Social Lower Norfair

[CaptainAmerica]

The boss in SSE was not insulting. He was one of the few non-original characters, and it was a fun fight. And he showed twice, and he had awesome attacks involving the stage.

The biggest insult was going to Sm4sh, since he got demoted to an annoying stage hazard from a bad*** boss. I never even play Pyrosphere because I’m salty.

 

[Morbi]

The boss in SSE was not insulting. He was one of the few non-original characters, and it was a fun fight. And he showed twice, and he had awesome attacks involving the stage.

The biggest insult was going to Sm4sh, since he got demoted to an annoying stage hazard from a bad*** boss. I never even play Pyrosphere because I’m salty.

The importance, in my opinion, is what Sakurai intended with that. And to that end, I genuinely believe he thought it was an upgrade and that he was doing something nice to recognize the importance of Ridley. While obviously it did not come across that way, it only bolsters the argument to include him in the first place. He has NEVER been more deserving of entry.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

You know, it might not be Sakurai's decision to not have Ridley. After all, anything he does with the characters has to pass with their usual dev teams. And if Yoshio Sakamoto says Ridley has to be 50ft tall in Smash, well...

Doubt it, Sakamoto isn't particularly strict about Metroid when it's out of his hands, Retro had complete creative freedom when making the Prime games for example. Even then I'm sure the higher ups at Nintendo would step in and put Sakamoto in his place, Metroid is a first party franchise and as a result Sakurai can do whatever he wants to with any bit of content from the series he might want in Smash, it's absolutely none of Sakamoto's business.

 

[Morbi]

You know, it might not be Sakurai's decision to not have Ridley. After all, anything he does with the characters has to pass with their usual dev teams. And if Yoshio Sakamoto says Ridley has to be 50ft tall in Smash, well...

I actually believe it might be the opposite. Maybe it was his decision and it is no longer in his hands because Nintendo had to step-in. Weird looking or no, Ridley is about as iconic as it gets and there is massive demand to be able to play him. The more mods that show it is possible, the less of an excuse he has. Ridley is in the tier right below Bowser and Ganondorf ffs. That is pretty damn high.

 

[StormC]

Has a director of a Nintendo game ever had his choice overruled by the company itself because of fan demand? That doesn't really seem like their MO to me. It isn't like the franchise is weak in sales and needs rejuvenation to get fans interested again.

 

[Morbi]

Has a director of a Nintendo game ever had his choice overruled by the company itself because of fan demand? That doesn't really seem like their MO to me. It isn't like the franchise is weak in sales and needs rejuvenation to get fans interested again.

Not necessarily overruled; however, they urged him to develop Corrin. It was not necessarily something he wanted to do. Beyond that, he stated he never really wanted PacMan, that was more of Miyamoto's thing and when Namco started co-developing, clearly SOMETHING changed. It is not as though they are overruling Sakurai so much as they influence his opinion greatly. If Nintendo thought that the "he would look funky" argument did not hold much water, they could ask him to try and see how it turns out, blah blah blah, you get my point.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

I know a lot of current videos with the likes of Ridley in the thumbnail can often just be seen as clickbait, but if they have something fair or interesting to say about the characters in question, I can usually entertain a watch no matter who it’s from. Might listen to the SG one later when I have more time... I think I remember a previous video from them some years back that gave some fair pros/cons about the main Metroid candidates (Ridley, Dark Samus, Sylux).

AndreaAC lol Sometimes I cringe at the impact or impression I made with the initial Rosalina hype, but at least like the art stuff of her and Ridley still has its cute place for some people on account of not being vore or anything...

 

[**Gilgamesh**]

Didn't Sakurai said they IF they spend alot of time tweaking a Ridley character eventually it can happen? But due to time constraints he was a BOSS in Smash WIi U / 3DS? Sakurai has been working on this title in secret for a while now.... wonder what things he has accomplished........ :D

I remember sakura saying that he could in fact add Ridley to the roster, but it would be time consuming

 

[StormC]

Here are the only two times Ridley has been mentioned by Sakurai:

“Q: There was a rumor at one point about Ridley being playable. Was that ever a consideration?

A: I think that would probably be pretty impossible…If we had put our best efforts into it, we may have been able to do it. But he might have been a little slow. Would that be all right?”

From Brawl.

Ridley: “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. It’d have to be shrunk down, or its wings reduced in size, or be unable to fly around freely.”

From 4.

https://sourcegaming.info/2016/04/29/duflupdate/

The former seems like more of a humorous response than anything. The second seems more like an official, serious explanation.

 

[Drclaw411]

I remember sakura saying that he could in fact add Ridley to the roster, but it would be time consuming

Now that DLC is a thing, this should be less of an issue. If developing Ridley means they can’t work on some Arms character, for example, they can always keep working and add it as DLC to promote the next Arms tournament or something.

 

[Reila]

The boss in SSE was not insulting. He was one of the few non-original characters, and it was a fun fight. And he showed twice, and he had awesome attacks involving the stage.

The biggest insult was going to Sm4sh, since he got demoted to an annoying stage hazard from a bad*** boss. I never even play Pyrosphere because I’m salty.

Smash 4 was insulting in quite a few ways for people who were hoping for long-time fan favorites. The Ridley stage hazard fiasco is probably the biggest slap in the face, though — In particular after staying silent for most of Smash 4's development.

 

[Morbi]

Now that DLC is a thing, this should be less of an issue. If developing Ridley means they can’t work on some Arms character, for example, they can always keep working and add it as DLC to promote the next Arms tournament or something.

Or the opposite, really. If Ridley does not make it on the base roster, he can have extra time post launch to figure it out. Ridley would likely be among the best selling as is.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Honestly, I knew Ridley was done for soon as I saw the big *** shadow in the Smash Direct and didn't want buy into the whole "conspiracy" theories about it being a playable Ridley.

Because no playable character can be that big and stay in midair too long, especially with that massive tail.

 

[IronTed]

I thought that in 2018 we would be done blaming Sakamoto for every bad thing Metroid-related.

I guess not.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Unfortunately.

But yeah, regardless of whose included, I can see Smash Switch having plenty DLC, perhaps even more than 3DS/Wii U got. Could be anyone’s potential ticket if like time constraints are an initial issue for them, though not gonna get my hopes up that much for Ridley still.

 

[A Distant Demon]

I dont think Ridley would be DLC TBH.

I imagine Ridley would have some role in the game alread, just like Smash For.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

I expect Smash 5 to get more DLC than Smash 4 did, it's coming out at the perfect time to take full opportunity of the Switch's success for a longer term. I do however think that for Ridley it's launch or bust, he'll have been one of the first characters to be taken into consideration, and if they can't get him to work yet again then that's not going to change in between release and whenever they stop making DLC.

I think we'll find out pretty early whether or not we'll have to wait for Smash 6 before he gets another chance, I'll even dare say that if he isn't revealed at E3 then it's pretty much guaranteed he won't be in this game.

 

[AwesomeAussie27]

Honestly, I knew Ridley was done for soon as I saw the big *** shadow in the Smash Direct and didn't want buy into the whole "conspiracy" theories about it being a playable Ridley.

Because no playable character can be that big and stay in midair too long, especially with that massive tail.

Same.

Not harping on anyone who wanted to cling to the shadow "theories", but I knew that all hope was lost for Ridley at the time.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Well one can hope, but yeah, that’s more likely the case unfortunately. Additional pushing for DLC won’t sway a director if their mind/vision has already been made up against including a certain character. We’re likely at the mercy of Sakurai’s opinion either way (base game or DLC) as per the usual.

Am a bit curious though as to how much Ridley would sell as DLC in relation to other characters. We’d might be lucky if that was ever taken into consideration.

 

[Drclaw411]

Well one can hope, but yeah, that’s more likely the case unfortunately. Additional pushing for DLC won’t sway a director if their mind/vision has already been made up against including a certain character. We’re likely at the mercy of Sakurai’s opinion either way (base game or DLC) as per the usual.

Am a bit curious though as to how much Ridley would sell as DLC in relation to other characters. We’d might be lucky if that was ever taken into consideration.

Honestly, it's hard to say. Obviously his supporters would buy him, but when it comes to the massive amount of people who auto-buy any and all Smash DLC, there would probably be at least some detractors mixed in with that group who would intentionally not buy Ridley in hopes of him not returning for Smash 6.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Yeah, it’s difficult to say for certain because of some possible factors like that, but it’s interesting to ponder either way. Like to think more of his fans would turn up a profit though more than the non-fans that would choose not to buy him being a loss of profit. lol There’d also be his competitive/tier placement to consider for some, depending on what good points he’d have to make up for being combo food due to his hitbox, etc.

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

Honestly, I knew Ridley was done for soon as I saw the big *** shadow in the Smash Direct and didn't want buy into the whole "conspiracy" theories about it being a playable Ridley.

Because no playable character can be that big and stay in midair too long, especially with that massive tail.

Yea but what if Ridley was a unlockable

Bowser jr and duck hunt weren't announced till after the release of the 3ds version (even though the leak revealed them immensely earlier)

Also another villain named king k rool could be revealed as well/instead

 

[Zeox]

There is one thing different for this new Smash that wasn't the case with Smash 4.
And that's Metroid's relevance,
When Smash4 was being made, there was not a single new metroid game being made, so they felt like Metroid didn't need more new characters, they don't need to promovote any new metroid games.
Now, we have Samus Returns, AND Metroid prime 4 pretty soon, Nintendo is betting hard for Metroid and they will want and need to promote it.
So, they need a popular Metroid Character in their most popular crossover game, to generate hype and make sure MP4 sells well.
And who else is a great and popular metroid character, but....

Spoiler

DAH BABY!

 

[Ridley_Prime]

With the age of DLC, doesn't really matter anymore if someone already in the game is "unlockable" or not. We're way past the days of grinding to unlock Mewtwo, etc...

But yeah, difficult cases like Ridley with a director's predetermined vision notwithstanding, DLC I think would bode well for Rid if it was ever considered. I mean one of the first questions developers tend to ask themselves when it comes to putting out such post-game content is "Would fans/people buy this?", and with how long Ridley has been a hot topic in Smash communities, it would be a fairly solid yes I imagne if he was ever thought about by Sakurai beyond the initial vision for NPC Ridley.

 

[Eisendrachen]

And who else is a great and popular metroid character, but....

Spoiler

DAH BABY!

Metroid Queen for Smash, let's go.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

Yea but what if Ridley was a unlockable

Bowser jr and duck hunt weren't announced till after the release of the 3ds version (even though the leak revealed them immensely earlier)

Also another villain named king k rool could be revealed as well/instead

There's no way they'd include Ridley and then not use him to market the game, if they did that their marketing department should be fired on the spot.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Yea but what if Ridley was a unlockable

Bowser jr and duck hunt weren't announced till after the release of the 3ds version (even though the leak revealed them immensely earlier)

Also another villain named king k rool could be revealed as well/instead

I get what you were saying, but I didn't want to be more disappointed. That's why I knew it was game over when saw the shadow on the Pyrosphere in that Direct. Even Shokio made that pretty clear too. And before you throw the "too bigot card", I don't agree with everything he says either.

That's why Ridley's reveal in the 50 Fact Extravaganza didn't surprised me the slightest. It only confirmed what I knew. Ridley being a stage boss that people would beat up and use as gimmicky hazard/fighter.

As for him being starter or unlockable, I wouldn't mind either method. As long as he's a fighter.

 

[Eisendrachen]

Bah, Ridley's one who should never be on the starting roster. Gotta work for that honor.

 

[Danpal65]

Bah, Ridley's one who should never be on the starting roster. Gotta work for that honor.

Gotta play 100 matches of Special Smash where everyone has a Super Mushroom. Needs to be something BIG

I do really enjoy unlocking characters and having the "Challenger Approaching" screen appear with Ridley and essentially having a "boss fight" with him to unlock him sounds really hype and epic.

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

Yea that "challenger approaching" thing is like the best thing about smash

You have to defeat the character to be able to use them

And we know that's not going anyway I just I see a lot more than what smash 4 gave us this time

But as for Ridley it would be epic seeing him on that.

I can already see if the villager miracle happens and Ridley is unlockable Character

Beat classic mode with Samus on "difficulty" or play # matches in vs mode


But two big road blocks stands between Ridley

Sakurai is against Ridley being shrunken to playable size (could get villager change of earth though)

And sylux is the other one if he's the main villain of metroid prime 4 Ridley might be screwed again.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

There's no way they'd include Ridley and then not use him to market the game, if they did that their marketing department should be fired on the spot.

Well, Nintendo’s marketing has always been completely oblivious to good ideas. See for example releasing amiibo, NES classic, etc.

Does raise an interesting point though: Rids would 100% be unlockable, but they know they’ll get the hype from an announcement. It can’t go unnoticed that Mewtwo was the most hyped character in Sm4sh just because he came out as a surprise with no leaks. Would they announce Rids at E3, or wait for release and let it all leak first?

I can definitely see one major hype reveal at E3, and there are only a few first party names that would have that level of hype attached, even though both Rids nad K.Rool would probably end up unlockable.

As a side note, didn’t Sakurai not like the idea of unlockables?

 

[AndreaAC]

That is an adorable picture.

I fully support more pictures of Ridley acting like a cute animal. (B̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶.̶ ̶H̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶u̶t̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶c̶i̶n̶n̶a̶m̶o̶n̶ ̶r̶o̶l̶e̶ ̶w̶h̶o̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶s̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶t̶e̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶.̶ )

Thank you! xD Glad you think so~! I know it may be pretty odd at first seeing him so...at ease (:v And yes he is), but well, there's a first time for everything, though, I have been drawing him like this with Rosalina in serveral occasions since 2014. Her reveal back then is to "blame" for me to having come up with it, But I don't regret it one bit.

Ridley's probably trying to make Samus jealous so she'll appreciate him more.

I'd imagine it's working quite well.

xD Oh, but Samus' appreciation is the least thing he seeks, really. He only wants a more tranquil life, and since Rosalina is pretty much the only one alongside the Lumas that gave him a second chance despite what he did to Samus' parents (To the point he felt even ashamed), that is why he acts like this around her and the floaty pillows. (it's a LOOOOOONG story, wish I had writen it, but maybe I will)

AndreaAC lol Sometimes I cringe at the impact or impression I made with the initial Rosalina hype, but at least like the art stuff of her and Ridley still has its cute place for some people on account of not being vore or anything...

If it wasn't for the hype her reveal had caused before I even joined the boards, I wouldn't haven't thought of even putting them together in the first place, so it was worth it. Yup, I do have my limits and I would never want them to go to these pretty sickening extremes, ever.

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

Well, Nintendo’s marketing has always been completely oblivious to good ideas. See for example releasing amiibo, NES classic, etc.

Does raise an interesting point though: Rids would 100% be unlockable, but they know they’ll get the hype from an announcement. It can’t go unnoticed that Mewtwo was the most hyped character in Sm4sh just because he came out as a surprise with no leaks. Would they announce Rids at E3, or wait for release and let it all leak first?

I can definitely see one major hype reveal at E3, and there are only a few first party names that would have that level of hype attached, even though both Rids nad K.Rool would probably end up unlockable.

As a side note, didn’t Sakurai not like the idea of unlockables?

Yea but sakurai had to come to realization that the best part about smash is the "challenger approaching" screen for the fans

Oh and it just accured to me sonic and snake had to be unlocked in brawl but yet revealed anyway.

 

[pupNapoleon]

I wonder if motion controls will be crucial in this Smash.

Like... some characters can do more with them than others.
Maybe with Ridley, the motion controls could control the wings and tail.

 

[Danpal65]

I wonder if motion controls will be crucial in this Smash.

Like... some characters can do more with them than others.
Maybe with Ridley, the motion controls could control the wings and tail.

God (Sakurai) please do not let this happen! Motion controls are good in some games (like Splatoon and Doom for aiming) but they have no place in a fighting game, even one that is semi-casual like Smash.

This would also prevent GameCube controllers from being used properly in the game, so...

 

[NintenRob]

It also wouldnt make sense to suddenly include motion controls now, especially if Brawl didn't have any and they went out of their way to make the Wii U game GameCube compatible

 

[StormC]

I could see unlockable characters go entirely in Smash 5. Guys like Ganondorf were on the starting roster for Wii U. It would be a bit of a shame to miss Challenger Approaching matches, but I'm also not crazy about unlocking everything again after Smash 3DS and Wii U.

Doing so would also minimize leaks.

 

[Cosmic77]

I could see unlockable characters go entirely in Smash 5. Guys like Ganondorf were on the starting roster for Wii U. It would be a bit of a shame to miss Challenger Approaching matches, but I'm also not crazy about unlocking everything again after Smash 3DS and Wii U.

Doing so would also minimize leaks.

As long as they shuffle the unlockable characters in each game, I'm fine with them. I actually like the feeling of accomplishment you get when you unlock a character you love.

But to keep this on topic, Ridley DEFINITELY won't be unlockable. If he's in this game, his inclusion will probably be one of Nintendo's key selling points.

 

[FunAtParties]

Unlockable characters need to be done the way they were back in the Melee days. Back then unlocking characters quickly forced you to experience the entire game. You had to play a little classic, a little adventure, some events, some versus, etc... It made things feel like less of a grind (except for G&W), and honestly I miss it. Games unlock stuff through random means now like coins, and it's just boring. They need to get creative with unlocks again.

I think another thing they can do is, if people don't wanna unlock all the characters and stages the traditional way, you can make a tag like "NOFUN" and it auto unlocks all of them for you, like a cheat code back in the day.

 

[Aetheri]

I wonder if motion controls will be crucial in this Smash.

Like... some characters can do more with them than others.
Maybe with Ridley, the motion controls could control the wings and tail.

Sakurai knows people like using the Gamecube controller for Smash, hence why it's been compatible with every game since Melee...and will most likely still be compatible in this game...

With that said, he can still work in the option for motion control into the game but it'd be up to the player to use it or not...

Heck the Wiimote and nunchuk are compatible and you can flick the wiimote to do smash attacks, a neat little gimmick but not something that's forced onto the player...Sakurai understands that it's better to give us the option than to force us to do something we most likely won't enjoy...