MultiVersus is the newest competitor to the renowned Super Smash Bros series, having now finally been made available for everyone to play. They sure are playing it too, as evidenced by how popular the game currently is on Steam.
Throughout its multiple closed and open betas, as well as in the full release, there have been a lot of maps for players to fight in, both in Teams and in 1v1 situations. But, how exactly do these stages stack up against each other now that everyone has a chance to get hands-on with MultiVersus? Let's take a look and see.
10 Training Room (2-Player Variant & 4-Player Variant)
First up is the Training Room, only because this Stage was playing in the earlier betas for the game and is also where players will spend a lot of their time while lab-ing out combos. The Training Room is exactly what one would expect, it's a training room.
There's not much more to say about it than that, other than the fact that the developers should fix this and bring it back as a map that people can enjoy in Custom Games or Local Play. Here's hoping this happens in a future update.
9 Tree Fort (4-Player Variant)
Next up is one of the most interesting atmospheric stages in the game: Finn and Jake's Treehouse from Adventure Time. More specifically, it's the Tree Fort Map, but the version that players can only get while playing Teams. Sadly, players need only take Iron Giant (where his size is his biggest weakness) or Tom and Jerry to this stage one time to see how frustrating it really is.
When the stage is just two large platforms stacked on top of each other, it just leads to people spamming any and all of their upward attacks through the bottom of the top platform until the opponents are forced to join them in the chaotic lower area. It's not fun, it encourages move-spam gameplay, and the two side branches of the Tree Fort that act as the terrain can be used to bounce people off the bottom of and kill them at hilariously early damage percentage.
8 Haunted Mansion (2-Player Variant & 4-Player Variant)
Next up is the Scooby Doo stage, Haunted Mansion. This is a polarizing pick, as some players will likely swear by this map, saying it's the most interesting thing the game has to offer and is nowhere near as bad"as people say it is. However, most of the player base so far seems to dislike the unpredictability of this stage.
The platforms that can be dropped, the enclosed area, and the lower Blast Zone at the top all take a bit of getting used to, and high percentage fights on this map just turn into who can get the most unlucky with how their character bounces off the terrain. That said, trying to follow and combo off these wall/floor bounces is a ton of fun, and it's a great stage to play in Teams for those who like pure chaos.
7 Cromulons (2-Player Variant & 4-Player Variant)
Ah Cromulons, the newest map added into the game thanks to the obsessive player base. In late July, the MultiVersus development team issued a challenge to their players to "show them what they've got" by getting 10 million Ring Outs total. Show them they did, with players meeting this goal in just three hours. And, just like that, this new map was added to the game.
However, as a platform fighter map, Cromulons needs a bit of fine-tuning. Right now, the lack of any center platform makes it very easy for a team to jam one of the opponents into the corner and absolutely dominate them. Visually, it's one of the best stages in the game. but, mechanically, it still needs some work.
6 Trophy’s E.D.G.E (4-Player Variant)
There's a reason why all the tournaments for Smash Bros (not to compare the two too much) and all the other platform fighters usually only take place on a small selection of purely flat maps or flat maps with three small platforms, such as Final Destination, and that's because it's consistent. It may be more boring, but it's the fairest playing field for two fighters to show off their skill. The reason the Teams Variant of the Trophy's E.D.G.E stage is lower on these rankings is simply that it tries too hard to be different.
The moving platforms and hole in the center of the stage can lead to some pretty exciting moments in a fight and assuredly allow for more spiking or spacing with projectile characters. However, this also makes it easier for teams to cluster up on a platform and just lay into their opponent who would usually be able to get away if not for the hole in the center. It's fun for casual play, but when players are trying to up their Rank only to have this map show up, it can be pretty frustrating.
5 Batcave (2-Player Variant & 4-Player Variant)
The Batcave is one of the most shoo-in stages a Warner Brothers game could have ever used. As soon as it was confirmed that Batman was part of the roster, it was almost a guarantee that the Batcave would be a stage. And, for the most part, it's a relatively enjoyable one.
Yes, the two Batmobiles on either side of the stage make the first couple of horizontal hits a bit ridiculous. After that though, this is basically just a pseudo-Final Destination with the Blast Zones a bit closer than in other stages. Because of this and the fact that the middle area is relatively small, Batcave also tends to host shorter matches or matches that fight off-stage more than usual.
4 Tree Fort (2-Player Variant)
Ah, finally, the good version of Tree Fort, the 1v1 version. While the Teams variant of this Stage struggles to find its identity and seems to only encourage bad manners-type players to do their worst, the 1v1 version is simple and fun.
The two branches of the Tree Fort still remain on either side of the stage as terrain, but it isn't possible to hit people into the bottom of them anymore (looking at you, Finn) and they just function as bounce pads for a couple of jumps before breaking. Overall, Tree Fort is a great flat stage with just enough extra fluff to make it memorable.
3 Trophy’s E.D.G.E (2-Player Variant & 4-Player Variant)
The default version of Trophy's E.D.G.E is almost the perfect type of stage. Well, it would be if Sky Arena wasn't in the game. It's basic, looks nice, and that's really all there is to it.
It still has the moving platforms which give it this sort of Smashville sort of vibe from Smash Ultimate where players are trying to bait each other on the platforms off stage to spike them, but with a bit less of a comfy atmosphere. It's not the best, it's not bad, it's just very good.
2 Sky Arena (2-Player Variant & 4-Player Variant)
And finally, there are two variations of the same stage in the number two and number one spots. And, it should be clear why the flat variant of the Sky Arena (for both Teams and 1v1) from Steven Universe gets the silver medal. It's about as simple as it gets for a stage, but that's also why it's one of the best stages in MultiVersus.
The stage is very wide, very flat, and has a relatively muted color palette for easy character/VFX clarity. Not only that but this stage is also accompanied by the orchestral remix of the Crystal Gems Theme from Steven Universe, which is just some beautiful battle music. ​​​​​​​
1 Sky Arena Platforms (2-Player Variant & 4-Player Variant)
The only reason Sky Arena Platforms (both Teams and 1v1) beats out its other variations for the title of MultiVersus' best stage is that platforms are the best sort of "middle" ground for all types of fighters.
In other platform brawlers, that may not be the case, but since Multiversus has such an absurd amount of movement options, every character has some aerial game, which is great for beginners. And, with the platforms on this stage, characters have more options for combos, spiking, lineups, and even recovery.
MultiVersus is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.