Frigate Orpheon

Frigate Orpheon
File:Metroid Icon.gif
Universe	Metroid
Appears in	SSBB
Located	Metroid Prime
Home stage to	Samus/Zero Suit Samus
Availability	Starter
Tournament legal (SSBB)
Singles	Counter-pick
Doubles	Counter-pick

Frigate Orpheon is a starter stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii. It is one of three stages that has its roots in the Metroid universe, but the first based on a location in the Prime sub-series of the franchise.

Origin

At the beginning of Metroid Prime for the Nintendo Gamecube, Samus Aran received a distress signal from a nearby space frigate. She landed on Frigate Orpheon and soon discovered that the vessel had been overrun by Space Pirates. While fighting her way through the facility, she also learned that a parasitic virus was growing and rapidly spreading there. Eventually, she found the reactor core and battled with the Parasite Queen. After defeating the creature, the reactor reached critical meltdown status and Samus was given just five minutes to flee the vessel. She managed to escape to her own ship and shortly afterwards, Frigate Orpheon crashed into the planet Tallon IV. For the purposes of the game, this area effectively acted as the tutorial of the controls for players.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Frigate Orpheon's portrayal in SSBB borrows several aspects of the original locale and implements it into the stage. The general design is very reminiscent of the frigate as it appeared in Metroid Prime. As well as that, it sometimes experiences power outages, knocking out the lights and therefore making it more difficult to see the position of the platforms. The Parasite Queen features, of course, inside the reactor core whilst utilizing the same rotating forcefield used against Samus in the boss fight with it. However, the Queen is merely there for aesthetic reasons; it has no affect on the proceedings of the brawl.

The main element that has been integrated into Frigate Orpheon is the 180 degree flip. The stage actually has two different arena layouts arranged in a vertical column opposite each other, but players are only brawling on one at a time (which is randomly chosen at the start of the match). Every so often, a loud siren blares out and a bright yellow warning light flashes in the background. This indicates that the stage is about to turn upside down. When this happens, the camera quickly shifts around and the characters fall onto the other layout. The sudden movement can put people in difficult situations depending on their positioning when the flip took place. Fortunately, game director Masahiro Sakurai suggested on the stage's update on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! that staying in the air when the alarm is going off will reduce the negative effect it has on one's character once they have flipped.

The stage layouts are as follows:

• The first layout is a basic Final Destination-esque design: a large platform with a flat terrain type. Additions include a past-trough platform above left, and a one way past-through platform in the right side that moves vertically in three positions. The layout has only one edge located in the left side.
• The second layout is slightly bigger. The primary platform has straight edges and a diagonally slanted centre that indents into the arena the downwards direction. A much smaller platform sits above this in the middle. Platforms on the left & right hand sides alternately appear and disappear, making them useful for long distance recoveries.

Songs in My Music

• Vs. Ridley
• Vs. Parasite Queen
• Opening / Menu (Metroid Prime)
• Sector 1
• Vs. Meta Ridley
• Multiplayer (Metroid Prime 2)

Songs in bold must be unlocked

Trivia

• This is the second Metroid stage in the Smash series not to include moving acid or lava (the first being Brinstar Depths).
• If a player is about to be a victim of a star KO, the flipping mechanic of Frigate Orpheon can occasionally save them inadvertently, as the shift in perspective will merely push the character onto the 2nd layout.
• When the Pokémon Trainer is selected as one of the brawlers, Frigate Orpheon constructs a new platform for him to stand on in the background, to the right of the Parasite Queen. Also when the stage flips 180 degrees, Pokémon Trainer appears on the new platform by teleporting. He appears in a yellow flash.
• The Parasite Queen, unlike everything else on the stage, is very slow to turn over when the 180 degree flip occurs. For a few seconds following the flip, the half of the reactor core in the background is empty. After that, the Queen somersaults and drops down into view.
• If Ike uses his Great Aether just when the stage is about to flip, he'll take the victim of the attack and himself down to the abyss, because there is no ground, obviously (see video below).

External Links

• DOJO!! page
• video showing the Great Aether "glitch"

Gallery

The stage in the process of flipping.