid and cannot be passed through in any direction—their sides are walls, their undersides are ceilings and they usually haveledges that can be hung onto. Hard platforms often form the main bodies of versus stages, such asHyrule Castle,Pokémon Stadium, andLuigi's Mansion.

Semisoft platforms[edit]

Semisoft platforms are platforms that characters can travel upwards through, but not downward. They do not have walls or ceilings; characters who approach from below or from the side will go through them. Semisoft platforms are sometimes used in versus stages as main platforms, and may or may not possess ledges.Kongo Falls, which has ledges, andPort Town Aero Dive, which does not, are two examples. Many conventional 2D platform games, such as those of theKirby andMario series, include this kind of platform frequently.Spring Stadium has "reverse" semisoft platforms in the form of arches above the stage; characters can travel through them downwards, but not upwards.

Soft platforms[edit]

Soft platforms, also known as pass-through or fall-through platforms, are thin platforms that characters, projectiles, and items can pass through upwards, and that characters may also pass through downwards. Most soft platforms do not haveledges that characters may hang from, although there are exceptions, such as the upper platforms ofNorfair. While standing on a soft platform, a character may fall down through it bytapping down on thecontrol stick.Shield platform dropping is a technique which can aid in attaining the standing state necessary to drop through soft platforms. Airborne characters may pass through a soft platform from above by holding down on the control stick as they approach it, though inSSB this can only be done when the character ishelpless.

All airborne items and projectiles, including Pikachu'sThunder, will travel upward through soft platforms, but will not travel downward through them. The same is true oftumbling and reeling characters, who will fly upward through soft platforms, but will land in alying position upon a soft platform if they contact it from above. When used under a soft platform, certainspecial moves, such asIke'sAether andBowser's groundedBowser Bomb, may send their performers upward through the platform during the rising portion of the move, and then downward onto the platform during the falling portion. This is also the case with Kirby and Meta Knight'sup throws; both the grabber and the victim will rise through soft platforms, but "crash land" onto them during the falling part of the move.

Characters performingaerial attacks, includingstall-then-fall maneuvers, cannot fall through soft platforms during the attack. Most special moves also follow this rule, with exceptions such asYoshi'sYoshi Bomb (while down is held or within a certain timing window of starting the move) inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate and theup special moves of Fox, Falco, and Wolf when used in the air, which will pass down through soft platforms when directed at a downward angle.

Supersoft platforms[edit]

The super-soft cloud platforms in Skyworld.

Supersoft platforms were introduced inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl and appear on the stageSkyworld, where they take the form of floating clouds. These cloud platforms have the same fall-through properties as soft platforms, but are distinct in that airborne characters who have been hit from above can fly downward through them. This can happen either when an airborne character ismeteor smashed, or a character is hit upward andrebounds down from the ceiling of a higher hard platform. However, characters who are attacked by downward thrusting attacks will not be pushed down through cloud platforms if they are standing on them. Skyworld's cloud platforms do not have ledges, but the stone platforms that usually cover them do.

InSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS andSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate,Magicant's cloud platforms are supersoft, but unlike Skyworld's, they do not allow players to naturally pass down through them and they have grabbable ledges.

Platform features[edit]

There are a variety of extra features that platforms may possess in addition to their basic properties.

• Ledges – Some hard, semisoft and soft platforms have ledges that characters can grab or, inBrawl,SSB4 orUltimate,tether to. Ledges are most frequently found on hard platforms.
• Terrain types – All platforms and floors have a type of terrain assigned to them. Examples include normal, metallic, and grassy.
• Uneven ground – Some platforms are angled, or incorporate sloped or curved terrain, such as that ofGreen Hill Zone.
• Walls – Present only on hard platforms, walls typically constitute the sides of large islands, and are distinct in that characters may performwall jumps and other techniques with them.
• Vertical/lateral movement – Some platforms, such as the small platforms inKongo Jungle (SSB), travel up and down or from left to right along a set path, while others, such as the pulley platforms inMushroom Kingdom, and leaf platforms inDistant Planet will move up and down in response to the weight of the characters standing upon them. Some platforms that move along set paths, such as the Arwings inCorneria, crossblast lines during their routines.
• Tilting and rotation – Certain platforms, such as the magma cavern ofCastle Siege, tilt continuously and result in surfaces with slopes that are constantly changing. Other platforms, like that ofBrinstar Depths and theHelirinAssist Trophy, perform complete rotations, transitioning from platforms into walls and back again as their angles change.
• Special surfaces – Platforms with special surfaces affect players' movement when they interact with them.Slippery platforms, like those found inSummit, prolong characters' ground momentum and cause them to slide along the ground. Rolling surfaces, like those found in the electric phase ofPokémon Stadium 2 and on the slope ofDistant Planet in the rainy weather, cause players to move in one direction along the ground while they stand, walk, run or attack. Bouncy platforms and springs, like those found in a transformation ofPictoChat, are not possible to walk upon because they propel characters high upward upon contact.
• Destructibility – Particular platforms are possible to destroy or alter after they, or adjacent stage structures, take enough damage. They regenerate after a set period of time has passed. For example, the yellow platforms in Skyworld break and disappear after they are struck by enough attacks, the main platform of Brinstar splits in two after the organic material in its centre is destroyed by hits, and the floor platforms of Luigi's Mansion are destroyed as its pillars are broken by damage.Onett's awning platforms are not affected by attacks, but will collapse and disappear after enough characters jump onto them.

Donkey Kong bumping enemies from below aMario Bros. platform.

• Switch activation – Some platforms, such as the coloured ones inPrincess Peach's Castle, do not appear until prompted by the activation of switches.
• Falling away – Certain platforms, such asDrop Blocks and the Donut Lift platforms ofRainbow Cruise, drop downward and eventually disappear when stood on for long enough, and regenerate after a certain amount of time.
• Bump ceilings – TheMario Bros. stage has blue hard platforms that can be bumped. When a knocked or jumping character or item hits the ceiling of one of these blue platforms, that part of the platform raises slightly in response. When positioned on a platform, the stage's native enemies will jump or flip upside down if the platform's ceiling is bumped from below. Characters who are bumped from below will jump.

Platforms and items[edit]

All items can land on platforms, but some interact with them in more elaborate ways.

• Barrels andRolling Crates will roll faster when on sloped platforms. Rolling Crates also serve as platforms, since characters can stand on them.
• A character using aGolden Hammer can walk off a platform and stay level with it while airborne.
• Freezies slide along the surface of platforms on appearance, andRed andGreen Shells slide along platforms when thrown.
• If left idle,Bob-ombs andMr. Saturns will walk along platforms and turn at edges.
• Motion-Sensor Bombs andGooey Bombs adhere to platform surfaces when thrown, including walls and ceilings.
• Hotheads andBombchus slide and cling to surfaces, and will circumnavigate most hard and semisoft platforms if thrown onto them. They can slide along soft platforms, but will fall from their edges because they cannot cling to their undersides.
• When used,Warp Stars will rise through platforms, but will not fall down through them.
• TheHelirinAssist Trophy is a floating hard platform that rotates.
• ThePoké Ball PokémonGogoat serves as a platform.
• In relation to platforms, the behaviour ofSmash Balls varies; sometimes they pass through solid surfaces, other times they bounce from them.
• TheLandmaster andIcebergFinal Smashes create platforms. Landmasters can be stood upon by players—one particular technique involves raising the Landmaster off the top of the screen in order toStar KO characters standing upon it. While the slopes of the Iceberg cannot be stood upon, characters may stand upon its tip in theirteetering animation.
• ThebossesPorky andDuon, as well as the standard enemiesTrowlon,Gamyga, andArmank, serve as platforms.

• Stage parts

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