Ridley is a boss character; at least the one in the pyrosphere stage,
Here is why:
1. "Other boss character appearance." BOSS Characters were talked about when showing the Yellow Devil.
Now some of you may think, "Oh well until he says its a boss character/stage hazard then I'll still say hes playable."
Well Sakurai himself said it, he clearly stated that other BOSS characters appear on other
stages after showing the Yellow Devil. And when this was said, Ridley was shown, implying that he is a boss character.
2. AI-like movements: I have went through the video frame by frame and have concluded it is indeed AI-like.
He holds out his claws as if ready to grab something and when it comes in range with Pikachu, it stops and moves very slightly for a moment as if preparing an attack
and then swoops down to grab Pikachu. There was no choppy animation when Ridley grabs Pikachu, it was very fluid-like, just like how a boss normally moves.
Some may say that it is odd for a boss character to grab and do absolutely nothing, but how do you know its not inflicting damage? Master Hand does the same exact thing.
3. Gameplay Issues: There are various issues that Ridley would bring to smash bros by being a playable character based on the one we saw in the direct.
Lets say he was in the game:
1. How are some characters (short ones mostly) even going to grab Ridley when its airborne?
2. So Ridley can fly off the stage without falling?
3. How is jumping going to work? If Ridley can stay airborne and being stationary, then he should be able to fly just about anywhere.
And if Ridley jumps and falls back down, will there be a set place in the air to fall back to? That is weird and makes no sense. He could just fl.y
unlimitedly.
4. TOO BIG! By the words of Shokio,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_H7X77lM4Y, Ridley is "big as sh**." I'm not talking about how he was big in the previous metroid games and how it would be weird to see a downsized Ridley, I'm saying the Ridley in the DIRECT was "big as sh**." Come on now, even if the camera was angled normally he would still look way bigger than Pikachu. Based on the picture someone on here posted, Pikachu was the size of Ridley's tailbone, now imagine how the full body would compare to Pikachu. At that size it would be weird to have four Ridley's in battlefield. Plus, the 3DS might not
even be able to handle 4 giant Ridleys at once.
In conclusion, If he ends up being a playable character, awesome. If he ends up not, then oh well, hopefully another character is worthy to be in Smash Bros.
You may think "What about the incident with Toon Link when he was replaced by Alfonzo?"
Well let me ask you this, is Toon Link a stage hazard? I don't think so. And whats going to replace the Ridley from other M? A different Ridley? I do not think that would seem right. The only boss that belongs in the Pyrosphere is Ridley from other m.
Thats pretty much all I have to say about Ridley. Also, to let you guys know I in no way hate Ridley, just not going to set myself up for disappointment.
I really do wish that I get shut up with a future Ridley reveal or something but other than that it is clear that the Ridley in the Pyrosphere is a boss.
Please be respectful about my opinion and do not reply if it is just you angry about my opinion.