ChronoBound
Smash Hero
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2006
- Messages
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I know the posts relating to it are now old, but I really wanted something to say on the matter of Dark Samus’s inclusion in Ultimate.
Some of the people here are saying that her inclusion as an echo did not represent her well. There are several things to keep in mind. One is that Dark Samus might very well have the most miraculous inclusion of any newcomer in Ultimate (and that really says a lot). It really took a special set of stars aligning to even happen as an Assist Trophy in Smash 4, which was what it even took for her to register on Sakurai’s radar as a possibility for a (likely) last minute echo fighter.
Dark Samus is a Western created character. Of these, all of the ones that have been included have had massive fan campaigns for their inclusion. Dark Samus by comparison was barely a blip on the radar and had lost much of her fanbases and requests over the course of this decade as the Metroid Prime trilogy gradually faded from contemporary memory. Her support topic during pre-Smash 4 was only nine pages long, and got locked before the Smash Ballot was announced (so she has no base to which to rally her for the ballot). The demand for her, like with Castlevania, was a quiet one outside of the “Smash Bubble”.
I wrote this in the celebratory confirmation topic for Dark Samus:
If Metroid Prime 3 had not been released after Brawl was in Japan, Sakurai might never have looked at the game to throw it a bone in terms of content. Dark Samus making it in as an Assist Trophy was absolutely critical to Dark Samus getting upgraded. Again, if it were not for Prime 3 releasing after Brawl, and Sakurai wanting to throw that game (he gave most of the new Metroid content in Smash 4 from Other M) a bone, Dark Samus could very well not have made it since he likely would probably have not have been personally aware of her (and thus realize how feasible of an echo fighter she would be).
Also, the fact that echo fighters even exist is another star that had to align for DS. The reason the echoes even came about was due to Sakurai bringing back Dr. Mario as a costume and then having second faults about how his particular fans would feel about him losing what made him unique from Mario. Sakurai making Dr. Mario his own character again was the impetus Sakurai needed to decided "why not upgrade Lucina and Dark Pit."
The ballot happening was another thing that needed to happen. People had to ask for Dark Samus to show she had enough popularity to even be upgraded. Ridley being a boss, likely siphoned some votes from Ridley to Dark Samus seeing as most people thought the ballot was for Smash 4 DLC.
Another star that had to align was the fact that Ultimate is true newcomer poor. There are likely only a few non-echo newcomers left. Sakurai added the clones in Melee due to feeling he did not add in enough newcomers (only eight at the time). The echoes fulfill the same purpose. They boost the number of new fighters to the game.
Dark Samus right now is the only character aside from Little Mac to have been promoted from an Assist Trophy. LITTLE MAC. Look at how big the Ashley thread was. Look at how loud Waluigi fans are. Dark Samus managed to do something only one other fighter was ever able to do (maybe you can say Charizard managed to do it too since he was a Pokeball Pokemon in 64 and Melee). Little Mac (and Charizard) are iconic legends. Dark Samus defied all of these odds and made it in. Even echo status is impressive for Dark Samus.
Later I wrote this, after the entire base roster was known in the beginning of November 2018:
I do not mean to make a second post in a row. However, with us knowing the final roster, and Sakurai saying there will not be any echoes as DLC, this just further cements just how lucky Dark Samus was to make it. Not even Shadow, Impa, or Octoling were able to make it as echo fighters. Daisy, Chrom, and Ken all had major appearances in recent years (Daisy in Super Mario Run and almost every Mario spinoff, Chrom in Fire Emblem Warriors where he even got an amiibo, Ken in Street Fighter V). Richter got in through being the character whom much of Simon's moves were taken from (as well as being the Belmont from arguably the most popular Castlevania title, Symphony of the Night). Dark Samus by comparison made her last appearance 11 years ago, and hails from a franchise where it took 17 years of high volume requests just to get the most iconic and popular character after Samus in (Ridley).
Out of 11 newcomers and only five echo slots, Dark Samus managed to make it in.
and
Another thing to consider is that Dark Samus is the only character aside from Isabelle and Little Mac to be promoted from an Assist Trophy. Isabelle is an icon for one of Nintendo's most popular franchises (she is probably the most popular Animal Crossing character at this point), and Little Mac was the face of one of Nintendo's long running franchises (older than every franchise except Mario, DK, and Game & Watch) that had a very successful Wii installment. Not even Shadow (who seemed like an easy echo) made the jump. Dark Samus's promotion was a fortunate anomaly.
Dark Samus beat absolutely incredible odds to even become an Echo Fighter. Dark Samus’s inclusion on the roster was not a result of a massive fan outcry, relevance, Sakurai’s own personal favoritism, or strange whims (like the reasoning behind why Piranha Plant and why Dr. Mario was originally included in Melee). Sure she was popularly requested, but I imagine there were many other characters that had higher requests for her.
When Brawl was released, there was at least a “next time” for Ridley fans, but for Dark Samus fans the fact was that Prime 2 and Prime 3 would simply be getting older and more forgotten, as well as the fact that Ridley would always cast an ever growing shadow over her. Dark Samus was actually in requests where K. Rool was during most of pre-Brawl. She was popular and well-liked, but most Metroid fans saw Ridley as the bigger priority (much like with Diddy Kong in comparison to K. Rool).
Two years ago, who would have thought that out of Metroid, Kirby, Donkey Kong, and Star Fox, that Metroid would be the first one to four playable characters, and that if Metroid ever did get to four playable characters, that even Dark Samus would be among them (especially with Sylux poised to be a to major character in Prime 4).
Dark Samus’s inclusion was simply miraculous.
In regards to her inclusion as an echo fighter, while its a shame she never got to exhibit any of her unique abilities as a playable figher in Smash Bros., she got a lot of attention as far as echo fighters are concerned.
Among the game’s seven echo fighters, there is a lot of variation in terms of how much they differ.
Both Daisy and Richter are the two echo fighters with the least differences from the character that they are echoing. Richter does have one gameplay difference separating him from Simon, but it only matters in a handful of match-ups (Richter’s holy water not having fire properties), but he has no unique animations (he is simply more “bouncy” than Simon for his idle animation). Daisy has no gameplay differences, but a few unique animations (outside of taunts and victory animations) such as her onscreen debut animation, her idle animations, her dash/run animation, and her turnaround animation, as well as unique graphics for several attacks (like daisies replacing hearts and having different artwork for her Final Smash).
With Lucina and Dark Pit, there are are almost no unique animations outside of victory animations and taunts (both have an unique no contest/defeat animation, and Lucina has a slightly different animation for Shield Breaker and for her onscreen debut animation), but minor gameplay differences. Dark Pit only having two of his specials have different properties and an unique Final Smash. Lucina on the otherhand is among the most different echo fighters gameplay wise simply due to her not possessing Marth’s tipper mechanic, as well as different property for her up aerial move. However, otherwise, both of these echoes have little unique animations aside from the minimum taunts and victory animations.
Chrom and Ken got the best treatment as far as echo fighters are concerned. Chrom is a similar echo fighter to Lucina in that he does not have Roy’s sweetspot mechanic, and even power distributed across his sword. He also possesses unique animations outside of victory animations and taunts. His idle animations are all unique, and he has slightly altered animations for several of his attacks (for the attacks where Roy hold his sword in the reverse grip, Chrom holds the sword in the regular grip). Chrom outright has two different moves from Roy, an unique recovery (Soaring Slash) and Final Smash (Awakening Aether). Gameplay wise, the only echo that exceeds Chrom is Ken.
Ken is in a league all his own. He is closer to a semi-clone than the rest of the echo fighters, to the point where Sakurai mused to himself in a column that the only reason Ken is still considered an echo fighter despite all his differences is simply because “he said so”. Ken is faster than Ryu for both walk and run speed, has different properties for all of his specials, two unique Final Smashes, two unique command inputs, an unique held neutral attack, an unique held forward tilt, an unique forward Smash, unique neutral air, unique up air, and unique back throw. Ken is a semi-clone given the echo designation.
Now where does Dark Samus fit in this? She obviously has more differences to her than Daisy and Richter. However, she does not have any major gameplay differences to any of her moves like the rest of the echo fighters. However, this would do an absolutely disservice to just what makes Dark Samus stand out compared to the rest of the echo fighters, and that attribute being the large amount of unique animations that she possesses.
Dark Samus is an echo fighter, that possesses unique animation in places where many semi-clones do not have them. Dark Samus has the most unique animations of an echo fighter aside from possibly Ken. She possesses an unique onscreen debut animation (which is a subtle reference to a Japanese Prime 2 interview for how she managed to make herself to Aether). She also possesses an unique idle animation, as well as unique animations for all of her walk speeds and dash (the only echo that has this attribute). Dark Samus is also the only echo to possess unique jump animations, unique roll animations, an unique dodge animation, an unique perfect shield animation (which she makes a similar pose as her official Prime 3 artwork), and an unique turn around animation (notice how her body jerks around after you pivot after you are done dashing). Dark Samus also has unique animations for her Smashes (especially forward smash), and two of her specials (side special and neutral special). Dark Samus also has unique touches to her such as her arm cannon splitting apart for certain attacks (like her Smash forward and Final Smash), and even sprouting phazon tendrils. A lot of animation work was put into her.
Dark Samus is on another level in terms of animation differences. She probably had the most animation work put into her of all the echo fighters, and possibly on par with Ken. Heck, she has more unique animations than many of the clones (such as Dr. Mario, Young Link, and maybe Pichu). Unlike many semi-clones, Dark Samus possesses unique animations outside of attacks. Her non-gameplay animations (jumping, walk/run, dodge, idle) are all unique.
The uniqueness of her animations are enough to make her stand out as a character even though she is 95% similar to Samus gameplay wise. I must really commend the work the Ultimate team gave to Dark Samus in terms of animations. She might even have more than Ken. Dark Samus might be the most interesting echo fighter for this reason. In general, the echo fighter category is one that has a lot of flexibility, thus you see fighters like Richter who might as well be an alternate costume to Ken who is practically a semi-clone.
Dark Samus falls somewhere in between. She stands out more than Richter and Daisy and probably Dark Pit, but she does not have the gameplay differences Lucina, Chrom, and Ken have. However, Dark Samus is peculiar in that her animation differences are vast and more extensive than most of the echo lineup with the only possible exception of Ken. Differences for walk/run, dodge, roll, and jumping are not even typically found among the regular type of clones.
The development team gave Dark Samus a lot of love for an echo fighter. It was not simply a lazy addition. The only additional things I would have asked for while still being true to being a typical echo fighter were if she had actual gameplay differences for two of her specials, as well as her haunting cackle as one of her taunts. A track rip of her boss fight theme from Prime 2 or Prime 3 would also have been nice.
Dark Samus’s addition helped make the Metroid series “complete” in terms of playable representation. I remember back in 2008 thinking Dark Samus no longer had a decent shot of being a part of the roster since her time in the Metroid series was likely over. I never personally desired Dark Samus because I was entirely focused on Ridley getting in. However, I remember thinking back when playing Prime 2 what a cool character she was despite having an unoriginal name.
However, I remember back in the day just saying Dark Samus had no place getting in before Ridley. The thing is I remember wishing Metroid was just Samus, Ridley, and Dark Samus, but the inclusion of Zero Suit Samus meant that only one of the latter two would make it into Brawl, and once Brawl was released, it seemed like Dark Samus was shut out forever.
Seeing her on the roster, also made me remember an idea I wrote a decade ago about how clones could give characters that or minor or no longer relevant in their franchises a chance to be on the roster. The specific example I used was Vaati, who was the villain of sub-series of three games in the Zelda series much like Dark Samus is within the Metroid franchise.
The reception about Dark Samus’s moveset echoes (heh) a lot of the same sentiment that I heard when Ganondorf was a clone in Melee. However, unlike Ganondorf, there was not going to be a possible later date for her possible inclusion. Dark Samus was on the verge of being forgotten, and once Prime 4 releases, Sylux would be seen as a much higher priority for inclusion.
The next game in the Super Smash Bros. series is likely going to purge much of Ultimate’s roster unfortunately, and likely at the top of the list for cuts are clones and characters that are no longer relevant within their own franchises, a quality that Dark Samus has both of.
I do hope that Dark Samus does someday have a moveset that incoporates much of her own unique abilities, but it is a flat out miracle that Dark Samus even managed to make it into the roster as an echo fighter, and for her to get special treatment as an echo fighter.
My hope is that Sakurai and his team do at least give some more gameplay differences to the echo fighters before all development and work on Ultimate is completely wrapped up. Even slightly tweaked properties for specials would go a long way.
However, I am just thankful Dark Samus managed to make the roster at all, and was one of many pleasant surprises that Ultimate had for me personally. Dark Samus is a very underrated character in general and probably one of Nintendo’s best villains, and I always thought the Prime series deserved more content in Smash Bros.
I hope this post highlights not just how miraculous it was that Dark Samus made it onto the roster, but also that there was quite a bit of work put into her despite being an echo fighter. I think the amount of unique animations she has is very much overlooked.
I don’t know what measures can be taken to make sure she survives a large contraction of the roster, but hopefully if she does she also manages to be worked into having the unique abilities she displayed in the Prime games.
However, what Dark Samus is and mean is very important. It shows a character can still make the roster even when nearly all hope seems lost, that its still possible to be included even if you do not have a large and loud fanbase or have a lot of prominence.
Dark Samus was finished as a character in her own franchise for over a decade by the time Ultimate was released. She never managed to come from underneath the shadow Ridley cast over her, and her best poll results after Brawl’s release were usually within the lower end of the Top 20. Lots of characters overshadowed her for movements. Yet somehow, Dark Samus managed to make it in despite breaking all the conventional beliefs about what it takes to be included in Smash. She was old news, not a Smash Bubble rockstar, hailed from a smaller franchise, and for her category of fighter (echo) there were lots of candidates that were much more recognizable than her.
Yet despite all the odds, Dark Samus manged to be selected as one of Ultimate’s five echoes. It is a testament to fans of ALL characters that hope can still exist for your character of choice, even if the situation looks conventionally extremely dire.
I apologize for this essay being quite a bit longer than planned. However, I hope it does help those who feel disappointed with how Dark Samus turned out gain a new perspective about her inclusion. Her inclusion on the roster is simply miraculous, and arguably the most miraculous one of them all.
I do appreciate the work the team put into her all her animations to help her feel more like Dark Samus. I think personally that succeeded. She is one echo were the animations alone are enough reason to try out the character, and that might actually make her interesting as an echo.
The inclusion of Dark Samus onto Ultimate’s roster is a story of hope to all character hopes out there. The deck was stacked against her and she was essentially a relic from the pre-Brawl days.
Dark Samus was a character whose prominence in her series was over for over a decade. Also, she was not a request superstar (though I surmise she did well enough on the ballot to catch Sakurai’s attention for a possible echo candidate). Metroid itself also got its “quota” in already having a newcomer with Ridley finally being added. According to conventional belief and speculation ideals, Dark Samus seemed doomed to never ever make it into Smash Bros.
However, as has been said in regards to Ultimate as a whole, the possible was made possible in regards to it happening. While Dark Samus is an echo fighter, the team certainly did what they can to distinguish her from Samus while having to devote little if any additional balancing time and effort to her as a separate entity.
Moreover, her inclusion in Ultimate means she gets her own piece of merchandise. By comparison, Daisy and Chrom both had received amiibos prior to their inclusion of Smash. The amiibo of Dark Samus will probably be the only piece of merchandise this character ever will receive (same with many other characters on Ultimate’s roster).
I strongly urge everyone who read this piece to try out Dark Samus again and observe all the different animations I listed to see just how much work the team put into her, especially relative to other echoes. She was a great addition on the roster, and while not perfect, I applaud Sakurai and his team for implementing her.
Dark Samus was never a character that I asked for. For me personally, she never registered as a character desire because Ridley was my single most wanted newcomer. There was a period where I thought of Dark Samus being a newcomer alongside Ridley for Smash 3 from early 2005 to mid 2006, but the moment Zero Suit Samus was announced, I felt it was either going to be Ridley or Dark Samus going forward, and I wanted Ridley by far. I was agreeing she would make a great choice for the roster, but felt Ridley needed to be there first. However, my dream was that both Ridley and Dark Samus would make a Smash roster together, but felt it was unlikely to happen ever happen.
However, Dark Samus somehow ended up joining the battle. To me even her presence on the roster is still surreal even over a year later. Her inclusion story I felt was unsung in comparison to many other newcomers that have made it into Ultimate, and I hope this essay shows not only how miraculous it was but also that there was quite a bit of work put into her inclusion as an echo fighter.
Thank you for your time in reading this piece.
Dark Samus is a Western created character. Of these, all of the ones that have been included have had massive fan campaigns for their inclusion. Dark Samus by comparison was barely a blip on the radar and had lost much of her fanbases and requests over the course of this decade as the Metroid Prime trilogy gradually faded from contemporary memory. Her support topic during pre-Smash 4 was only nine pages long, and got locked before the Smash Ballot was announced (so she has no base to which to rally her for the ballot). The demand for her, like with Castlevania, was a quiet one outside of the “Smash Bubble”.
I wrote this in the celebratory confirmation topic for Dark Samus:
If Metroid Prime 3 had not been released after Brawl was in Japan, Sakurai might never have looked at the game to throw it a bone in terms of content. Dark Samus making it in as an Assist Trophy was absolutely critical to Dark Samus getting upgraded. Again, if it were not for Prime 3 releasing after Brawl, and Sakurai wanting to throw that game (he gave most of the new Metroid content in Smash 4 from Other M) a bone, Dark Samus could very well not have made it since he likely would probably have not have been personally aware of her (and thus realize how feasible of an echo fighter she would be).
Also, the fact that echo fighters even exist is another star that had to align for DS. The reason the echoes even came about was due to Sakurai bringing back Dr. Mario as a costume and then having second faults about how his particular fans would feel about him losing what made him unique from Mario. Sakurai making Dr. Mario his own character again was the impetus Sakurai needed to decided "why not upgrade Lucina and Dark Pit."
The ballot happening was another thing that needed to happen. People had to ask for Dark Samus to show she had enough popularity to even be upgraded. Ridley being a boss, likely siphoned some votes from Ridley to Dark Samus seeing as most people thought the ballot was for Smash 4 DLC.
Another star that had to align was the fact that Ultimate is true newcomer poor. There are likely only a few non-echo newcomers left. Sakurai added the clones in Melee due to feeling he did not add in enough newcomers (only eight at the time). The echoes fulfill the same purpose. They boost the number of new fighters to the game.
Dark Samus right now is the only character aside from Little Mac to have been promoted from an Assist Trophy. LITTLE MAC. Look at how big the Ashley thread was. Look at how loud Waluigi fans are. Dark Samus managed to do something only one other fighter was ever able to do (maybe you can say Charizard managed to do it too since he was a Pokeball Pokemon in 64 and Melee). Little Mac (and Charizard) are iconic legends. Dark Samus defied all of these odds and made it in. Even echo status is impressive for Dark Samus.
Later I wrote this, after the entire base roster was known in the beginning of November 2018:
I do not mean to make a second post in a row. However, with us knowing the final roster, and Sakurai saying there will not be any echoes as DLC, this just further cements just how lucky Dark Samus was to make it. Not even Shadow, Impa, or Octoling were able to make it as echo fighters. Daisy, Chrom, and Ken all had major appearances in recent years (Daisy in Super Mario Run and almost every Mario spinoff, Chrom in Fire Emblem Warriors where he even got an amiibo, Ken in Street Fighter V). Richter got in through being the character whom much of Simon's moves were taken from (as well as being the Belmont from arguably the most popular Castlevania title, Symphony of the Night). Dark Samus by comparison made her last appearance 11 years ago, and hails from a franchise where it took 17 years of high volume requests just to get the most iconic and popular character after Samus in (Ridley).
Out of 11 newcomers and only five echo slots, Dark Samus managed to make it in.
and
Another thing to consider is that Dark Samus is the only character aside from Isabelle and Little Mac to be promoted from an Assist Trophy. Isabelle is an icon for one of Nintendo's most popular franchises (she is probably the most popular Animal Crossing character at this point), and Little Mac was the face of one of Nintendo's long running franchises (older than every franchise except Mario, DK, and Game & Watch) that had a very successful Wii installment. Not even Shadow (who seemed like an easy echo) made the jump. Dark Samus's promotion was a fortunate anomaly.
Dark Samus beat absolutely incredible odds to even become an Echo Fighter. Dark Samus’s inclusion on the roster was not a result of a massive fan outcry, relevance, Sakurai’s own personal favoritism, or strange whims (like the reasoning behind why Piranha Plant and why Dr. Mario was originally included in Melee). Sure she was popularly requested, but I imagine there were many other characters that had higher requests for her.
When Brawl was released, there was at least a “next time” for Ridley fans, but for Dark Samus fans the fact was that Prime 2 and Prime 3 would simply be getting older and more forgotten, as well as the fact that Ridley would always cast an ever growing shadow over her. Dark Samus was actually in requests where K. Rool was during most of pre-Brawl. She was popular and well-liked, but most Metroid fans saw Ridley as the bigger priority (much like with Diddy Kong in comparison to K. Rool).
Two years ago, who would have thought that out of Metroid, Kirby, Donkey Kong, and Star Fox, that Metroid would be the first one to four playable characters, and that if Metroid ever did get to four playable characters, that even Dark Samus would be among them (especially with Sylux poised to be a to major character in Prime 4).
Dark Samus’s inclusion was simply miraculous.
In regards to her inclusion as an echo fighter, while its a shame she never got to exhibit any of her unique abilities as a playable figher in Smash Bros., she got a lot of attention as far as echo fighters are concerned.
Among the game’s seven echo fighters, there is a lot of variation in terms of how much they differ.
Both Daisy and Richter are the two echo fighters with the least differences from the character that they are echoing. Richter does have one gameplay difference separating him from Simon, but it only matters in a handful of match-ups (Richter’s holy water not having fire properties), but he has no unique animations (he is simply more “bouncy” than Simon for his idle animation). Daisy has no gameplay differences, but a few unique animations (outside of taunts and victory animations) such as her onscreen debut animation, her idle animations, her dash/run animation, and her turnaround animation, as well as unique graphics for several attacks (like daisies replacing hearts and having different artwork for her Final Smash).
With Lucina and Dark Pit, there are are almost no unique animations outside of victory animations and taunts (both have an unique no contest/defeat animation, and Lucina has a slightly different animation for Shield Breaker and for her onscreen debut animation), but minor gameplay differences. Dark Pit only having two of his specials have different properties and an unique Final Smash. Lucina on the otherhand is among the most different echo fighters gameplay wise simply due to her not possessing Marth’s tipper mechanic, as well as different property for her up aerial move. However, otherwise, both of these echoes have little unique animations aside from the minimum taunts and victory animations.
Chrom and Ken got the best treatment as far as echo fighters are concerned. Chrom is a similar echo fighter to Lucina in that he does not have Roy’s sweetspot mechanic, and even power distributed across his sword. He also possesses unique animations outside of victory animations and taunts. His idle animations are all unique, and he has slightly altered animations for several of his attacks (for the attacks where Roy hold his sword in the reverse grip, Chrom holds the sword in the regular grip). Chrom outright has two different moves from Roy, an unique recovery (Soaring Slash) and Final Smash (Awakening Aether). Gameplay wise, the only echo that exceeds Chrom is Ken.
Ken is in a league all his own. He is closer to a semi-clone than the rest of the echo fighters, to the point where Sakurai mused to himself in a column that the only reason Ken is still considered an echo fighter despite all his differences is simply because “he said so”. Ken is faster than Ryu for both walk and run speed, has different properties for all of his specials, two unique Final Smashes, two unique command inputs, an unique held neutral attack, an unique held forward tilt, an unique forward Smash, unique neutral air, unique up air, and unique back throw. Ken is a semi-clone given the echo designation.
Now where does Dark Samus fit in this? She obviously has more differences to her than Daisy and Richter. However, she does not have any major gameplay differences to any of her moves like the rest of the echo fighters. However, this would do an absolutely disservice to just what makes Dark Samus stand out compared to the rest of the echo fighters, and that attribute being the large amount of unique animations that she possesses.
Dark Samus is an echo fighter, that possesses unique animation in places where many semi-clones do not have them. Dark Samus has the most unique animations of an echo fighter aside from possibly Ken. She possesses an unique onscreen debut animation (which is a subtle reference to a Japanese Prime 2 interview for how she managed to make herself to Aether). She also possesses an unique idle animation, as well as unique animations for all of her walk speeds and dash (the only echo that has this attribute). Dark Samus is also the only echo to possess unique jump animations, unique roll animations, an unique dodge animation, an unique perfect shield animation (which she makes a similar pose as her official Prime 3 artwork), and an unique turn around animation (notice how her body jerks around after you pivot after you are done dashing). Dark Samus also has unique animations for her Smashes (especially forward smash), and two of her specials (side special and neutral special). Dark Samus also has unique touches to her such as her arm cannon splitting apart for certain attacks (like her Smash forward and Final Smash), and even sprouting phazon tendrils. A lot of animation work was put into her.
Dark Samus is on another level in terms of animation differences. She probably had the most animation work put into her of all the echo fighters, and possibly on par with Ken. Heck, she has more unique animations than many of the clones (such as Dr. Mario, Young Link, and maybe Pichu). Unlike many semi-clones, Dark Samus possesses unique animations outside of attacks. Her non-gameplay animations (jumping, walk/run, dodge, idle) are all unique.
The uniqueness of her animations are enough to make her stand out as a character even though she is 95% similar to Samus gameplay wise. I must really commend the work the Ultimate team gave to Dark Samus in terms of animations. She might even have more than Ken. Dark Samus might be the most interesting echo fighter for this reason. In general, the echo fighter category is one that has a lot of flexibility, thus you see fighters like Richter who might as well be an alternate costume to Ken who is practically a semi-clone.
Dark Samus falls somewhere in between. She stands out more than Richter and Daisy and probably Dark Pit, but she does not have the gameplay differences Lucina, Chrom, and Ken have. However, Dark Samus is peculiar in that her animation differences are vast and more extensive than most of the echo lineup with the only possible exception of Ken. Differences for walk/run, dodge, roll, and jumping are not even typically found among the regular type of clones.
The development team gave Dark Samus a lot of love for an echo fighter. It was not simply a lazy addition. The only additional things I would have asked for while still being true to being a typical echo fighter were if she had actual gameplay differences for two of her specials, as well as her haunting cackle as one of her taunts. A track rip of her boss fight theme from Prime 2 or Prime 3 would also have been nice.
Dark Samus’s addition helped make the Metroid series “complete” in terms of playable representation. I remember back in 2008 thinking Dark Samus no longer had a decent shot of being a part of the roster since her time in the Metroid series was likely over. I never personally desired Dark Samus because I was entirely focused on Ridley getting in. However, I remember thinking back when playing Prime 2 what a cool character she was despite having an unoriginal name.
However, I remember back in the day just saying Dark Samus had no place getting in before Ridley. The thing is I remember wishing Metroid was just Samus, Ridley, and Dark Samus, but the inclusion of Zero Suit Samus meant that only one of the latter two would make it into Brawl, and once Brawl was released, it seemed like Dark Samus was shut out forever.
Seeing her on the roster, also made me remember an idea I wrote a decade ago about how clones could give characters that or minor or no longer relevant in their franchises a chance to be on the roster. The specific example I used was Vaati, who was the villain of sub-series of three games in the Zelda series much like Dark Samus is within the Metroid franchise.
The reception about Dark Samus’s moveset echoes (heh) a lot of the same sentiment that I heard when Ganondorf was a clone in Melee. However, unlike Ganondorf, there was not going to be a possible later date for her possible inclusion. Dark Samus was on the verge of being forgotten, and once Prime 4 releases, Sylux would be seen as a much higher priority for inclusion.
The next game in the Super Smash Bros. series is likely going to purge much of Ultimate’s roster unfortunately, and likely at the top of the list for cuts are clones and characters that are no longer relevant within their own franchises, a quality that Dark Samus has both of.
I do hope that Dark Samus does someday have a moveset that incoporates much of her own unique abilities, but it is a flat out miracle that Dark Samus even managed to make it into the roster as an echo fighter, and for her to get special treatment as an echo fighter.
My hope is that Sakurai and his team do at least give some more gameplay differences to the echo fighters before all development and work on Ultimate is completely wrapped up. Even slightly tweaked properties for specials would go a long way.
However, I am just thankful Dark Samus managed to make the roster at all, and was one of many pleasant surprises that Ultimate had for me personally. Dark Samus is a very underrated character in general and probably one of Nintendo’s best villains, and I always thought the Prime series deserved more content in Smash Bros.
I hope this post highlights not just how miraculous it was that Dark Samus made it onto the roster, but also that there was quite a bit of work put into her despite being an echo fighter. I think the amount of unique animations she has is very much overlooked.
I don’t know what measures can be taken to make sure she survives a large contraction of the roster, but hopefully if she does she also manages to be worked into having the unique abilities she displayed in the Prime games.
However, what Dark Samus is and mean is very important. It shows a character can still make the roster even when nearly all hope seems lost, that its still possible to be included even if you do not have a large and loud fanbase or have a lot of prominence.
Dark Samus was finished as a character in her own franchise for over a decade by the time Ultimate was released. She never managed to come from underneath the shadow Ridley cast over her, and her best poll results after Brawl’s release were usually within the lower end of the Top 20. Lots of characters overshadowed her for movements. Yet somehow, Dark Samus managed to make it in despite breaking all the conventional beliefs about what it takes to be included in Smash. She was old news, not a Smash Bubble rockstar, hailed from a smaller franchise, and for her category of fighter (echo) there were lots of candidates that were much more recognizable than her.
Yet despite all the odds, Dark Samus manged to be selected as one of Ultimate’s five echoes. It is a testament to fans of ALL characters that hope can still exist for your character of choice, even if the situation looks conventionally extremely dire.
I apologize for this essay being quite a bit longer than planned. However, I hope it does help those who feel disappointed with how Dark Samus turned out gain a new perspective about her inclusion. Her inclusion on the roster is simply miraculous, and arguably the most miraculous one of them all.
I do appreciate the work the team put into her all her animations to help her feel more like Dark Samus. I think personally that succeeded. She is one echo were the animations alone are enough reason to try out the character, and that might actually make her interesting as an echo.
The inclusion of Dark Samus onto Ultimate’s roster is a story of hope to all character hopes out there. The deck was stacked against her and she was essentially a relic from the pre-Brawl days.
Dark Samus was a character whose prominence in her series was over for over a decade. Also, she was not a request superstar (though I surmise she did well enough on the ballot to catch Sakurai’s attention for a possible echo candidate). Metroid itself also got its “quota” in already having a newcomer with Ridley finally being added. According to conventional belief and speculation ideals, Dark Samus seemed doomed to never ever make it into Smash Bros.
However, as has been said in regards to Ultimate as a whole, the possible was made possible in regards to it happening. While Dark Samus is an echo fighter, the team certainly did what they can to distinguish her from Samus while having to devote little if any additional balancing time and effort to her as a separate entity.
Moreover, her inclusion in Ultimate means she gets her own piece of merchandise. By comparison, Daisy and Chrom both had received amiibos prior to their inclusion of Smash. The amiibo of Dark Samus will probably be the only piece of merchandise this character ever will receive (same with many other characters on Ultimate’s roster).
I strongly urge everyone who read this piece to try out Dark Samus again and observe all the different animations I listed to see just how much work the team put into her, especially relative to other echoes. She was a great addition on the roster, and while not perfect, I applaud Sakurai and his team for implementing her.
Dark Samus was never a character that I asked for. For me personally, she never registered as a character desire because Ridley was my single most wanted newcomer. There was a period where I thought of Dark Samus being a newcomer alongside Ridley for Smash 3 from early 2005 to mid 2006, but the moment Zero Suit Samus was announced, I felt it was either going to be Ridley or Dark Samus going forward, and I wanted Ridley by far. I was agreeing she would make a great choice for the roster, but felt Ridley needed to be there first. However, my dream was that both Ridley and Dark Samus would make a Smash roster together, but felt it was unlikely to happen ever happen.
However, Dark Samus somehow ended up joining the battle. To me even her presence on the roster is still surreal even over a year later. Her inclusion story I felt was unsung in comparison to many other newcomers that have made it into Ultimate, and I hope this essay shows not only how miraculous it was but also that there was quite a bit of work put into her inclusion as an echo fighter.
Thank you for your time in reading this piece.
5th alt(aka Dante skin)
