No one's interest in a character being playable for Smash Bros. 4 runs as deep as my interest for Ridley (though I personally went daww at Habanero's personal reason for Palutena, very cute):
I have been a fan of Ridley ever since I played Super Metroid back in 1994. Ridley was so unlike any other video game villain I had seen before in my life. He was menacing and cool. I also liked how he basically won the first fight between him and Samus in Super. This was the first time I ever saw a bad guy get away and win in any medium. Ridley was unlike anything I had ever seen before in my life. The fact that Samus, a futuristic space warrior, had an enemy that looked like a something that belonged in a fantasy universe, made Ridley even cooler.
I considered Ridley to be Samus's true enemy long before he was given that distinction. When I was young, I knew who ever the final boss was in a video game, was the main villain to that game, and most people considered Mother Brain to be the main villain for the Metroid series, but to me, I thought that Ridley for some reason, was Samus's real enemy, despite having all to go by it was the fact that he stole the Metroid hatchling and was one of Mother Brain's main generals. There was also the fact that Ridley was featured on the box and cartridge art for Super Metroid that made me think that there was a lot more to Ridley.
I was such a big fan of Metroid, Samus, and Ridley that I cut out artwork of Samus and Ridley from magazines and attached the cutouts to pencils, and basically used them as toys (anything can be something to be played with with a child's imagination I suppose).
The second fight with Ridley in Super Metroid was perhaps the most epic fight I had ever experienced in a video game up until that point. After combing through Super Metroid for hours, and having spent years trying to get through the game (I was really young), I finally got to Ridley's lair (which was quite goose-bump inducing experience in it of itself, it really felt like a final area to me more than merely another area for another one of Mother Brain's underlings). Fighting Ridley proved to be a massive ordeal. No matter how hard I tried, Ridley would keep killing me. I actually had to go back and explore more of the game for more energy tanks and super missiles to be able to having a fighting chance against Ridley. When I felt I had enough, I continued to fight Ridley, but kept losing. Fighting against Ridley truly felt like an adrenaline rush, it was a fight to the finish. Unlike the other major bosses in the game, Ridley like myself, had no particular weakpoint and could be hurt by shooting him anywhere on his body. It was all a matter of who could inflict the most amount of damage on the other one in a short amount of time, it was truly an epic fight. Eventually I actually ended up killing Ridley. Expecting some sort of awesome upgrade upon defeating him, I entered the next room, only to find the broken case for the Metroid hatchling. It was there I knew, that Ridley personally hated Samus for some reason. He left a broken case there in case he was ever defeated to mentally taunt and torment Samus from beyond the grave. He was truly the best video game villain I had ever seen.
Samus and Ridley were two of my favorite video game characters ever, and I very anxiously awaited a fourth game in the Metroid series throughout the late 1990's. I constantly replayed Metroid 1, Metroid II, and Super Metroid, in anticipation that a Nintendo 64 would eventually be announced.
When my family finally got the internet in 1997, I was surprised to see that so many other people also loved Super Metroid. I discovered a Metroid fansite called the Metroid Database. Every week or so, I would check that site for any news or rumblings pertaining to a possible new Metroid game.
In late 1998, there was an entry saying something along the lines of "Samus finally makes her Nintendo 64 debut", and I was ecstatic because I thought finally a new Metroid game had been announced. However, when I clicked on the entry it talked about a fighting game and linked to an IGN story.
The IGN story talked about fighting game featuring all of Nintendo's major heroes and amongst them Samus. (Reading the article again recently there was a lot of incorrect information, such as saying Wario, Diddy Kong, and Peach were playable characters, which goes to show video game journalism has always been shoddy).
Needless to say I was overcome with joy. Not only would Samus finally make a new major appearance on a game console, but all of my other favorite video game characters (which were mostly Nintendo) would be in as well. It was like some some sort of fantasy come true.
I anxiously awaited the release of Smash 64. Samus, Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Yoshi, Kirby, and Pikachu all being in the same game was really amazing to see. I was even surprised and happy to see they brought in Ness (EarthBound was yet another game I liked that none of my classmates knew about). Smash Bros. seemed to be a game made just for me.
When Smash Bros. was finally released in the West, I was absolutely blown away when I actually got my hands on it. The items, the stages, the roster, everything amazed me. It very quickly became one of my favorite games for the Nintendo 64. I was even endeared with the "nonsense pick" Jigglypuff (back then, people had no idea why Jigglypuff was chosen as Pokemon's second playable character aside from perhaps Jiggly having a similar body to Kirby). The more I played, the more it became one of my favorite games ever.
One day, I was playing on the Planet Zebes stage, and I saw a figure flying in the background. It was none other than Ridley. Ridley was my favorite creature/character/thing from Metroid aside from Samus, and I could not believe that they actually included a cameo for him in Smash 64. It was after this that I started thinking about the possibility of Ridley being playable in a Smash Bros. 2, however, I doubted it would happen due to the state of the Metroid series at the time (I thought there would be more focus to giving the new characters to Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Kirby, and DK).
I was still ecstatic that they even bothered to give Ridley a cameo in Smash Bros. However, I knew that Ridley would not happen for Smash Bros. 2 unless Metroid became a major series again and received new installments. I knew that a new Metroid game would eventually happen since so many people loved Samus in Smash 64.
The Space World 2000 tech demo for Metroid got be absolutely joyous. Despite being only a few seconds, I kept watching it over and over. I really wanted to experience the Metroid universe in beautiful glorious 3D.
When Smash Bros. 2 was finally shown in May 2001, it absolutely blew away my expectations. The graphics were a massive improvement over Smash 64 (the original Smash had poor graphics even by Nintendo 64 standards). However, the opening trailer they showed was absolutely incredible. Even to this day, I still prefer the E3 2001 unveil to the E3 2006 Smash Bros. trailer. It showed all the Nintendo characters in their various universes doing combat with their various rivals, with one especially bringing a huge grin to my face, Samus vs. Ridley!
It was from here that I thought the creators of Smash Bros. had a particular soft spot for Ridley. I thought now that Ridley had a pretty good shot at being a newcomer for Smash Bros. 2 (now with the official name of Melee).
I joined the Smash Bros. community with one of my aims being to help support Ridley for Melee. I was pretty much one of the first Ridley supporters. I was really surprised to see how much support there was for Ridley just based on his Melee trailer appearance. So many people thought Ridley's design was awesome and that he would make a great character for Melee. I thought since Prime and Fusion were in development, that they would put in Ridley to help promote the idea that the Metroid series was back now.
Half a year later, I found out that Ridley (and many of the other characters I supported for Melee) did not get in. However, I ended up greatly enjoying Melee and it became one of my favorite games of all time. I was especially taken aback when I read Ridley's Melee trophy where he was referred to as leader of the Space Pirates. This was the first time I had seen Ridley given a distinction beyond being just a major underling of Mother Brain. Between this line, and the amount of detail put into the Ridley trophy (as well as Ridley's cameo in Smash 64), I thought the developers of Smash Bros. had a soft spot Ridley, and felt the same way I did about him, that he was Samus's true arch-enemy.
I anxiously awaited the release of Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion. I was actually quite skeptical about Metroid Prime because I thought that they were going to turn Prime into a FPS and that is was going to mission and level-based, that it did not have the series veterans behind it, and that it was being made by an entirely new team. I was more looking forward to Fusion since I heard that was going to continue the story off of Super Metroid, while Prime was going to be a sidestory (though I remember at one point them Prime was going to take place after Super). Actually, one of the few things that gave me a lot more hope for Prime was the strong rumors about Ridley being in it. The idea of fighting Ridley in beautiful cutting edge 3D made my mouth water and gave me goosebumps.
Approaching the Fall, I was getting far more hype with Metroid Prime while my hype for Fusion was falling a bit. The screnshots I saw for Prime were the most amazing thing I ever saw in a game up until that point. Fusion ended up having its ROM dumped, and I found out from people that played the ROM dump, that Ridley did return for Fusion (I even looked at the screenshots for Ridley in it, and I was not impressed, and thought Fusion Ridley looked like a step down compared to Super's). There was also the impression that while the game was very good, it was definitely no Super Metroid.
I was really hyped for Prime. Anxiously counting down the days until release. All the perfect review scores the game was getting made the wait even more unbearable. When I finally bought Metroid Prime, I was immediately blown away by the graphics, atmosphere, and attention to the detail. However, I almost giggled like a school girl when I finally encountered Meta Ridley at the beggining of Prime. His 3D design was absolutely perfect, and it was more awesome than anything I was imagining. Samus's actions upon seeing Ridley further showed that there was something deeply personal between them.
Finally landing on Tallon IV is something I could never forget. It felt much closer to a living breathing world than anything else I had ever played up until that point. It truly felt like Super Metroid in 3D and in first person. The game just got better from there, and it ended up quickly becoming one of my favorite games of all time.
When I finally got to the end of the game, the Meta Ridley fight was really amazing. It easily became one of my favorite boss fights in any game ever. It was just so well made and done. It was a truly fitting fight for someone I felt was Samus's true nemesis.
Getting 100% in Prime 1, left me hungry for more, and I anxiously waited for Prime 2 (though I knew Ridley would most likely not show up for it). Metroid Zero Mission ended up being announced at E3 2003, which got my interest due to it being a remake of Metroid 1 (which was one of my favorite NES games). As the game got closer to release, the details of Ridley's importance role in it, got me more hyped for it. I wanted to see more of the Samus/Ridley rivalry.
I ended up really liking Zero Mission (its probably my third favorite Metroid), and I really liked the design for Ridley in it. It also cemented the fact that Ridley was the leader of the Space Pirates.
Soon after Zero Mission's release, I learned of the Metroid manga, and that Ridley was the one personally responsible for Samus being orphaned and raised by the Chozo (I already knew Space Pirates were behind Samus being orphaned and raised by Chozo back in the 1990's through the Nintendo Power Super Metroid comic, though looking at the Super comic again recently, it appears Ridley was involved in the attack there too). Ridley was truly Samus's arch-nemesis.
Ridley was my number one most wanted character for Smash Bros. 3 (though there were several other characters I wanted a lot such as Wario, Pit, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Diddy Kong, and Olimar). I was really excited and happy to see that so many people wanted Ridley too for Smash 3, and that even was even in the Top 5 at almost every site. I was really looking forward to a Smash 3 unveil because I knew that at least a few of the characters I wanted would be among the first newcomers unveiled, and that Ridley stood a good chance of being one of them.
When Smash Bros. 3 was finally unveiled, I was really ecstatic. I was really happy about Wario, Meta Knight, and Pit being confirmed (they were among my most wanted newcomers for Smash 3), though I was upset that they put in Zero Suit Samus over Ridley. I thought Zero Suit Samus was just there to give Smash Bros. sex appeal, and that Ridley far more deserved the second Metroid spot than ZSS did. I also did not like the idea of Snake getting in since he seemed so out of place in Smash Bros. and also being more an icon for the PlayStation brand than having anything to do with Nintendo.
As with Smash 64 and Brawl, I had a ton of hype for Brawl, and like with Melee, Ridley was still my most wanted newcomer (though I also really wanted Sonic, Diddy Kong, King Dedede, Olimar, and Mega Man). I thought there was nothing stopping Ridley's inclusion, as as far as I could see, he was basically in the Top 5 most wanted characters for Brawl, and in many cases he was the most wanted newcomer next to Sonic.
When Brawl was released, it turned out that nearly every character on my wishlist got in except for the character I wanted most, RIDLEY! I was also disappointed with Mewtwo and Roy being cut.
If it were not for Ridley's abscence in Brawl as a playable character, I probably would not be following and speculating for Smash 4. The only other true newcomer that I have a great desire to see added this time is Mega Man. I would also really like to see Mewtwo and Roy return as well.
I am closing in on nearly 20 years since I have become a fan of Ridley, nearly 15 years since I first started thinking about him as a playable character for Smash Bros., and 12 years since he became my most wanted newcomer for the Smash Bros. series.
It was the addition of Samus that enticed to the Smash Bros. franchise, and will finally be the addition of Ridley that will mark my contentment with the roster of it.
Regardless of whether Ridley is added to Smash 4 or not, this will be the last Smash Bros. game I will be following and buying.
Its really exciting for me since I may be just a few months away from Ridley finally being confirmed as a playable character within Smash Bros.
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