A bit of a different update for you all this time around - for the 20th (hurray!) entry of the Smash Files series, I'm going over the latest stage announcement - a stage based upon Super Mario Galaxy.

Quite frankly, it looks stunning, and makes me want a Galaxy game for the Wii U. The planet they are battling on is the starting planet in Good Egg Galaxy (the first main galaxy in Galaxy 1), but the appearance of Starship Mario in the background suggests to me that the stage might have a couple different planets to battle upon, taking inspiration from both games. I'd personally love it if one of the areas included was that airship seen in the picture, if only for a brief time. I also can't help but wonder if the Starship Mario will be one of the planets you battle on. I believe the stage might be akin to the Pokefloats stage from Melee simply because of elements from both Galaxy games being present in the picture above - not to mention that it's really the only way you can hope to really capture even a little bit of the games in the stage. It's the perfect setup - the sling stars can transfer fighters from one planet to the next in a loop, allowing for extremely dynamic changes in landscape and combat to occur.

Also, while we're on the subject of Pokefloats... we really need a Pokefloats 2. And with X/Y just out, it totally makes sense!

It isn't the best picture of the Pill Planet from Good Egg Galaxy, but it still gives you a look at why it would make for an awesome addition to the Galaxy Stage. Battling on the outside of the pill would be boring, but the inside represents two different Galaxy-inspired segments I want to see in the stage. The first is something that the pill shares with Rightside Down Galaxy - that is, the gravity arrows. While larger segments would work more easily within the new Smash, it'd be cool if characters were flipping upside down and rightside up constantly while exchanging aerial attacks in the process and could make for some very fun and interesting games. The second feature is how the platforms within the pill curl around - a Smash stage like that would (so far) be entirely unique, and I'd love to watch some poor chap fall behind the spiralling scroll and be KO'd because they fell out of sight.

Short and sweet with this one - any Pikmin player worth anything (or Brawl at that matter) should realize that this so-called "planet" in the Space Junk Galaxy is really the Ship from Pikmin 2. It was an awesome reference back in 2007, and in a new Smash where each stage is restricted to a single series, I'd love it if the designers stole this opportunity sitting in plain sight to briefly give us two series in one stage. Plus, if memory serves the ship is a little slippery in-game, and that would only add to the diversity of the stage.

It's Yoshi's head - need I really say more? I find this one to be exceptionally unlikely (especially if the Starship Mario is going to be a planet battled upon), but perhaps if this planet and the egg planet (on the right) were placed next to each other in the stage, close enough that players could hop in between? With two planets to run around on and the ability to scale them on any of the four sides available, some excellent cat-and-mouse chases could occur here.

The final stop I want to see made is the Toad Town (although I would rather if this were its own stage, as a lot more could be done with it if it was). The easiest way to work this area in would be to begin the stage here, with Peach's Castle being stolen being the catalyst for the ride through the different planets before ending up on an airship, or Starship Mario (or a certain moon, maybe...) and crashing/landing back in Toad Town to begin the cycle again. Plus, battling along the scrolling street and rooftops would be pretty awesome.

That's it for this round - let me know which planets/galaxies you would pull inspiration from, or perhaps if you disagree with my speculations.