Congo Jungle

Congo Jungle is a stage debuting in Smash 64, that returned in Melee, was absent in Brawl, but then returned in Wii U.

In Super Smash Bros.
Congo Jungle is a starter stage in Super Smash Bros.

Layout
This stage is made up of a big platform with four small platforms above it. Two small stationary platforms are above the left and right sections of the stage, and between them are two smaller platforms that circulate clockwise. The main platform can be passed through from below, but not from above. Under the stage there is a Barrel Cannon that can greatly aid many characters' recovery. A player that gets into the barrel can exit either by pressing a button or waiting for a certain period of time. In either case, they will be shot in the direction that the arrow on the barrel is currently pointing. There can only be one character at the time in the barrel.

In Tournaments
According to the American Smash 64 ruleset, Kongo Jungle is usually considered to be a counterpick. The stage's layout does not provide a significant disadvantage for any character, although the slanted structure can worsen certain characters' horizontal combos, such as Yoshi. There are some arguments that circle camping could be a potential problem and that could lead to an eventual ban of the stage. It also happens to be a rarely played stage, seen the least in tournaments, even if it is more neutral than Peach's Castle. In doubles, the stage is much more commonly picked and is generally seen as quite neutral. The Barrel Cannon below the stage is known as a gimmick, though while it can occasionally catch recovering players who weren't expecting to land in the barrel and catch players offguard by shooting them towards the bottom or side of the screen, it is very easy to punish players shooting upwards out of the barrel, and it is also impossible to stall indefinitely in the barrel. On this stage, certain palette swaps are banned from being used due to the darkness of the stage's background; namely Captain Falcon's black palette swap, Donkey Kong's black palette swap, and Samus's brown palette swap. In the Japanese ruleset, the stage is banned, as with every other stage except for Dream Land. However, no definite reason has been given as to why the stage is banned outside of potential circle camping due to the platforms being too high for certain characters.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Kongo Jungle N64 is an unlockable stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee

How to Unlock

 * Clear 15-Minute Melee

Layout
The stage itself is a near-exact copy of the SSB version, only being slightly larger. There also seems to be a short delay when the player is launched from the barrel, which can almost always spell doom for the misaimed character in many cases.

In Tournaments
In Melee, the stage was usually regarded at first to be a counterpick. Although it had a relatively non-obtrusive stage design, it had a large size, which gave an advantage to faster characters and characters with projectiles, as well as a high ceiling, giving a slightly larger reliance on horizontal finishers. However, the stage is currently banned in singles, since characters such as Peach and Jigglypuff were found to be very powerful on the stage due to the layout allowing easy circle camping. A match between Pink Shinobi and RockCrock at GENESIS is particularly infamous, and commonly regarded as one of the primary reasons why the stage was banned. However, the stage remains a counterpick in doubles due to the 4-character gameplay removing the camping disadvantages, but the stage is seldom picked in tournaments.

In Super Smash Bros. 4
Kongo Jungle 64 is an unlockable stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

How to Unlock

 * Clear "The Original Heavyweights" Event

Layout
TBA

In Tournaments
TBA