Meta Crystal (メタ・クリスタル), formerly known as Metal Cavern, is an unlockable stage in Super Smash Flash 2 coming from the original Super Smash Bros. In Level 9 of Classic mode, the player will fight either a random metal character (on normal difficulty or lower) or the Metal Bros. (on hard difficulty or higher) on this stage.
Layout
Meta Crystal is a relatively simple stage consisting of an uneven main platform, which is raised to the right and lowered to the left, and a single, off-center soft platform resting above.
Unlike in Super Smash Bros., the crystals can change colors in SSF2. They appear in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, teal, purple, and pink before the process starts over.
Music
- The main music track is the self-titled Meta Crystal, a rock remix of the theme that plays during the battle against Metal Mario in Super Smash Bros., which also plays when facing against a random metallic opponent in Classic.
- The alternate music track is Metal Bros. Battle (also known as Metal Battle), an intense rock remix of the theme that plays during the battle against a metal character or the Metal Bros. in Super Smash Bros. Melee, which also plays when facing against the Metal Bros. in Classic.
Tournament legality
Meta Crystal, as a legal stage, has a contested history.
The stage is currently banned due to its tiny, uneven layout providing advantages to larger, stronger characters such as Bowser over smaller, faster characters that rely on having a wide space to move such as Pikachu. However, beforehand, it was a common counterpick and is still a popular choice for exhibition matches.
Though it was initially thought to show promise in SSF2, eventually the same conclusion was reached, as larger characters, particularly Donkey Kong, along with characters heavily reliant on disjoints, such as Marth, still perform exceptionally well on it compared to other stages.
Origin
The Metal Mario battle in Super Smash Bros..
Meta Crystal is a stage that only appeared in the original Super Smash Bros., where it was only playable in its 1P Game. On it, the player battled Metal Mario as a mini-boss before advancing to the Fighting Polygon Team and, finally, Master Hand.
The stage's design is very loosely based on the Cavern of the Metal Cap within Hazy Maze Cave in Super Mario 64, where Metal Mario is encountered for the first time as a power-up. Both areas contain various crystals, and the platforms and wire walls on the stage resemble those found in Hazy Maze Cave.
Meta Crystal, as it was referred to in the original game's files, could not be unlocked for players to use in VS Mode battles and could only be played on this way with the use of a GameShark or other cheating device. However, due to its popularity despite that, Project M included it as a standard playable stage, renaming it to Metal Cavern and giving it a new design, albeit with the original Nintendo 64 graphics still available as an alternate option.
In Super Smash Bros., its blast lines were massive, especially compared to the size of the stage itself, to enable the player to recover easier against the very resilient Metal Mario. However, in Project M, its blast lines were greatly reduced for the sake of ordinary play, which Super Smash Flash 2 uses instead.
Gallery
Screenshots
Misc.
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