Here’s something new! This happens to be the very first Guest Dream Arenas article, written by SlowDragon as one of two follow-ups to the Steve – Dream Smashers. You can find SlowDragon on Smash Boards, Twitter and YouTube so go ahead and check him out if you enjoyed this article or wanted to contact him for any reason. For more information on how to submit a guest Dream Smasher article, click here.
Note: All artwork within this post was either created by SlowDragon for Source Gaming, or screenshotted from Super Smash Bros for Wii U & 3DS, and Minecraft. Feel free to use his renders, but please credit @SlowDragon_ on Twitter and YouTube.
As with most characters in Smash, Steve has brought a brand new stage from his universe into battle (Sorry R.O.B.). Like the Tortimer Island and Super Mario Maker stages, this area procedurally generates and has a day and night cycle akin to Smashville, as well as having a bunch of random encounters that make this world seem alive.
Steve’s home is the Overworld, a block filled world of adventure and opportunities. Here is where Steve mines, fights the beasts of the night, trades with Testificates, tames pets, and overall just lives. In Minecraft, the Overworld is one of three dimensions, with the other two being the Hell-like Nether and the desolate End. While Steve has explored and taken on the challenges of both of these worlds, he always returns back to the Overworld. In Smash Bros, Steve has decided to open up his favorite cave system as a Stage, but be warned! While he made sure to pick up all his valuable tools, he may have accidentally left a few TNT Minecarts on the tracks.
Overworld: Hazards and Statistics
Key: Red = Stage Border, Green = Interactable Platform, Black = Solid Platform, Yellow = Can be walked through, Purple = Climbable Ladder, Red Circle = TNT Minecart Spawnpoint, White = Blast Zone
* Bowser and Steve for size comparison
Before moving on, here are a few of the music tracks that could be found on Overworld. While Minecraft’s soundtrack may seem peaceful and tranquil, that’s part of the charm! Intense battle to such slow tunes make this stage that much more unique! Check out these fine tunes while you read onwards!
| Game | Minecraft |
| Series | Minecraft |
| Home to | Steve |
| Size | Very large (Palutena’s Temple, Temple, The Great Cave Offensive |
| Niche | Twisting tunnels, filled with danger |
| Blast Zones | Short-range, walk-offs on both sides |
| Gimmick | Claustrophobic, Lava, Monsters, TNT Minecarts, Random generation, Day-Night cycle |
So, where does this area appear? The Mine that is pictured is not from any specific location, but is an amalgamation of different randomly generating structures. The Overworld of Minecraft is created at random each time you make a save, so there wasn’t really a specific area to use for a Stage. In Smash, the Overworld contains four layers.These layers are randomly generated each time you play the stage, as well as having some slight aesthetic changes depending on the time of day. For example, Sheep and Pigs only appear on the surface during the day, and Herobrine only rarely appears in the tunnel at night. Due to the random generation and large size of the Stage, I will be talking about each layer of the shown layout individually from Left to Right. However, do to the randomized nature of the stage, I will only be describing the exemplary layout that is seen above.
- This version of The Surface contains a Testificate house, a bridge, and two trees to fight upon. The trees are destructible, and can result in Stage-specific items like Logs and Apples. Logs can be thrown as projectiles, and Apples will restore 2% damage, or thrown as projectiles. Over time, the trees will grow back. The house can be walked through, and contains a ladder that will allow players to descend to the lower levels. During the day a few animals like Pigs, Chickens, Cows, and Sheep also appear here, but are just background characters. At night, you’ll be plagued by Zombies and Endermen, but they are also incapable of harming players as they’re just part of the scenery. Under the bridge, there is a small trench that is home to a Nether Portal. On the far right, there is a small structure that houses another Ladder.
- This version of The Tunnel is made up of 4 rooms, with the one on the left being connected to the next layer down. It has a continuation of the Ladder, and a pit that falls directly into an End Portal’s lava below. Beware being cornered here, because the Lava will instantly kill anyone at 100%. After that is part of the Abandoned Mineshaft, and one of the TNT Minecart spawn areas. When a TNT Minecart appears, it will flash for about 1.5 seconds before exploding, doing tremendous knockback to nearby players. It can spawn in any of the three locations once every 2 minutes, and is set off by either hitting it or throwing someone into it. The next room is the Nether Portal pit that was covered in the Surface portion. The final room contains a continuation of the second Ladder, and goes directly downwards into the next layer. It doesn’t contain any hazards, but serves as an entry point to The Stronghold layer.
- This version of The Stronghold layer contains two rooms, with the first being The Stronghold itself. It features an incomplete End Portal, which serves now as a pit of dangerous Lava. The End Portal room also has a continuation of the Left Ladder. There is also a small stream of lava to the right, which is just a background element. The second room is the Downward Chasm from the Tunnel Layer, and contains more of the Right Ladder.
- This version of The Mineshaft layer is the largest, and has the most going on in it. On the left, there is a Dungeon that contains a Mob Spawner, but it won’t spawn anything thanks to the torches placed around it. Under the Dungeon is a small area of cave with nothing eventful about it. Next to the Dungeon is part of the Abandoned Mineshaft, and one of the three spawn areas for the TNT Minecart. It also contains a rare Emerald Ore! Under that is the bottom of the Left Ladder, and a lava pit with a layer of Obsidian dividing it from a pool of water. While dangerous, it’s a perfect spot to look for Diamonds! Here is also where some mysterious Players may mine through the stone, only to disappear back behind the walls. Finally, there is another piece of Abandoned Mine Shaft, and the final TNT Minecart spawn. Under that is the bottom of the Right Ladder.
- Lastly I am going to talk about the blast zones and where they spawn. No blast zones will spawn in The Surface layer as they are not needed. Everywhere else, the blast zones will spawn either on the roofs of rooms or at the end of dead ends. Lava will also always act as a blast zone so any room that spawns lava on the floor will hurt you (but lava in the background is ok).
- In the background of this stage, a good amount of creatures from Minecraft will make cameo appearances. These include:
- Passive mobs – Pigs, Cows, Villagers, and Chickens will appear during the day.
- Hostile mobs – Zombies, Spiders, and Endermen will show up during the night.
- Nether mobs – Zombie Pigmen and Wither Skeletons will step out of the Nether Portal and walk around for a bit before returning to their fiery home. On occasion, the cries of Ghasts can be heard as well.
- Herobrine – The legendary Herobrine will sometimes appear within the stage during the night and early morning, either on the Surface or in the Tunnel. When he appears, he will stand motionlessly in the dark, with his eyes illuminating his presence. He won’t interfere with battle, but he seems to take interest in the fighters.
Lastly, I need to talk about Overworld’s Omega Form and 8 Player Smash Form. In Omega Mode, the entire stage is Underground, and fighters battle atop a large Abandoned Mineshaft platform. In 8 Player Smash, the Trees and TNT Minecarts become a bit rarer, as well as Mobs not spawning.
Key: Same as before.
*Alex and King Dedede for size comparison
This concludes part two of our trilogy of Minecraft Dream Smashers posts, and the last one is gonna be great! Make sure to come back and check it out when it goes live, I’d really appreciate it! If you have any ideas for a stage, or even just feedback on the post, feel free to leave a comment below!
Link to Steve: Dream Smashers
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I… don’t know how I feel about this. I’m not a fan of stages that feel too cramped. While I like unique stage mechanics, it feels like really quickly, this is going to turn into a match of who can tech more reliably because they got launched into another wall or ceiling. I also feel like having pillars in the foreground could get confusing, and unintentionally hide items and other stuff where no one could possibly see it,
Sorry, I forgot to hit the reply button the first time. My response is below.
Personally, i would probably avoid the non-omega version of this stage like I avoid 75m. I think it could be fun for a casual bout of 8 Player Smash, but by no means is this stage viable for competitive usage. I do agree with you on the pillars to an extent, but I also feel that they are a unique aesthetic choice that fits a cave theme.
Trust me, I love casual fun just as much as the next guy, and sorry if I gave the impression that I was speaking on competitive terms. I like stages with mechanics and designs not found in other stages, I just also like having room to actually fight in. It’s actually an issue I have with the Great Cave Offensive stage too, but that’s a topic for another day.