#SmashBrosUltimate - Smash Bros for Switch.

[NICKtendo DS]

I've made a list of stages from previous games that haven't made it in. This only includes stages available in multiplayer, so no Metal Mario stage and the like. I've marked stages I believe have zero chance of returning with an X, stages that should/could return with an O and others with a -, followed with my reasoning for them.

N64:
X Sector Z: Too similar to Corneria (Melee)
X Planet Zebes: While the layout is different, it doesn't offer much compared to Brinstar (Melee) and Norfair (Brawl).

Melee:
O Mute City (F-Zero X): The Mute City from Smash 3DS is renamed Mute City SNES, maybe to differentiate it from this stage. It might be too similar to Port Town Aero Dive. On the other hand, they already have the machines in the Big Blue stage.
O Poké Floats: Not a must-have really, but it's odd enough that it has its fans.
- Icicle Mountain: The lack of vertically scrolling stages is suspicious, not counting parts of 3D Land. Besides, Summit is a better visual rep in my opinion.
X Mushroom Kingdom: We already have the N64 one.
X Flat Zone: It exists as part of Flat Zone X.

Brawl:
-Rumble Falls: Same as Icicle Mountain. Wouldn't mind seeing it back, wouldn't mind seeing it gone either.
X Flat Zone 2: It exists as part of Flat Zone X.
X Picto Chat: We already have Picto Chat 2.

3DS:
O Rainbow Road: It represents the climax of every Mario Kart game, making it very iconic. It's weird to see it gone from the roster, though I understand we have a ton of travelling stages already.
O Pac-Maze: This is what Pac-Man is known for. This is the only stage in this list I demand, though I'll settle for a new stage based on the original Pac-Man without a gimmick that requires a screen per human player. A Pac-Maze 2. Smash is no stranger to sequel stages (Pokémon Stadium, Picto Chat, Flat Zone, etc.)

Wii U:
O Woolly World: It represents a different take on Yoshi, a new style of world. Imagine switching between the papercraft world of Paper Mario and the arts-and-crafts world of Yoshi's Woolly World in the new stage shuffle mode. Besides, just port the stage like you ported the rest of the Wii U stages. How hard can it be? #armchairgamedeveloping
O Orbital Gate Assault: They spent a year making this stage. It's a shame to let it go to waste.
- Jungle Hijinxs: It's love for DKC Returns, but the stage gimmick isn't as good as it was on paper.
X Pyrosphere: Ridley was the main gimmick of this stage. He's now a playable character. If you want a fiery Metroid stage, Norfair's the place to go.
X Miiverse: It's Battlefield with a background gimmick that requires a dead service.

That's just 6 reasonably, but not very important stages that are missing, with 3 I consider maybes, out of 17 total. It's amazing how little is left to choose from when it comes to returning stages. I feel a little greedy just with how spoiled we're getting (5 characters in a single Direct, oh my God), but I know not to look a gift horse in the mouth. But to look a gift horse in the mouth:
1. We really need a Pac-Maze stage or something similar.
2. I noticed in the Direct that the battlements on Hyrule Castle's central tower have the same graphical error as in Smash for Wii U, as in the even-numbered tiles aren't mirrored to make it symmetrical. I hope that gets patched. It's no end of the world, but it bugs me every time I see it.

Also, I believe Ancestral Steppe from Monster Hunter 4 is a regular stage. A stage can be flat and span across both blastlines on the sides and not be just a single player boss stage. It's surprising a simple design like that hasn't been done in multiplayer before and a Monster Hunter theme works perfectly with a big, open field like that.

There will be more characters and at least one of them will bring his or her own stage, so also given A. Steppe, I severely doubt 103 is the final stage count.