I think Ridley would be an S tier hype character for me if I was a bigger Metroid fan with a more lifelong attachment to the series. I adore Super Metroid but other than that I've only played some of the series here and there. Most of my Ridley hype was on the back of a solid decade of speculation and anticipation. I still was so happy to see him that I got out of my car where I was watching the Direct and jumped up and down in the parking lot.
Smash hype makes people do crazy things.
For my S tier hype picks...
Huge DKC fan, Diddy being one of my favorite Nintendo characters in general, DKC2 in my top 10 games. Both I wanted partially as a desire to see a return to glory for their franchise (keeping in mind Diddy was stuck in spin-off hell at the time of Brawl). The
decade of waiting for K. Rool added to it. Wondering if he'll ever be in Smash. Wondering what he would look like. Wondering if they would respond to our fan demand. Wondering if
he'd ever be in a video game again. To this day, K. Rool is still the most excited I've been for a Smash newcomer. But the second highest is...
I grew up with the Banjo games as bread and butter of my N64 experience, obviously being a huge Rare fan. The loss of Banjo was easily the most devastating thing about the buyout; I had trouble coming to terms with it when I read about it in Nintendo Power. Ever during Brawl speculation I remember talking to my friends saying "wouldn't it be great if Banjo got in Smash? Heh, just a silly pipe dream." I was skeptical even during the ballot days, but once K. Rool got added, my confidence in Banjo skyrocketed. Ten months later, here we are. Persona 5 and Banjo-Kazooie are both top 5 games for me and having both on the Fighters Pass, both so different but both so beloved by me, is mindblowing.
I first got into Final Fantasy playing IX after graduating high school in 2009 and absolutely loved it. I next moved on to FF7 and was fascinated by its setting and story; the mix of cyberpunk and fantasy was completely unique and I found the narrative and mystery around Cloud very well-done. I also played Crisis Core and enjoyed it quite a lot as well, but the original FF7, with its setting, story, themes, cast, and god tier soundtrack resonated with me very much, arguably even moreso today. Until I played Persona 5, FF7 was my all time favorite JRPG.
I got into Mega Man throughout the years in different ways, but I spent a ton of time in middle school playing the Mega Man Anniversary Collection on GameCube. Even if I couldn't beat any of the games (partially due to jump being B and shoot being A, oops), I poured so many hours into them. I later ran through 1-8 on my PSP proper, and loved 9 and 10 when they came out, 2 being my favorite and, sure enough, being in my top 10. I was a diehard Mega Man fan by the time Smash 4 was on the horizon and sure enough...
So yeah, besides arguably Cloud, I played all these characters' games starting in childhood. Having that nostalgic itch scratched really does wonders.
For A tier hype, it's very similar, just a bit less so:
Again, grew up playing Kirby games, loved these characters. Meta Knight was the first time I remember following Smash announcements and thinking "oh, awesome! They added that character!" Even if at the time I wasn't actively thinking about what characters I wanted in Smash, Meta Knight was the first time where I really felt the sense of excitement to see a new character that I love, waiting to play as them. That said, even if I liked Meta Knight more than Dedede, I felt Dedede deserved to be in too and would have felt disappointed if he missed out. Sure enough, Brawl pulled it off.
As discussed before, I am not a huge Metroid fan, but I do enjoy the series well enough and felt since Brawl Ridley deserved to be in. I was sympathetic to his diehard fans, especially as a K. Rool supporter, and the camaraderie between the two intensified the hype. Once I saw Ridley, not only was I excited about him, I was excited about K. Rool who I felt was almost certainly coming. Still, the fact that a character whose game I've only played to completion being Super Metroid still was a top 10 Smash newcomer reveal is a testament to the legendary status of Ridley in the Smash community. Never say too big.
Back during the Brawl days, I was adamantly against third parties and thought only ones with "close Nintendo connections" should get in. I didn't count Sonic in that since he was a recent immigrant to Nintendo systems, despite having a ton of Nintendo releases and Sonic Adventure 2 being one of my most played GameCube games. I was so adamant that Smash must stay "pure" as a Nintendo crossover and Sonic should stay out of it. At first I groaned upon seeing his reveal... then I watched his trailer and realized none of that mattered and was instantly hype. I watched that trailer dozens of times. It's still one of my favorite Smash trailers to this day, despite lacking the big flashy CGI of 4/Ultimate trailers. And the walls of third party barriers broke down further.
I had loved Persona 3 and 4, but kept 5 in my backlog for the longest time, saying I'd get to it eventually, but afraid of committing to a 100 hour RPG. Once Joker was revealed at the VGA, though, I knew it was time. I dived in and although I wasn't sure what to expect, I was blown away, totally addicted, playing it nonstop for a month. No other video game released in the last decade resonated with me as much as Persona 5. It was an incredible experience and I genuinely was sad when it was over, 100 hours later. I ended up starting New Game+ immediately. It spoke to me in a way very, very few video games have. I can only imagine how I would have reacted to the initial Joker reveal if I had already played Persona 5... but better late than never.
Overall, my top ten newcomer reveals are...
S Tier
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
A Tier
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Dang, this got kinda long. Fun fact: I made a 3x3 of my favorite games a while ago...
I'm not kidding when I say basically all my favorite games are in Smash Ultimate.
