Mushroom Kingdom (いにしえの王国, Ancient Kingdom) is a starter stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It is Luigi and Dr. Mario's home stage. In All-Star mode, this stage is played on when Luigi and any of his teammates are faced.

Stage overview[edit]

The stage is split up into three sections: two small platforms on the left and right, and one main one in the middle. Between the outer ones are two pits. Over the right and left platforms, there are three blocks while the middle platform has two rows of blocks above it (three blocks each on the left and right sides at the top, and seven blocks below them). Usually, most of the blocks are Brick Blocks, except for two, which are ? Blocks. These blocks can be broken, and breaking the ? Blocks will produce an item. Once in a while, all the blocks will reappear as ? Blocks. There is also a Scale Lift holding two platforms, each above a pit. If players stand on one too long, they will break off and fall into the pits, reappearing a few seconds afterwards. The speed of the falling and rising platforms depends on fighters' weights. The lighter the fighter is, the slower their platform will fall and the other rises. Noticeably, but often unspoken of by Smash Bros. players, the Melee version doesn't use warp pipes like the original. However, by pausing and turning the camera, warp pipes that exit in the pits like in the original are visible but are behind the playable area of the stage and cannot be entered. If one pauses and turns the camera all the way to the right or left, a black wall marked with the word DANGER can be seen, which is appropriate, as those areas are past the side blast lines.

Origin[edit]

This stage is based on the overworld levels of Super Mario Bros., and the stage itself is comprised of various elements from those levels, such as ? Blocks that release an item upon being hit, Brick Blocks that break upon being hit, and scales that have a platform that goes down when Mario is standing on it, while the other platform connected to it goes up. If Mario stands on the platform for too long, the scale breaks and both platforms fall.

In the background, various elements from Super Mario Bros. can be seen, such as a Goomba, Koopa Troopas, a Beanstalk, a Goal Pole, and Mushroom Platforms, all of which are based on their original 8-bit appearances. Warp Pipes appear in the sides of the pits, but they are inaccessible.

Tournament legality[edit]

Due to it having caves of life on behalf of the bricks included in the stage, as well as walk-off blast-lines, an irregular design, and being able to tech of of the bricks, Mushroom Kingdom is banned in tournaments.

Trivia[edit]

• Like in its SSB counterpart, the camera can be panned far enough to either side to see black signs with a red circle and the word 'Danger' off to the side. The sign itself is behind the blast line.
• In the beta version of the game, the arena had a slightly different look, similar to the SSB version. Most notably was the presence of Warp Pipes near the corners of either side that could presumably be accessed.
• Tiny Jigglypuff, Fox, Kirby, Mr. Game & Watch, and Pichu can stand on the floating platform indefinitely, without it falling.
• The moving platforms are an easy way to compare weight.
• Mushroom Kingdom and Mushroom Kingdom II are the only two stages in Melee to share an alternate music track: Dr. Mario. They are also the only two stages in Melee to lack a stage prefix.
• Mushroom Kingdom is one of the five stages in the Smash Bros. series to change music when the timer reaches 30 seconds and during Sudden Death, the others are Mushroom Kingdom, Mushroom Kingdom II, Suzaku Castle (if the music played is any type of one of the sixteen playable characters in Street Fighter II and Super Street Fighter II) and Moray Towers.
  • Additionally, it is the only one of these stages to not return in Ultimate.
• This is currently the only Mushroom Kingdom stage not to appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, having been passed over in favor of its SSB variant.
  • It is also one of two Mario stages not to appear, the other being Rainbow Road from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.