Big Battlefield

Today's Super Smash Bros. Nintendo Direct was packed full of details, and one area that merited plenty of attention was stages. There were some key announcements that'll shape how we get into battle.

One key inclusion is Bigger Stages, which will support 8 Player Smash Mode in particular and, as a result, will be rare in online matches. The following expanded stages were all shown:

Palutena's Temple
Temple
Big Battlefield

Another new stage, which looks like the most sprawling of them all, is The Great Cave Offensive, which is based on the labyrinth from Kirby Super Star. It includes 'Danger Zones' which give damage, and if you hit one when over 100% it's an instant KO.

Another new feature will be Double-Plane Battling, which was shown in the Jungle Hijinx stage; this Donkey Kong arena has fighters using barrels to jump from the background to the foreground and vice-versa. Doing this too quickly causes damage, however.

Overall, the Wii U game will have more stages that the 3DS game, with examples such as Mushroom Kingdom U and Garden of Hope showcased, while stages common across both versions will still be a little different on Wii U.

Finally, a Miiverse Stage was announced. This won't be ready at launch, but will use comments and posts from the social platform to decorate the background as you battle.

The stages look to be shaping up nicely on the Wii U, but let us know what you think in the comments below.