[Smash] Why stages are banned in Melee

[Flint]

Now to do a segment of this topic on Melee. Right off the bat.


Singles:
Final Destination - Starter
Battlefield - Starter
Dreamland - Starter
Yoshi's Story - Starter
Fountain of Dreams - Starter
Pokemon Stadium - Counterpick

Doubles:
Final Destination - Starter
Battlefield - Starter
Dreamland - Starter
Yoshi's Story - Starter
Fountain of Dreams - Banned
Pokemon Stadium - Starter


Fountain of Dreams is banned in doubles because of lag issues. Counterpick stages are stages that are not allowed for use in game 1 but become available after the first game.

Big Blue

Random terrain; scrolling stage; circle and run away camping; stalling; track that the cars move on carry characters extremely quickly towards walk-off blast lines.



Brinstar

Acid disrupts gameplay; breakable platforms distort already-awkward stage structure; over-centralization of the aerial game, causing many characters with poor aerial games to have an unfair disadvantage.



Brinstar Depths

No ledges to grab; irregular stage design and frequent rotating of the stage causes drastic changes in gameplay; contains caves of life; abnormally low ceiling gives a disproportional advantage to vertical finishers; various, unreasonably strong camping and stalling positions.



Congo Jungle

Stage is banned in singles because its large size allows for circle camping. Above average size gives an advantage to fast or projectile-bearing characters; higher ceiling forces characters to rely more on horizontal KOs; disruptive aesthetics, especially in one-on-one play (pitch-black background, camera errors). This map is sometimes allowed on doubles but almost universally this stage is banned for both singles and doubles.



Corneria

Overly large; excessive camping/stalling behind the big fin; fin allows for wall infinites; random, powerful stage hazards in Arwing lasers; several positions from which characters cannot recover which can be easily achieved, especially characters with good aerial games; overall gives unfair advantages to fast characters on the stage and aerial-based characters off of it.



Flatzone

Extremely disruptive stage hazards (such as falling, damaging materials, appearing and disappearing platforms, and oil slick); stage is overly small; no bottom blast line; walk-off blast lines.



Fountain of Dreams

Banned only in doubles because its a small stage, and the reflections in the water causes lag with 4 players. This stage is a starter stage for singles.



Fourside

No large, stable platforms for fighting; stalling; walls allow infinites and stalling; the UFO being right under the upper blast line can allow for extremely early vertical KOs.



Great Bay

Solid, middle platform above two lower platforms causes stage spikes that result in frequent, low percent KOs and gimps that would not occur in usual circumstances; stage design allows for the potential of circle camping and stalling; left blast line is too close to the stage.



Green Greens

Over-centralizes gameplay on camping; randomly appearing bomb blocks disrupt normal gameplay. Blocks can be used for wall infinites.



Icicle Mountain

Matches are more of a "Who can jump the best?" rather than who is actually better. Randomly moving stage; disproportional advantage to characters with high, fast jumps; over-centralizes gameplay on keeping up with the stage's scrolling.



Jungle Japes

Overly powerful stage hazard in Klap Trap; unusually high ceiling gives a disproportional advantage to horizontal finishers; high potential for camping and stalling; very poor matchup balance, giving a disproportional advantage to characters with projectiles and those that can traverse the stage well.



Kongo Jungle

Powerful camping position on the rock platform on the bottom right of the stage; Klap Trap too powerful and difficult to avoid when it enters the Barrel Cannon.



Mushroom Kingdom

Irregular stage design forces major gameplay changes; bricks create caves of life and camping spots and can block hitboxes; walk-off blast lines.



Mushroom Kingdom 2

Walk-off blast lines; stalling; stage is too small; random, disruptive stage hazard in Birdo; lack of proper "center" platform hinders gameplay, particularly in doubles.



Mute City

Lack of ledges on main platform; main platform poorly accommodates doubles play, being too small and potentially causing slowdown in gameplay; car hazards are overly powerful against fast fallers.



Onett

Unusual geometry; overly powerful and frequently appearing stage hazards in cars, which deal in excess of 30% damage and can KO at low percents; no lower blast line; permanent walls allow for wall-infinites and has walk-offs that can be abused, specifically by Fox's Wave-Shining.



Poké Floats

Irregular terrain; scrolling stage; circle and run away camping; stalling; potential for stage spikes. When using Ice Climbers, Nana's AI performs poorly, often resulting in playing SoPo the entire match.



Princess Peach's Castle

OHKO stage hazard in Banzai Bill; walls allow infinites; permanent walls promote camping; separation of large portions of the stage through a castle tower, making it difficult to traverse.



Rainbow Cruise

Several ungrabbable ledges; disappearing platforms; scrolling stage, giving disproportional advantages to characters with good aerial games, and punishing those which have sluggish aerial speed; over-centralizes gameplay on keeping up with the stage rather than actually fighting; extremely skewed character matchups. When using Ice Climbers, Nana's AI performs poorly, often resulting in playing SoPo the entire match.



Temple

Overly large; large cave of life in lower area over-centralizes gameplay on teching; multiple areas allow for run away and circle camping; stalling; over-reliance on vertical KOs due to sheer horizontal size; gives an extreme advantage to fast characters or characters who can circle camp around the stage with horribly skewed character matchups, most notoriously towards many already-top/high tier characters (such as Fox, Jigglypuff, and Samus).



Venom

Slowdown; walls allow for infinites; several, unreasonably strong camping positions; disruptive and powerful stage hazards; separation of portions of the stage by the Great Fox body makes it difficult to traverse; Jigglypuff notably gains a huge advantage here, as the small blast lines make it easier for it to KO opponents, and then infinitely camp below the Great Fox.



Yoshi's Island

Rotating block platforms create caves of life; walk-off blast lines; marginalizes offstage skills; rotating blocks in the middle pit can block recoveries; left and top blast lines too close to stage; potential for easy and inescapable shine combos from Fox. Walk-offs abused by Fox with his wave-shining. Breakable floor. This match shows the problems with this stage and any stage that contain walk-offs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRBZKre9M_M



Yoshi's Island (64)

Camping on clouds to the stage's right and left hand sides; run away stalling; characters with poor recoveries who are lured to the clouds, such as Link and Falco, cannot recover.

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If you guys have any criticisms or questions I'd like to hear them.