Dream Arena: Celeste Mountain

Thanks to @PrinceOfPufftop on Twitter for their help conceptualizing this stage and Cart Boy for edits.

Super Smash Bros. has always had a diverse lineup of stages that spans legendary areas in gaming, and this has only been amplified in recent years with the inclusion of third party series. From Sonic the Hedgehog’s Green Hill Zone to Final Fantasy’s Midgar, Smash’s stages have only gotten more and more creative with each new entry. Another aspect of Smash that has become more prominent as of late is its inclusion of indie representation. With the introduction of indie icons such as Commander Video, Shovel Knight, and Shantae, the door has been left wide open for other famous indie titles to be included. That brings us to today’s Dream Arena, the setting for one of the most popular and critically acclaimed indie games in recent memory: Celeste’s appropriately named Celeste Mountain.

In Celeste, Madeline, the game’s main protagonist, is determined to reach the top of the mountain and prove to herself that she is capable of doing anything. However, as her journey progresses, Madeline discovers that reaching the top is no easy feat. Despite the various obstacles and supernatural occurrences in her way, Madeline refuses to give up on her quest to reach the summit. While Madeline’s story is Celeste’s primary focus, the mountain itself is just as integral to the game as its protagonist with its beautiful scenery, role in progressing the plot, and wide array of memorable locations full of unique mechanics and challenges.

That being said, why would Celeste Mountain be the best choice for Smash’s first indie stage? Well, as both one of the Switch’s best selling indie games and a nominee for 2018’s Game of the Year Award, Celeste has naturally become one of the most well known indie games in years. While Madeline herself may not be fit for the Smash roster given her limited moveset potential, the mountain would make for a perfect stage due to its iconic status and potential for interesting mechanics. Sure, a mountain covered in snow has already been seen in Summit, but Celeste Mountain has more than enough to set it apart from both Summit and every other stage in Smash.

Stage Music

One of the most exciting parts of the prospect of Celeste Mountain’s inclusion in Smash is the potential music that could come along with it. Composed by Lena Raine and the various artists behind the B-Side stages, Celeste’s soundtrack has become one of the game’s most beloved and praised aspects, so Celeste Mountain should naturally bring as much music as possible. Here are some tracks that I think would fit Smash particularly well:

Hazards and Statistics

Game:	Celeste
Series:	Celeste
Home to:	Ice Climbers
Size:	Varies
Blast Zones:	Walk-off, medium
Gimmick:	Special transitions

Series Icon

(Courtesy of Voyager)

As a massive, multi-leveled landmark, Celeste Mountain naturally has multiple distinct locales that all serve to make the mountain feel as mysterious and unique as possible. From the Celestial Resort to the mysterious Mirror Temple, every level in the game introduces new mechanics for the player to master on their way to the summit. As a Smash stage, Celeste Mountain would take advantage of these varied areas and mechanics by transitioning between multiple parts of the mountain, each with their own distinct features. These transitions between layouts would each have a unique form of travel in a similar manner to stages like Reset Bomb Forest. However, while the level design is at its most creative near the end of the main story, I’ll only include areas from the first four levels in the game as to not spoil the insanity found after the halfway point. After all, even without the latter half of the game, Celeste Mountain still gives us more than enough distinct locations to work with.

The first stop on our hike through Celeste Mountain would be the Old Woman’s cabin, as seen in the game’s prologue. As our introduction to the stage, the cabin wouldn’t have much going on outside of its roof acting as a platform and the majority of the floor being slippery due to the ice covering it. The Old Woman would be watching the battle from the background as well, occasionally giving a hearty laugh whenever someone was launched. After enough time has passed, a blizzard would roll in from the left and consume the area, transitioning to the next location. Two things to note about this blizzard is that the ground would shake before its appearance and that anyone either in the air or on top of the cabin when it appeared would be frozen by it.

By the way, the Old Woman’s cabin would also be the stage’s hazardless version. Similarly to stages like Pokémon Stadium, Celeste Mountain would never transition to another part of the stage when hazards are turned off to allow for a fight on a single, less dynamic field.

After braving the blizzard, we’d be taken to the Forsaken City, Celeste’s official first level. We would specifically end up at Theo’s campsite, albeit with a few alterations. The actual campsite in Celeste was a safe haven of sorts; a quick break from the mayhem of the first level that allowed you to meet and have a nice chat with the game’s most chill side character. However, to make this area better fit Smash and reflect the Forsaken City, I removed the steel girders at the top to allow fighters to get launched and added a few traffic light catapults, which are the city’s primary gimmick. When players made contact with one of these catapults, it would immediately be launched into the air along with anyone on top of it. Be careful, because if you land on one of these after having taken a lot of damage, you could find yourself being launched right into the blast line! Meanwhile, Theo would be observing the match and taking out his phone to take a picture whenever someone was launched. After enough time has passed, a red, upward facing arrow would appear in the background, signaling players to hop on a traffic light and prepare for launch. Players who aren’t on one of these during the stage transition would be instantly KO’d as we made our way to the next area, so don’t let the stage leave you behind!

After hanging out with Theo, we would end up at the entrance to the Celestial Resort, Celeste’s third level. Here, players would fight on a collapsing bridge with a makeshift platform above them. This area would be covered in black sludge, a dangerous substance accidentally created by the resort’s concierge, Mr. Oshiro. The sludge would both form large clusters and bounce around the area, damaging anyone it came into contact with. After enough time has passed, Mr. Oshiro would make an appearance, but unlike Theo and the Old Woman, he wouldn’t be here to stand by and watch. Taking on a monstrous form, Oshiro would appear on the left side of the stage before glowing a light blue and charging forward, launching anyone in his way. The only way to escape the enraged specter is by jumping on the clouds that appear seconds before his attack. These clouds would launch players to the next area, but players who didn’t make it in time would instead need to get launched by Mr. Oshiro’s attack in order to keep up with the stage.

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After our encounter with Mr. Oshiro, we’d end up at the Golden Ridge, our final stop and the fourth level in Celeste. We would specifically find ourselves at the end of the level, where a sheer cliff and decaying gondola would be found. At this point, the stage would be fairly tame, with no obstacles or gimmicks to break up your fight aside from the treacherous cliff and the gondola you could enter and stand on top of. However, after enough time has passed, a slight breeze would pick up and force you to the right. This breeze would get continuously stronger as a red, right facing arrow appeared in front of the gondola, signaling you to enter it. Once the wind hit its peak, the gondola would begin moving and anyone outside of it would be KO’d upon being left behind. For a short time, players would be able to fight in the gondola, and while no one could be launched due to them being indoors, the enclosed space would provide a quick opportunity for players to deal plenty of damage (if a player was KO’d due to them missing the gondola, they’d only respawn after the Golden Ridge section was finished). After a few seconds in the gondola, the stage’s fourth NPC and stage transition would reveal herself. Madeline’s shadowy doppelgänger (sometimes referred to as Badeline by fans) would appear on top of the gondola and make it violently shake from side to side. This would result in the top of the gondola breaking, causing it and its inhabitants to fall to the ground as Badeline gave a smirk and disappeared. Upon hitting the ground (coincidentally, near the Old Woman’s cabin), the gondola would completely break and the stage cycle would begin anew.

Outro

The ideas brought up here are just a small portion of the amazing mechanics and gameplay to be found in Celeste. Throughout Madeline’s journey of self discovery, she travels through all kinds of creative areas and meets a small, but memorable cast of characters. Naturally, these would lend themselves well to an amazing Smash stage that would perfectly represent one of the most beloved and successful indie games in recent memory.