Planet Zebes

Planet Zebes serves as the lone Metroid installment stage for the original Smash Bros. Like most other stages, it did not return for Melee. Zebes is most oftenly banned in standard tournaments on behalf of its acid that forces players to retreat to higher ground.

"Planet Zebes" can also refer to the area in which all Metroid stages are located (with the exception of Frigate Orpheon): Brinstar, Brinstar Depths, and Norfair.

Ridley is occasionally seen flying in the background.

Layout
Planet Zebes consists of a rough, jagged base, three main platforms (two of which are sloped at an angle), and one smaller platform ascending and descending at the far right of the stage. Hazardous acid rises from below, submerging most of the base and occasionally two of the three platforms, though it never rises high enough to reach the topmost platform.

Touching the acid results in damage and serious knockback, sometimes even a KO if the player's damage meter is high enough. Contradictorily, it can also be used strategically as a means of salvage if [the acid] is risen high enough. In the event of a player being knocked off of the stage and into the acid, it will launch him or her skyward, allowing them to reuse their recovery or simply fall back onto the stage. Obtaining a Starman (or any form of invincibility) grants invulnerability to the acid, allowing the player to walk through it. However, if, while invincible, the player falls off the stage and through the acid, he or she will self-destruct. It will not "bump" the player up, as they are immune to its burn.

Relationship with Brinstar
Some stages in the original Smash Bros. were recycled or heavily modified for Melee and can easily be identified for their use of inspiration, including Planet Zebes (Brinstar).

Similarities
The two stages share much common ground in that


 * both have rising and falling pools of acid.
 * Brinstar's acid moves in the same pattern as Zebes'.
 * the music is nearly the same, though Brinstar's is slightly remixed.

Differences
Despite their similarities, however, Zebes and Brinstar seem more to differ from one another. For example,


 * Zebes, in retrospect, is much larger than Brinstar.
 * the two platforms adorning either side of Brinstar are constrained by fleshy stalks that can be broken if attacked, causing the platforms to slope at sharp angles.
 * the small ascending and descending platform in Zebes has been removed in Brinstar.
 * Brinstar's acid has much less knockback than Zebes', and sometimes isn't high enough to help a player recover.
 * Brinstar is more interactive in that parts of the stage can be broken.

There are several other minuter details. A cluster of organic material conjoins the base of Brinstar and splits the stage in two when destroyed. Also, Ridley is no longer seen flying in the background, but is instead replaced with a giant throbbing alien organism, as well as a Chozo Statue that occasionally gets up and roams about.