Sakurai explains why Ridley isn't Playable.

[Naglfarii]

“I definitely know that Ridley’s a much-anticipated name for fans, but if we made Ridley as a fighter, it wouldn’t be Ridley any longer,” Sakurai told IGN in an email interview. “It’d have to be shrunk down, or its wings reduced in size, or be unable to fly around freely.”

“Providing accurate portrayals of characters is something I want to pay ample attention to,” he continued. “If I don’t stick to that thought, then we’d have to lower the quality or break the balance of the game. Something that goes way off spec could break the entire game.”

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/11...in-smash-bros?abthid=546d324b97bb8b3344000040

can't really say its surprising at this point (since he wasn't playable in this game). I was always someone on both sides of the fence as I really like ridley but can def see where he's coming from

 

[cybersai]

Well there you have it. Until Sakurai steps down as the director we'll never get Ridley playable.

For this reason alone I hope Sakurai doesn't return for Smash 5. Anyone who takes his place would make Ridley playable. Please let this be Sakurai's last Smash.

 

[Dan]

I read that, and I can respect where he's coming from, until I realized that Pikmin are like a centimeter tall. So right there that throws his reasoning right out the window. Maybe he is just a troll at heart, but anyway, he is still a loser for trolling him in the Direct.

Ridley deconfirmed for life though. He will never be playable. At least he set that straight.

 

[Naglfarii]

Well there you have it. Until Sakurai steps down as the director we'll never get Ridley playable.

For this reason alone I hope Sakurai doesn't return for Smash 5. Anyone who takes his place would make Ridley playable. Please let this be Sakurai's last Smash.

I think that's a bit of a silly reason to want him replaced, when he is such a big part of what makes the smash games great. ridley is only one character after all...

I read that, and I can respect where he's coming from, until I realized that Pikmin are like a centimeter tall. So right there that throws his reasoning right out the window. Maybe he is just a troll at heart, but anyway, he is still a loser for trolling him in the Direct.

Ridley deconfirmed for life though. He will never be playable. At least he set that straight.

but the game also has samus for reference. i think there'd be a larger sense of weirdness from a small ridley than a 'big' olimar. just sayin

 

[JohnathanACE]

Wow Sakurai is just trying to be a prick now.

 

[liets]

I read that, and I can respect where he's coming from, until I realized that Pikmin are like a centimeter tall. So right there that throws his reasoning right out the window. Maybe he is just a troll at heart, but anyway, he is still a loser for trolling him in the Direct.

Ridley deconfirmed for life though. He will never be playable. At least he set that straight.

The Pikmin thing is not a good argument; there are no other characters from the Pikmin games to compare the Pikmin and Olimar/Alph to, and so they fit fine. And in Pikmin, the playables are represented as normal-sized, not "holy flip those things are tiny" yet Ridley is already meant to be quite large

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Oh, goddamnit. "Too Big" is his serious reason. Fans don't care that much about that anyway, they just want him playable because he's an awesome choice.

 

[LunarDistortion]

I'm not too sad as he was already deconfirmed, but that could be it for Ridley's chances of ever becoming a Smash Bros. fighter.

Then again, he also said that Villager and the Mii's weren't possibilities, so I'm not taking this to heart.

 

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

I've always thought of Ridley the same way. A boss role fits him better.

Though I wouldn't mind him being playable.

 

[Pit_Icarus]

I understand and respect Sakurai's decision. There's only so much you can do with one character to make them a full character with moveset and all. I just hope the people who really wanted Ridley to be playable not get butthurt so much about this.

...Nope, pretty sure it's too late.

 

[Frostwraith]

Given the topic, I will be warning firsthand to avoid instigating arguments and flaming.

Stay civil lest this thread is locked and infractions are handed out.

 

[JDavisR (NIX)]

Welp guys, back to brawl vault to make some ridley over charizard skins

 

[the8thark]

Sakurai really gets it with what he said. I believe he is 100% correct. Ridley is as close to being a playable character as it can ever be. People should be happy about this. I know I am happy with Ridley as it is in SSB4. Ridley would be broken (or not correct as Sakurai says it) as a humanly playable character.

 

[Hayzie]

Ridley Schmidley, though. He's definitely in the game, though. Good service, imo. Sakurai has the right idea with game balance. Mini-Ridley who will automatically be nerfed isn't cool, guys.

 

[DarkFalcon]

Ouch. Well there's that. Still love Ridley and wish he was playable, but oh well.

 

[Farorae]

Thank you Sakurai! So tired of this Ridley stuff, totally not meant for the character life.

 

[Naglfarii]

Sakurai really gets it with what he said. I believe he is 100% correct. Ridley is as close to being a playable character as it can ever be. People should be happy about this. I know I am happy with Ridley as it is in SSB4. Ridley would be broken (or not correct as Sakurai says it) as a humanly playable character.

its totally understandable for people to not be happy about it, within reason. nothing is a good replacement for playable status

 

[the8thark]

Given the topic, I will be warning firsthand to avoid instigating arguments and flaming.

Stay civil lest this thread is locked and infractions are handed out.

Please do not spam the rules to us. If there is a problem then deal with it. But until then we don't need to be told/spammed "behave or get an infraction" in every possibly controversial topic that exists on these forums. We know the rules. We get them and we will obey them.

its totally understandable for people to not be happy about it, within reason. nothing is a good replacement for playable status

You are correct. People might not like it but it's for the better of the game. Just like the character and stage cuts. They hurt us (me too) but it's all for the better of the game. And by better I mean more fun. No SSB will ever be perfect and it won't please everyone perfectly, but as long as it's damn fun, then it has won.

 

[Dan]

The Pikmin thing is not a good argument; there are no other characters from the Pikmin games to compare the Pikmin and Olimar/Alph to, and so they fit fine. And in Pikmin, the playables are represented as normal-sized, not "holy flip those things are tiny" yet Ridley is already meant to be quite large

But even in Mario 64 and the newer Mario games Bowser is pretty damn large compared to Mario. I just don't see it. Maybe it is difficult to just make a 'big' character though.

 

[SmashBro99]

Bummer for his fans. I like Ridley seems cool but i agree 100% with Sakurai on this.

Let's be happy he got in as a BIG BADASS BOSS? They implemented him really well.

 

[XStarWarriorX]

But even in Mario 64 and the newer Mario games Bowser is pretty damn large compared to Mario. I just don't see it. Maybe it is difficult to just make a 'big' character though.

Bowser changes sizes all the time, his canon size is hard to determine. unlike ridley.

 

[TroperCase]

No big surprise. It's kind of a meme here* (one that's been used in very funny ways**).

Look on the bright side; if SSB4 can get hacked, there will be many wonderful possibilities by way of a) the patching system already in place and b) Ridley already kind of being in there. Even if he is too big in terms of fighting style, think of the 1v2 or 1v3 possibilities!

* Yes, I'm deliberately understating this.
** I mean that sincerely.

 

[Dan]

Like when Melee came out, wasn't Mario 64 the only 3D sample size to compare Mario vs. Bowser? And they shrunk Bowser and stuck him in there. I mean I'm just not buying it.

Okay... I will stop complaining now. I don't want to sound like some butthurt Ridley fan.

 

[Meta_Ridley]

Ah well. Maybe the next Metroid games will have a smaller Ridley. Other M Ridley was kind of ridiculous anyway.

(Though I'd rather just have another good 2-D Metroid than Ridley in Smash)

 

[LunarDistortion]

You are correct. People might not like it but it's for the better of the game. Just like the character and stage cuts. They hurt us (me too) but it's all for the better of the game. And by better I mean more fun. No SSB will ever be perfect and it won't please everyone perfectly, but as long as it's damn fun, then it has won.

I don't really see how something like this is better for the game. Sure, the game is more fun than previous titles in the series, but how is that because fan favorites like Wolf, Lucas, Ridley, and Snake are cut?

 

[Naglfarii]

it seems hilariously poorly timed, the day before the big launch for sakurai come by and drop all these sad bombs on us though.

"hey you guys excited for smash 4 wii u?! btw ridley is too big and dont count on dlc lol"

 

[Captain Fun]

Welp. People kinda threw around the 'too big' joke like it wasn't an actual thing.

Seems a bit silly, in hindsight.

 

[LordVacation]

I think that they tried to make Ridley playable, but in the end his size probably looked strange scaled down... depressing, but what can you do I guess...

Ridley's stock icon should be an emote.

 

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

Like when Melee came out, wasn't Mario 64 the only 3D sample size to compare Mario vs. Bowser? And they shrunk Bowser and stuck him in there. I mean I'm just not buying it.

Okay... I will stop complaining now. I don't want to sound like some butthurt Ridley fan.

Ridley is meant to be huge and menacing. Bowser can just be whatever he wants. That's just the nature of the Mario series. There are no defined rules or canon.

I never did get this argument.

 

[Frostwraith]

I think the point he's trying to make is that being a large menacing foe with freedom of flight is part of the character and he feels it would be detracting to have him portrayed as otherwise.

Overall, all the playable characters in Smash are true to source material. Yes, even Ganondorf. Falcon clone status aside, he is a an incredibly powerful warlock proficient in dark magic, just like the Zelda games.

Others are, of course, given a few creative liberties, but the essence of their character isn't lost.

The Olimar size argument... Well, of course he's got a minuscule size... All characters in Smash are given a minuscule size when fighting on the Pikmin stages. I think it's a matter of relativity. The Nintendogs stage also has the characters shrunk to minuscule sizes.

Ridley is always shown as imposing. One of the things that make him imposing is the humongous size relative to Samus.

Do note that I'm not necessarily agreeing with him, but I can see where Sakurai is getting at. I can see his point.

 

[Niala]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

omg this is poetry in ****ing motion you guys.

ALL THESE YEARS OF BIGLEY JOKES
AND IT TURNS OUT
RIDLEY IS TOO BIG

I'm not even sad, this is ****ing hilarious.

 

[liets]

But even in Mario 64 and the newer Mario games Bowser is pretty damn large compared to Mario. I just don't see it. Maybe it is difficult to just make a 'big' character though.

Well to be fair, Mario is a series known for time and time again not taking it's sizes, or much anything comparable, seriously

 

[Deleted member]

I agree with him 100%!

Ridley would look utterly ridiculous and it wouldn't be an accurate portrayal.

 

[Phenomiracle]

I agree with Sakurai entirely. Ridley being a stage boss is as close to "playable" as Ridley should ever be.

I hope that, just as he's aware of the incessant demands for Ridley's inclusion on the roster, he knows that there are plenty of us who agree with him.

 

[Naglfarii]

Well to be fair, Mario is a series known for time and time again not taking it's sizes, or much anything comparable, seriously

Mario is like, yeah we have toad and toadette, but they aren't a boy and a girl, they're just toads. "well that makes sense mushrooms have no gender" you say?? too bad they arent mushrooms either!

Mario is a very special series that doesn't give a **** about anything

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

The fact we saw a far smaller Ridley in Melee's intro is where an issue comes up. He clearly can downsize him. I can see how having a flying character would be unbalanced, though. Not that he couldn't work as a fighter in general, he just couldn't be properly balanced as is. Which is an issue, indeed.

 

[bkslider]

I'm not too sad as he was already deconfirmed, but that could be it for Ridley's chances of ever becoming a Smash Bros. fighter.

Then again, he also said that Villager and the Mii's weren't possibilities, so I'm not taking this to heart.

Yeah, Sakurai has never been one to follow through on random things he says in interviews.

After Brawl, I remember him saying something to the effect of he wouldn't use any characters who don't fight in their own game as an excuse for not including an Animal Crossing rep. (despite having R.O.B., G&W, and Captain Falcon be playable) Fast forward to E3 2013 and we get Villager AND Wii Fit Trainer.

Not to say that Ridley is going to be a thing, but we won't see Smash 5 for a long time. Assuming Sakurai returns as director, he'll have plenty of time to change his mind.

 

[Dan]

I mean, there are some damn good points in the IGN comment section:

There's always a way, if you're willing to try.

I mean, not to be too critical, but seriously...they've used a ton of creativity in designing the game. I'm sure they could've come up with a way to make Ridley work. It would be pretty unique if he could fly freely. Balanced by him being kind of lightweight (for a big dragon thing) and a HUGE target.

He sure didn't have to be a certain size. Ridley is always bigger than Samus, sure, but there's nothing definitive in the Metroid games. So what if he's the biggest character? Someone has to be. He would look fine if he was a little taller than Bowser.

They don't even have to make his wings smaller. Smash Bros. may have gameplay on only 2 planes, but the graphics are 3D. Have his wings extend out across the...depth plane? Z axis? Whatever you'd call the third part of the 3D.

*Wants to accurately portray characters*
*Makes Ganondorf a Captain Falcon clone*

I don't know. Maybe they did try and there was just no way it would work. That would make me feel better.

 

[Farorae]

it seems hilariously poorly timed, the day before the big launch for sakurai come by and drop all these sad bombs on us though.

"hey you guys excited for smash 4 wii u?! btw ridley is too big and dont count on dlc lol"

If you actually thought he was going to be DLC you were really grabbing at straws.

 

[XStarWarriorX]

I don't really see how something like this is better for the game. Sure, the game is more fun than previous titles in the series, but how is that because fan favorites like Wolf, Lucas, Ridley, and Snake are cut?

Mother series is dead so I understand why lucas isnt returning. Konami issues probably, dont care if MGS creator was "ok" with it. Wolf is ???? dlc maybe. and now you know ridley. Sakurai did an awesome job based on his rules for adding characters. and if there's gonna be DLC later on, you can bet he'll add more popular characters in that meet his criteria, so yeah.