The Great Cave Offensive
| Kirby Super Star The Great Cave Offensive | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
   The Great Cave Offensive as it appears inSmash. | |||||||
| Universe | Kirby | ||||||
| Appears in | SSB4 (Wii U) Ultimate | ||||||
| Availability | Starter | ||||||
| Crate type | Presents | ||||||
| Maximum players | 8 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Article on WiKirby | The Great Cave Offensive | ||||||
The Great Cave Offensive (洞窟大作戦,Great Cave Offensive) is a stage that appears inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U andSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. It was revealed, apparently unintentionally, on the officialSmash Bros. Facebook page on October 5th, 2014, and then officially confirmed and named during the October 2014 Nintendo Direct.
Stage overview[edit]
This stage is extremely large and complex, being the largest stage in theSmash series; onlyPalutena's Temple,Big Battlefield, andTraining compare in size, with the first three having been designed specifically for8-Player Smash, and the latter being exclusive toTraining Mode.
All theblast zones are accessible, albeit only in specific spots, and the side ones can be walked off. However, they are not the only way to KO an opponent due to the existence ofDanger Zones, pools of lava spread throughout the stage whichinstantly KO on touch any fighter with over 100% damage, dealing 25% damage with heavy knockback otherwise. However, inSSB4, it is possible for a character being launched toward a Danger Zone totech on it without receiving damage or being KO'd.
Thespikes which appear under the right side of the largest top platform and in the bottom right of the stage deal 10% damage and decent knockback on contact.
Minecarts sometimes appear on the top of the brick platform on the middle right and on the lone floating soft platform on the middle left. When entered by a character - or on their own after about 15 seconds from their appearance - they start going forward, dealing 10% damage to any character they hit. The right one can carry characters beyond the left blast line if not dismounted, while the left one crashes in the bottom right corner of the stage (just below the spikes). No damage is dealt upon impact, although the resulting inertia will likely throw any passengers into the spikes anyway.
The two cannons constantly rotate, not smoothly but jumping between the eight cardinal and intercardinal directions. They work likeBarrel Cannons: once entered they hold the character, and once a button is pressed they shoot them in the direction they are pointing. Characters cannot stay in the cannons indefinitely. Care must be taken not to hit a Danger Zone or a blast line.
If theitem switch is on, treasure chests randomly appear throughout the map. If hit by an attack they release anitem, though they will occasionally explode.
Ω forms and Battlefield form[edit]
InSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U, theΩ form is a single platform different from all the ones in the normal version, mixing the forest area on the top and the crystal area on the bottom right. It is notably the only Ω form to prominently use two different types ofterrain, with the grassy side having greatertraction than the crystal side. The walk-offs, chests, danger zones, cannons, minecarts, and spikes are removed.
InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, the main platform of the Ω form andBattlefield form is similar toSSB4's Ω form; however, it is resized and reshaped to matchFinal Destination andBattlefield, respectively. The threesoft platforms of the Battlefield form resemble the soft platforms in the upper portion of the normal form.
Ω form inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Ω form inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Battlefield form inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Hazards Off[edit]
With hazards off inUltimate, treasure chests and minecarts do not appear. Cannons, spikes, and Danger Zones remain on the map, and the latter still behaves as aninstant KO.
Origin[edit]
This stage originates from the sub-gameThe Great Cave Offensive fromKirby Super Star. In the game,Kirby falls down a hole whilst taking a walk, and he must venture through an expansive cave full of various dangers to escape, while finding as much treasure as he can along the way.
The cave is split in four different areas: Sub-Tree (in this stage, the upper portion), Crystal (right), Old Tower (lower middle and seen in the background), and Garden (bottom left). Every area holds several treasure chests, some in plain sight and others hidden within puzzles: they all contain various rewards, and, while all of them are optional, 100% completion requires finding and opening all 60 of them. The four areas are connected to each other by short mine cart sections.
Cannons like the ones in this stage appear in the Garden and Old Tower area, forming a maze which Kirby must traverse to proceed. Some of them fire automatically in a fixed direction while others rotate and fire upon a button press.
Some parts of the Old Tower area feature patches of lava on the floor and ceiling which act as hazards, dealing damage on touch and being able to KO Kirby if his hit points are completely depleted.
Tournament legality[edit]
This stage is banned in tournaments due to a multitude of reasons including its large size which can encouragecamping and create disruptive hazards and walk-off blast lines, and being a giantcave of life due to the Danger Zones being techable, though this is only possible inSSB4.
Update history[edit]
1.0.2
Added 8-Player mode to Ω form. To accommodate the change, Ω form has been made larger.
Gallery[edit]
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U[edit]
The Great Cave Offensive inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Kirby andPikachu riding on a mine cart. This picture from Facebook wasthe first hint at this stage's existence.
Kirby next to a chest on the top right, with a second chest appearing on the bottom left.
Meta Knight getting hit by thespikes in the bottom-right part of the stage.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
Samus on The Great Cave Offensive.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese | 洞窟大作戦 | Great Cave Offensive |
 English | The Great Cave Offensive | — |
 French | La Caverne du Péril | The Cave of Peril |
 German | Das Höhlen-Abenteuer | The Cave Adventure |
 Spanish | El gran ataque de las cavernas | The Great Cavern Attack |
 Italian | La Grande Offensiva Speleologica | The Great Speleological Offensive |
 Chinese (Simplified) | 洞窟大作战 | Great Cave Battle |
 Chinese (Traditional) | 洞窟大作戰 | Great Cave Battle |
 Korean | 동굴대작전 | Great Cave Battle |
 Dutch | Het Grote Grotavontuur | The Great Cave Adventure |
 Russian | Пещерный переполох | Spelean Stir |
 Portuguese | A Grande Caverna dos Tesouros | The Great Treasure Cavern |
Trivia[edit]
- For unknown reasons, inUltimate, the burning sound effect does not play when a character hits a Danger Zone. This can be fixed by resettingTraining Mode.
- This means that the sound effect for the Danger Zones will never play in a regular match.
- Uniquely, inUltimate the knockback dealt by Danger Zones is affected by the1v1 multiplier, and by the Fixed Damage toggle in Training Mode, using the modified final percent values in both cases, rather than defaulting to the final percent if base damage was dealt. This means Danger Zones overall deal slightly more knockback in a 1v1 scenario.
- This is not reflected in the Trajectory Guide, which will calculate launch distances assuming the standard rules apply.
- IfWario uses hisbike at top speed at the top-middle area and jumps off before he collides with the Danger Zone, the bike will go through the platform and become stuck, so he can never use the move again.
- TheKirby Super StarMasterpiece starts inThe Great Cave Offensive sub-game.
- For unknown reasons,Lightning Bolts do not spawn on this stage. TheSuper Mushroom andPoison Mushroom cannot appear either.
- This stage was originally conceived as being based uponKirby's Epic Yarn: it was retooled into its current form to avoid redundancy withWoolly World once the latter's source game was announced.[1]
- Its inclusion is said to be based onKirby Super Star Ultra, the DS remake ofKirby Super Star released afterBrawl.
- Any characters in a cannon will be invulnerable toTimers.
- When playing asPokémon Trainer, the trainer will be standing in one of the four sections of the stage, depending on the player's number.
- InUltimate, the followingAssist Trophies cannot appear on this stage: theMoon,Mother Brain,Nightmare,Andross,Tiki,Ashley,Kapp'n,Devil,Nikki,Arcade Bunny,Squid Sisters andRathalos. Additionally, the followingPoké Ball Pokémon cannot be summoned:Abra,Alolan Exeggutor,Moltres,Lugia,Lunala andMarshadow.
