Statistics
With every Pokémon stage in the Smash series now talked about, it’s time to have them all listed in a table below, which will also show which games they hail from and how many times these games have had stages. The presence of original locations as stages makes this table look a bit different from previous ones.
| Game | Year of Release | Stages | Smash game debuted in |
| Main Series | |||
| Pokémon Red and Green
Pokémon Red and Blue |
1996
1998 |
Saffron City | Super Smash Bros. |
| Pokémon Diamond and Pearl | 2006 | Spear Pillar | Super Smash Bros. Brawl |
| Pokémon Black and White | 2010 | Unova Pokémon League | Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS |
| Pokémon X and Y | 2013 | Prism Tower Kalos Pokémon League |
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U |
| Generic Stages | |
| Stage | Smash game debuted in |
| Pokémon Stadium | Super Smash Bros. Melee |
| Poké Floats | Super Smash Bros. Melee |
| Pokémon Stadium 2 | Super Smash Bros. Brawl |
Here is a second table featured below which counts how many times thePokémon series got stages in each game of the Smash Bros. series. Unlike Mario and Zelda before it, there are no stages shared across both Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.
| Game | New Pokémon Stages | Returning Pokémon Stages | Total Stages |
| Super Smash Bros. | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Super Smash Bros. Melee | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Super Smash Bros. Brawl | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Super Smash Bros. for Wii U | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U (combined) | 3 | 1 | 4 |
Grand total ofPokémon stages in the Super Smash Bros. series: 8 stages
There is one last table to conclude with, which lists how many times each console has had stages hailing from its games appear in Smash.
| Console | Number of Stages |
| GameBoy | 1 |
| DS | 2 |
| 3DS | 2 |
Trivia
– The oldest Pokémon game represented is Pokémon Red and Green/Pokémon Red and Blue (1996/1998) and the latest is Pokémon X and Y (2013).
– Pokémon X and Y is the only Pokémon game to have two stages.
– Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U marks the first time since the original Super Smash Bros. where Pokémon hasn’t had an unlockable stage.
– Pokémon is the only series with multiple stages based on original locations made up for Smash.
– Melee is the only instalment of Smash to not add any Pokémon stages that originate from the games.
– Pokémon Stadium is the only returning Melee stage in Brawl to have three music tracks instead of two.
– The remaining main series Pokémon games without stages in Smash at the time of Smash for Wii U/ 3DS are Pokémon Gold and Silver, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and Pokémon Black 2 and White 2.
– Pichu is the only playable Pokémon character who has never had a stage based on their debut game.
– Pokémon is the only series with a playable character that has strictly had only handheld-based stages.
Scrapped Stages and Beta Stage Content
With development of a game a large as Smash Bros. is, there is bound to be many changes in development that are different in the final product, and stages are no exception to that. Here I will briefly mention some beta elements regarding Pokémon stages, and even a stage that was considered in development.
I wonder how many Energy cards it takes to transform the stage.
In Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64, Saffron City originally looked a little bit different visually, with the stripe on the roof of the Silph Co. building being a very bright pink instead of the purple it is in the final game, as well as the propeller platforms having wooden tops instead of metal ones. A building very similar to the building with the helipad can be seen to the left of the stage, which was replaced with a different skyscraper in the final version. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, it seems like the Pokémon anime wasn’t going to be the only part of the franchise besides the games to be acknowledged. Originally the type symbols that appeared on the jumbotron as the stage transformed were going to be the ones used by the Pokémon Trading Card Game, but were replaced for unknown reasons. Another thing that changed in development that would have had a major effect on the stage’s gameplay is that Venusaur and other Pokémon were going to appear as stage hazards, but were cut due to programming issues. The Pokémon that appeared were fully modeled and animated, and so were made into Poké Ball Pokémon instead. Nothing is currently known regarding any beta elements of Brawl and Smash 3DS/Wii U‘s Pokémon stages.
There was also a stage discussed early during Melee‘s development, which was Sprout Tower from Pokémon Gold and Silver. Why it never came to be and whether it was replaced by one of the other stages or was to be a third stage for Pokémon is unknown.
Continue over to Page 3 as we conclude with notable absences and future predictions.
- Sakurai Discusses The Future of Smash - November 4, 2021
- The Melee Orchestra Concert Begins! - May 9, 2021
- Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX Review - September 26, 2019
This is the great article you’ve made!
Pokemon have introduced many stages representing their main title games, but sadly it is understandable that not every titles were introduced so far. I could hardly imagine what would Sprout Tower would look like if it was brought to Smash. Maybe somebody could make the Dream Arena of that stage. I can quite imagine Gen 3 having Sootopolis City as their battle stage and use Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayqueza as stage hazards, as much we can have so much water being involved as well, which IGN will rate it terribly instead. (lol) I could agree the next Smash will have the Gen 7 stage, and the Mele Mele Island from the Dream Arena article can be the best choice.
I was wondering why there weren’t any spinoffs involved in this game. Not just only the stages, but music as well. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon could have been a best choice for Smash to represent with both stage and music, and Primal Dialga would’ve fit well in the Spear Pillar stage since it’s themed for Dialga itself. Probably it may be because the spinoffs weren’t made by Game Freak, but other companies like HAL Laboratory, Koei Tecmo, Chunsoft, etc. The spinoffs does belong to them as well too, and they need permission in order to bring them to Smash if possible. I don’t know if there is such thing as Sakurai bias, but they should’ve brought at least one stage from Mystery Dungeon. I could’ve imagined bringing the main town from the first PMD game, and giving the random weather effects as gimmick. Or maybe bring in some stage from Pokepark or Pokemon Snap, if there is an idea for these games…
Definitely, Pokemon series are the best titles Nintendo ever had, but even the main titles are the only usable ones to bring stages for Smash, I would like them to bring the spinoffs as they also brought success too.
Thank you, and so sorry for the late reply. Usually I don’t get comments after the first few days after it’s uploaded so I stop checking everyday.
Sprout Tower is a stage I’m very curious about. The moment I heard about it I’ve been wondering how it would have turned out ever since. It’s a shame we didn’t get it. Same with not getting a Gen III stage. Now I’m not really a big Hoenn fan (always preferred FireRed/LeafGreen over it) but there’s plenty of cool locations that could work. Like Route 113 or Mount Pyre. My personal choice would be the Cycling Road, since it overlaps a route and water, which would give it a very interesting layout, as well as represent a recurring aspect of the series.
I think it’s The Pokémon Company that’s behind the lack of spin-off acknowledgement in Smash, but I don’t know why they would choose to do so given how big some of the spin-off series are. I just think it’s likely them given how weirdly protective they are with Pokémon in crossovers (the amiibo costumes in Mario Maker having no Pokémon sound-effects, no Pikachu Mii Costume in Mario Kart 8). Sakurai had nothing to do with this.
I too hope for spin-off stages. I’d really like to see something based off Colosseum or the first Mystery Dungeon.