The 'Shroom:Issue LXXXIII/Brawl Tactics

Brawl Tactics by

Welcome, Brawlers, to this month's edition of BRAWL TACTICS! This month, I will be analyzing the Kid Icarus stage of Skyworld!

Skyworld is a small-sized stage, with four main platforms and one additional platform that hovers across the bottom of the stage every so often. The sides are relatively shallow, while the bottom is quite deep, appropriately enough.

First off, the main platforms are annoying. They are not drop-through, and your attacks will not go through them if you don't break them first. When you do break them, they will turn into clouds that are drop through, so be careful for that. The way the three upper platforms are placed, you'll have a hard time getting any air on attacks that shoot upwards. If you do break them, it is so incredibly easy to drop through them to a fall. To top that off, if you try to get back on, you will have nothing to grab onto since these are clouds now, not solid platforms.

Secondly, on the platforms, they have this awful habit of forming back when you don't want them to. Let's say you're riding that bottom panel, waiting for the right moment to get back up, then you take your jump! ...only for it to fail because the platform re-formed while you were timing your entrance, thus resulting in your character's jump failing and a KO. Yes, this happens FAR too often to me, it seems. You can't beak these panels from below unless you have the force and strength of Donkey Kong, at least, and most characters can't match that with an Up-special. So, sorry, Princess Peach, that umbrella you have is really not going to work here. At least hers is a bit more gentle than Mario's.

Alright. Now to talk about some pluses for this stage! Due to the platforms being spaced out the way they are, it makes it incredibly hard for your opponents to chase you around. Let's say that you have an opponent that needs to attack you close up. You can run them ragged by running around in circles, or you can make them drill through the platforms while you plot your next move.

Final Smashes that take up a mall area of the stage, like Luigi's, find themselves particularly at home here. Donkey Kong's will also work very well, as he plays to the music, there's really no area his sound waves can't damage. I would avoid the Ice Climbers' Final Smash here, though, because this stage is so small, you might not even have enough room or yourself to stand on if you bring the giant mountain into the mix.

That's all for me this month, Brawlers! Be sure to tune in next time, to BRAWL TACTICS!