Preston Ward Condra Ranks All 35 Super Smash Bros 64 & Melee Stages

by Preston Ward Condra

A project I initially made back in June 2009. I critiqued, discussed and ranked all of the Super Smash Bros 64 and Melee stages from worst to best. I wrote this down, when I was 15 years old. As with all of my other stories, I wrote over 10 years ago? I won't be fixing any of the spelling mistakes, that may or may not be present here. Enjoy reading this now ladies and gentlemen.

22. 15 - Planet Zebes (N64)

It's sad how there never was a Metroid game on the N64. By looks of the Metroid world display in this stage, there would be lots of way to create a cool and nice Metroid game for the system.

Anyways, the next stage to appear on the countdown and the next N64 stage to appear on the countdown is, Planet Zebes. I found Planet Zebes to be the best Metroid stage in the Smash Bros series due to the unique acid flow in the stage, the music and animation was great and the stage being fairly large and you given plenty of room to battle your opponents. Aside from one nitpicking problem I had with the stage, I found Planet Zebes to be a very fun stage and should appeal to any fan of the series and have a fun time playing with friends on Planet Zebes.

Let's start with what's great about Planet Zebes. At the time with Planet Zebes, the stage was very unique. I enjoyed how the acid would infect gameplay as the acid at random times would grow stronger or become weaker while battling your opponents on the stage. I enjoyed this concept well for the stage and albeit somewhat cheap, it was fun to screw with your opponents in the acid and have fun in it and try to kill them in it.

I also enjoyed how the acid would rise at the top of the stage at random times with players mad dashing to the highest platform of the stage and hoping that one of his/her opponents didn't knock them into the lava causing a fair amount of damage to them. I enjoyed the style and personality in this stage, as well. It didn't bring the best personality for a stage but, this problem can be overlooked due to the amazing remix song that plays on the stage and how the dark nature background and lava fit the Metroid series well.

The only problem I had with this stage, is a nitpicking problem. I found myself to be somewhat disappointed of how the acid would not rise up in the stage very often. The acid would really only rise in the stage every minute or so in a match, while a battle is taken place. This was the best part of the gameplay for me on playing Planet Zebes and I wished the rising acid would play more of a factor on the stage but nitpicking aside like I said, I found Planet Zebes to a very fun stage.

Fans of the N64 Smash Bros, consider Planet Zebes as the worst stage of the 9 Stages in the game. I really don't understand why because it was one of the unique stages of the 9 Stages in the game. I still believe it's Peach's Castle that is the worst but anyways overall, I found Planet Zebes to a very fun stage to enjoy playing your opponents and friends on and easily the best Metroid stage in the series. While not saying much, is saying a lot of how Nintendo and HAL need to try to make a good solid stage for the series, like this. Once again, Planet Zebes is a very fun stage and should appeal to any Smash Bros fan and have a fun time playing on it.