The Great Maze is the final stage of Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Subspace Emissary. After numerous sections of the World of Trophies are transported to Subspace, Tabuu combines all of the game's levels, creating an enormous maze that features sections from every previous stage the player(s) has visited. The game's protagonists have to navigate their way through this massive maze. To complete this level, the player(s) must defeat the Subspacial Clones of all the heroes (excluding Toon Link, Wolf, Sonic, and Jigglypuff) rather than aim for the goal. In addition, the player(s) must re-defeat all the bosses encountered in the game (excluding Master Hand and Crazy Hand). Afterward, the player(s) encounters a purple door at the center of the maze, which leads to Tabuu's residence, where Sonic destroys its off-waves and joins the battle.
Playable Characters[]
Five characters are always available to choose from in The Great Maze. Ness, Luigi, and Kirby are revived by the Brooches, King Dedede is revived by Luigi and Ness and Bowser is revived by King Dedede. Sonic appears at the very end of the Great Maze and can join the fight against Tabuu. All other characters with the exception of Toon Link, Wolf, and Jigglypuff must be revived as trophies in Subspace.
Revived Beforehand[]
Revived in Part I[]
- Captain Falcon
- Diddy Kong
- Donkey Kong
- Falco
- Fox
- Ike
- Lucas
- Mario
- Marth
- Mr. Game & Watch
- Olimar
- Pikachu
- Pit
- Pokémon Trainer/Squirtle, Charizard and Ivysaur
- Samus/Zero Suit Samus
Revived in Part II[]
- Ganondorf (only if Link & Zelda are revived)
- Ice Climbers
- Link
- Lucario
- Meta Knight
- Peach
- R.O.B.
- Snake
- Wario
- Yoshi
- Zelda
Level Layout[]
A map of The Great Maze, showing where the Subspacial Smashers and Bosses are.
The door leading to the final battle against Tabuu.
There is no specific order the player must beat all the enemies – the player can also choose to play as any character that has been rescued in the preceding stages. Also, there are various Save Points and Warp Points throughout the maze. The checkpoints are indicated by the Super Smash Bros. emblem mounted on a trophy stand, with a forest clearing and a Subspace rip in the fabric of the sky in the background. Save Points restore the player's stock to 4 and damage to 0%, as well as letting the player re-select characters or use their stickers. Warp Points are identical, but also allow teleportation between other visited Warp Points, as well as serving as both entry and exit points to and from the maze itself.
Pausing at any time displays a map of all visited rooms, as well as the player's current position inside a room and where Doors and room-to-room links are. Once the player goes through enough rooms to form a loop with the starting point, the map will also display all the locations of unbeaten dark clones and bosses in the form of a Bowser head. After the player has defeated all the clones and bosses, the player will then open a large purple door in the center of the maze, which leads to Tabuu's Residence. After the player beats Tabuu, the Great Maze is spread apart and all the levels and locations of the World of Trophies are returned to their normal state, excluding the Isle of the Ancients, because the sheer amount of Subspace Bombs that went off in the area rendered the Isle unable to reform properly.
For gameplay reasons, both the Great Maze and the levels on the Isle of the Ancients are still accessible for completion after the game's epilogue.
Stage Recreations[]
| Stage recreated | Portion of stage | Song used |
|---|---|---|
| Midair Stadium | Petey Piranha battle | Airship Theme (Super Mario Bros. 3) |
| Skyworld | First descent | Step: The Plain |
| Second section | Step: The Plain | |
| The Jungle | Vertical section | Jungle Level |
| The Lake | Rayquaza battle | Victory Road |
| The Ruined Zoo | Porky battle | Porky's Theme |
| Above-ground section | Snowman | |
| Sewer level (original) | Snowman | |
| Pig King Statue chase section | Snowman | |
| Battlefield Fortress | Castle | Crimean Army Sortie |
| Outdoors (original) | Crimean Army Sortie | |
| Underground | Step: The Cave | |
| The Forest | Last section | The Dark World |
| Day-changing doors (original) | The Dark World | |
| Research Facility | Elevator section (original) | Opening/Menu (Metroid Prime) |
| The Lake Shore | Outdoor Jyk area | Step: The Plain |
| Path to the Ruins | Underground portion | Step: The Cave |
| Outdoor area | Gritzy Desert | |
| The Ruins | Bulk of level | Underground Theme (Super Mario Land) |
| The Wilds I | Galleom battle | Boss Battle Song 1 |
| The Wilds II | Bulk of level | Step: The Plain |
| Vertical section with slanted platforms (original) | Gritzy Desert | |
| The Swamp | First area | Jungle Level |
| Swampy areas | Bramble Blast | |
| Research Facility | Ridley battle | Vs. Ridley |
| 3-switch door and associated areas (all original) | Opening/Menu (Metroid Prime) | |
| Outside the Ancient Ruins | First portion of level | Gritzy Desert |
| Glacial Peak | Latter half of level | Frozen Hillside |
| Battleship Halberd Interior | Middle portion | Meta Knight's Revenge |
| Elevators in the Halberd (original) | Meta Knight's Revenge | |
| Battleship Halberd Exterior | Starboard exterior | Meta Knight's Revenge |
| Battleship Halberd Bridge | Duon battle | Boss Battle Song 1 |
| Subspace Bomb Factory II | Meta Ridley battle | Vs. Ridley |
Character Locations[]
- Skyworld 1 - Pit
- Skyworld 3 - Link and Kirby
- The Forest - Yoshi
- The Plain - Diddy Kong
- The Jungle - Captain Falcon
- Battleship Halberd Interior 1 - Snake
- Battleship Halberd Interior 2 - Mr. Game and Watch
- Battleship Halberd Exterior - Meta Knight
- The Ruined Zoo - Ness
- Research Facility (Part I) - Pikachu
- Research Facility (Part II) - R.O.B.
- The Cave 1 - Mario
- The Cave 2 - King Dedede
- The Swamp 1 - Donkey Kong and Samus
- The Swamp 2 - Falco
- The Swamp 3 - Fox
- The Lake Shore - Peach
- Glacial Peak - Ice Climbers and Lucario
- Battlefield Fortress 1 - Ike
- Battlefield Fortress 2 - Marth and Ganondorf
- The Path to the Ruins 1 - Bowser
- The Path to the Ruins 2 - Luigi
- Outside the Ancient Ruins - Olimar
- The Ruins 1 - Lucas and Wario
- The Ruins 2 - Pokemon Trainer
- The Ruins 3 - Zelda
Music[]
The Great Maze has many different music tracks in it, some of which only appear during the fights with the dark clones or the bosses.
- Against The Dark Knight - Dark Marth, Dark Ike
- Airship Theme (Super Mario Bros. 3) - Petey Piranha, Dark Mario, Dark Yoshi, Dark Wario, Dark Bowser.
- Battle For Storm Hill - Dark Donkey Kong, Dark Diddy Kong.
- Boss Battle Song 1 - Galleom, Duon.
- Boss Battle Song 2 - Tabuu.
- Bramble Blast - The Swamp Recreated.
- Castle/Boss Fortress (Super Mario World/Super Mario Bros 3) - Dark Pit, Dark Peach.
- Crimean Army Sortie - Part of Battlefield Fortress Recreated.
- Flat Zone (Melee) - Dark R.O.B, Dark Mr Game and Watch.
- Frozen Hillside - Part of The Glacial Peak Recreated.
- Gerudo Valley - Dark Link, Dark Zelda/Sheik, Dark Ganondorf.
- Gourmet Race - Dark Kirby, Dark King Dedede, Dark Meta Knight, Dark Olimar.
- Gritzy Desert -Outside the Ancient Ruins Recreated, Path to the Ruins Recreated, Area South of Midair Stadium.
- Ice Climber - Dark Ice Climbers.
- Jungle Level - Area East of Tabuu, The Jungle Recreated.
- Luigi's Mansion Theme - Dark Luigi.
- Meta Knight's Revenge - Battleship Halberd Recreated.
- Opening / Menu (Metroid Prime) - Research Facility Recreated.
- Porky's Theme - Porky Minch.
- Save Point - Inside Save Points, Door to Tabuu's Residence.
- Sector 1 - Dark Samus, Dark Fox, Dark Falco, Dark Captain Falcon, Dark Snake.
- Snowman - The Ruined Zoo Recreated.
- Step: Subspace - Near Pink Save Points.
- Step: The Cave - Part of The Ruins Recreated, Part of Battlefield Fortress Recreated.
- Step: The Plain - Skyworld Recreated, The Lake Shore Recreated, The Wilds Recreated.
- The Dark World - The Forest Recreated, The Plain Recreated.
- Underground Theme (Super Mario Land) - Part of The Ruins Recreated.
- Unfounded Revenge / Smashing Song of Praise - Dark Ness, Dark Lucas
- Victory Road - Rayquaza, Dark Pikachu, Dark Pokémon Trainer, Dark Lucario.
- Vs. Ridley - Ridley, Meta Ridley.
- Credits - Credits Roll.
- Super Smash Bros Brawl Main Theme - Ending.
Trivia[]
- Despite having only 4 stock at a time available for the initial playthrough, 6 are available on any successive playthroughs. This is likely due to two reasons; the possibility that the player did not retrieve any trophies in Subspace Part I and II (leaving them only five characters for use) and that subsequent playthroughs do not allow for a refreshed stock post-cutscene before Tabuu.
- Some parts of The Great Maze are combinations of older stages, such as The Forest with the day-changing doors from The Lake.
- Also, there are new areas in from the some of the older stages that didn't exist before, such as the elevator room in The Halberd, the icy floors in The Ruined Zoo and the windy platforms in The Path to the Ruins.
- Many of the stage remakes have a different music than the original versions.
- Some of the area recreations are laid out in such a way that the player will go through a level in the opposite direction from the first time.
- With the exception of the R.O.B. in the player's party (if saved in Subspace II by Kirby) and its respective Shadow Clone counterpart, there is not a single R.O.B. in the Great Maze. This suggests that they have all been destroyed in the Isle of Ancients.
- The Halberd was destroyed and never entered Subspace, yet it still shows up in The Great Maze. This also happens with Skyworld and many other areas.
- All the Primid types appear in this level.
- The Great Maze is by far the longest and biggest level in the game.
- Despite Bowser joining your party the Goombas and Koopa Troopas remain enemies. This could be because Tabuu brainwashed them to serve him.