Unpopular Smash Ultimate Opinions! - Read the OP before Posting

[Xelrog]

Canon strength went out the window the day fighters were able to defeat Ganondorf without resorting to holy weapons like the Master Sword.

Link did it in Ocarina.

 

[meleebrawler]

Link did it in Ocarina.

You can't kill Ganon with anything but the Master Sword there, other weapons can hurt him but he'll never go down for good until you seal him with that sword. And glitch speedruns don't count.

Also, isn't Fox actually an even bigger creative liberty than ZSS?

 

[Deleted member]

Give some credit to Zero Suit Samus.
At least she has a whole different moveset from to the point she can be diffirientiated from her both visually and moveset wise.

Sadly the same can’t be said in MvC2 with Bone Claw Wolverine.

 

[Brother AJ]

Canon strength went out the window the day fighters were able to defeat Ganondorf without resorting to holy weapons like the Master Sword.

Or being able to hurt Kirby at all.

 

[Deleted member]

Or being able to hurt Kirby at all.

Or having Isabelle fighting.

 

[BlueMonk]

the thing with ZSS is a lot different from Ganon being able to get hurt. Ganondorf still mostly fights like he would in Zelda. ZSS fights completely differently to how she has been shown to in Metroid.

 

[Wiinner159]

You can't kill Ganon with anything but the Master Sword there, other weapons can hurt him but he'll never go down for good until you seal him with that sword. And glitch speedruns don't count.

Also, isn't Fox actually an even bigger creative liberty than ZSS?

On the Ganondorf part, technically in Smash you’re not really killing him either, just launching him off a platform. I get the point but the example you chose technically doesn’t work.

Anyways onto the main point. The difference I’d argue is that with Fox, there was no (and as far as I’m aware there still isn’t) canon way he acted outside the ships in terms of combat. He COULD fight that way we just wouldn’t know.
With ZSS we’ve been shown specifically moments she is in her zero suit in canon and every time she is de-powered and cannot directly engage with her foes in a combatitive manner. It’d be different if in Zero Mission she could kick enemies away to damage and defeat them but as it is it’s shown that in a combat environment, losing the power suit is an objective disadvantage that she would never willingly put herself into. In storytelling terms, Fox would be a plot contrivance, as in an event that can happen but feels convenient and ZSS would be a plot hole, as the information we are given in the games themselves actively contradicts the Smash character.
I get that with every Smash character there is going to be creative liberties, no question about that, but ZSS feels like the worst case of it due to her being loosely based on a canon that contradicts her existence as a fighter.
And to add a quick response to the comments made earlier, with Kirby he literally has a health bar in the game. Being the most powerful doesn’t make you the most tanky inherently. And with Isabelle I actually do agree with her being in Smash is a similar case, but her primary use of non-weapons to fight do help her case, same with Villager as a whole.
My problem isn’t that a character who doesn’t normally fight is implemented into a fighting game, it’s that a character who is explicitly an absurdly weaker to the point of combat being avoided completely version of a fighting character. I’m sure you could make a crippled bedridden Mario still fight, the question just is why should you?

 

[MrGameguycolor]

Bowser Jr. and Little Mac are not bad characters.

I'll take it one step further.
There are no low tier/bad characters in Ultimate. (At least in comparison to the other games)

 

[Call_Me_Red]

I'll take it one step further.
There are no low tier/bad characters in Ultimate. (At least in comparison to the other games)

Eh, I disagree. I just think the 'tier gap' (best character vs worst character) is really tight. There certainly are characters that don't do as well, making them 'bad' and definitely low tier. I just think using a low tier character isn't a death sentence anymore.

 

[Xelrog]

You can't kill Ganon with anything but the Master Sword there, other weapons can hurt him but he'll never go down for good until you seal him with that sword.

No one said "kill." And GanonDORF was good and defeated by any old weapon by the time Ganon even entered the equation.

 

[meleebrawler]

No one said "kill." And GanonDORF was good and defeated by any old weapon by the time Ganon even entered the equation.

Only after being stunned by his own magic and/or divine arrows first.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

You can't kill Ganon with anything but the Master Sword there, other weapons can hurt him but he'll never go down for good until you seal him with that sword. And glitch speedruns don't count.

Ganon vs. Galactus when!?

Ganon solos fiction confirmed.

 

[EricTheGamerman]

On the whole Krystal issue, she just has the most canonically interesting move set to pull from (at least in the sense that her staff has abilities, yes she does get damsel'd but so what?) and some people just do like female characters. I'm going to be honest, she's the most developed of the alternate Star Fox options. None of Star Wolf are interesting or super well developed, Andross doesn't really fit as a playable character, and the rest of Star Fox as dull as dirt (Slippy exists as a joke the entire damn time and Peppy's just meh). Krystal in Smash has generally always revolved around the staff as a focal point of the move set and we don't really have a staff user in Smash. Plus more magic is always welcomed. And yeah, people may like her for all kinds of reasons that you don't agree with personally (I'm leaving it at that and you should too), but it doesn't really matter because at the end of the day you're allowed to like characters for any reason. Star Fox sure as hell isn't getting another rep any time soon outside of fan demand, and guess what? Krystal has the most fan demand so she would be the next character without a doubt if Star Fox gets one.

Also, Zero Suit Samus is 100% a Smash only creation and it's ****ing great. We could use more stuff like her in the game in my opinion. Canon hasn't meant anything since Olimar exists and doesn't just get stepped on by literally every other fighter, Ridley exists smaller than many other characters, Captain Falcon also literally just materialized a moveset out of thin air, etc. Don't get so wrapped up in the canon of Zero Suit and you'll have a much better time.

 

[KatKit]

Good points, Eric, but I'll have you know that the Goddess of Light wields a staff.

 

[EricTheGamerman]

Good points, Eric, but I'll have you know that the Goddess of Light wields a staff.

****, you're right. I guess she doesn't wield it like most other characters with staffs do, so I just didn't even think about her. She doesn't really bop people with it in the same way most do, she's uses her goddess powers more in that regard haha.

Also, always happy to see a fellow fan of Gravity Rush!

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Don't know why you're insisting on comparing a genius millionaire playboy philanthropist to a woman infused with alien DNA meant to enhance her physical potential, trained since infanthood from said aliens before even getting her suit, then got military training on top of all that. Armorless Doomguy seems like a better comparison, and that's a guy who can pulp zombie's heads with his bare hands.

That's the point. Zero Mission's section which gave Sakurai the idea to add Zamus was literally "**** she's stranded and powerless with nothing but a flimsy ass stun gun", nothing like the Samus we all know and love

Give some credit to Zero Suit Samus.
At least she has a whole different moveset from to the point she can be diffirientiated from her both visually and moveset wise.

Sadly the same can’t be said in MvC2 with Bone Claw Wolverine.

Bone Claw Wolverine was a character that took like 5 minutes of work to add as almost every character in MvC2 was made with reused sprites. Zero Suit took significantly more work than that

 

[Mogisthelioma]

Canon strength went out the window the day fighters were able to defeat Ganondorf without resorting to holy weapons like the Master Sword.

Kirby outran a black hole. Twice. By all accounts he should be one of the fastest fighters in the game.

We threw canon strength out the window in the very first Smash.

 

[UserKev]

Andross doesn't really fit as a playable character,

Not his floating head, which is obvious Final Smash bait. Andross could work tho, it just take some imagination. He's originally a monkey in a lab coat. Throw in some robotic hands and you got a interesting science based character in the roster.

Unpopular opinion: Andross is actually long overdo.

 

[Deleted member]

Edit: i put this under a spoiler for those who arent interested in this whole Krystal debate.

Spoiler

None of Star Wolf are interesting or super well developed,

And Krystal is so well written? She was introduced as some fanservice plot device for Fox to oogle at. In Assualt the only cutscene that focussed on her was a honeymoon joke between her and Fox, and Command is a gigantic mess that all the Star Fox characters suffered from.

Krystal in Smash has generally always revolved around the staff as a focal point of the move set

Correction, its Fox's staff. Fox is the one who used that staff to its full potential and that staff was never seen from again in later installments.

 

[Brindor]

I don't care for Banjo & Kazooie at all, I think it's because I never grew up with a N64 so I never played their games when I was kid like most of their supporters did.
When they were revealed at E3 this year I was just like "uhh ok" and just wanted to move onto the next thing already.

 

[scoobymcsnack]

Canon strength went out the window the day fighters were able to defeat Ganondorf without resorting to holy weapons like the Master Sword.

If we want to get into pitting characters from different universe into an actual battle using canon abilities/powers then that isn't a fair argument. It would fall under the No Limits Fallacy.

Edit: I'll also make a comment on the current ZSS conversation. I don't think she was the best choice for a newcomer, but now that she's here I see no reason to cut her unless we're cutting a majority of the roster.

 

[New_Dumal]

Ultimate 3.0 is a better game than Ultimate 3.1

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Ultimate 3.0 is a better game than Ultimate 3.1

I'm curious, any reasons for this? Cause I do agree that Olimar and Pichu may have gotten nerfed too hard

 

[New_Dumal]

I'm curious, any reasons for this? Cause I do agree that Olimar and Pichu may have gotten nerfed too hard

I think that almost all nerfs were done poorly and the only considerable buffs were done to Diddy and Ken.
Olimar is currently broken, his shield just doesn't work as all shields should. I don't even play Olimar, but for me is a shame that the ones who main him must wait for the next patch to play a functional character. I've seem the Marth matchup in front of me, and it's just horrible how the Olimar player must avoid his sword or be tippered inside the shield. Pichu still a good character against some characters, but now a lot of people agree that he is not consistent enough to solo-main. Now Pichu is a rushdown that can't rushdown so well because you're constantly damaging yourself at alarming rate. Wolf fulfilled the top tier spot with great defensive game/projectile, but it seems that defensive gameplay is being considered a plague to be destroyed. Eveything must be fast and flash, and IMO this means cut a part of the game. Peach's Fair was never the problem, the problem is that she can avoid the short-hop damage multiplier by floating, still the best nerf they did.

So... we lost two top tiers (relevant characters) and weaked others 3 (Lucina, Peach and Wolf). What have we gain ?
Diddy is better, but still carries a lot of the problems he had before the patch. If they fixed his initial run speed (framedata wise), he would return to be a relevant character. Falcon is better, but still... not enough. Ken is stronger, probably the best buff made until now. I still think he is not good enough to be solo-viable, but at least is useful. Ryu still needs help.

T;DR: They're afraif of buffing but they're not afraid of nerfing, and it slowly nerfs the game itself.
Pichu and Olimar were not winning a lot of majors or overcentralizing the metagame. When a do the math, from a competitive standpoint, we lost much more than we gain.

 

[Oddball]

Unless a character is horribly under powered or over powered, I don't think there should even be nerfs or buffs.

 

[PhantomShab]

Yeah Smash kinda makes it seem like the Suit is just holding her back when in reality that's where her most powerful abilities come from.

Tbh I wouldn't even be surprised if this was another one of Sakurai's dumb headcanons that he likes to force on characters. Like Ganondorf's Twilight Princess incarnation being some slow old man when he would literally sprint full speed toward you in the actual boss fight in TP. Or whatever the **** Luigi is supposed to be according to him.

 

[J.I.L]

Unless a character is horribly under powered or over powered, I don't think there should even be nerfs or buffs.

Ken is pretty broke. That up B needs some heavy nerf and falco needs buff. I agree with you though, these game creator need to take their time making a game so updates are very unnecessary.

 

[TheYungLink]

I am not okay with an "indie rep".

This isn't a quality thing. I think several indie / freeware games are better than half of the AAA games that come out these days. Rather, I don't like the idea of one third-party Smash character representing all indie games ever.

If Frisk (Undertale) or Hollow Knight or Madeline (Celeste) or whoever made it into Smash, that'd be a huge cause for celebration, but I don't want fans or the Smash devs themselves to tell themselves "Welp, that's the 'indie' quota filled! Now back to AAA third-party character possibilities". It's a very insulting mindset. If any indie character makes it into Smash, it should be through their own merits and popularity, and not close the doors on other possible playable indie characters.

Similarly, I want Phoenix Wright in Smash, but only because I love Ace Attorney so much, not because he'd fill a "visual novel rep" quota. I'd argue visual novels are more of a game-adjacent medium to tell stories through, and calling visual novels a "genre" is kind of insulting, on par with calling animation a "genre" of film or TV. So if Phoenix got playable, I wouldn't want him to close the door on other visual novels getting characters in Smash like Danganronpa or yes, even Fate, as much as that series disinterests me.

 

[slrigeigdew]

I am not okay with an "indie rep".

This isn't a quality thing. I think several indie / freeware games are better than half of the AAA games that come out these days. Rather, I don't like the idea of one third-party Smash character representing all indie games ever.

If Frisk (Undertale) or Hollow Knight or Madeline (Celeste) or whoever made it into Smash, that'd be a huge cause for celebration, but I don't want fans or the Smash devs themselves to tell themselves "Welp, that's the 'indie' quota filled! Now back to AAA third-party character possibilities". It's a very insulting mindset. If any indie character makes it into Smash, it should be through their own merits and popularity, and not close the doors on other possible playable indie characters.

Similarly, I want Phoenix Wright in Smash, but only because I love Ace Attorney so much, not because he'd fill a "visual novel rep" quota. I'd argue visual novels are more of a game-adjacent medium to tell stories through, and calling visual novels a "genre" is kind of insulting, on par with calling animation a "genre" of film or TV. So if Phoenix got playable, I wouldn't want him to close the door on other visual novels getting characters in Smash like Danganronpa or yes, even Fate, as much as that series disinterests me.

Couldn't agree more. People are over exaggerating how important a character's game genre is in choosing a character. If game companies actually thought this way I doubt we'd be getting a Persona rep and a Dragon Quest rep in the same fighter pass since they're both JRPG franchises. The one character per genre thing is also just another fan made rule that doesn't make sense when you really think about it.

 

[Idon]

I am not okay with an "indie rep".

This isn't a quality thing. I think several indie / freeware games are better than half of the AAA games that come out these days. Rather, I don't like the idea of one third-party Smash character representing all indie games ever.

If Frisk (Undertale) or Hollow Knight or Madeline (Celeste) or whoever made it into Smash, that'd be a huge cause for celebration, but I don't want fans or the Smash devs themselves to tell themselves "Welp, that's the 'indie' quota filled! Now back to AAA third-party character possibilities". It's a very insulting mindset. If any indie character makes it into Smash, it should be through their own merits and popularity, and not close the doors on other possible playable indie characters.

Similarly, I want Phoenix Wright in Smash, but only because I love Ace Attorney so much, not because he'd fill a "visual novel rep" quota. I'd argue visual novels are more of a game-adjacent medium to tell stories through, and calling visual novels a "genre" is kind of insulting, on par with calling animation a "genre" of film or TV. So if Phoenix got playable, I wouldn't want him to close the door on other visual novels getting characters in Smash like Danganronpa or yes, even Fate, as much as that series disinterests me.

I wouldn't worry about that as game genres like JRPGs and Platformers always have more to pick from. It's unlikely you'll ever get someone to represent the entirety of a genre so there'll always be more to pull from, especially if they're open to indies.

 

[Xelrog]

I am not okay with an "indie rep".

This isn't a quality thing. I think several indie / freeware games are better than half of the AAA games that come out these days. Rather, I don't like the idea of one third-party Smash character representing all indie games ever.

That's not the point. The point is that it's a first step. It opens the door.

Couldn't agree more. People are over exaggerating how important a character's game genre is in choosing a character. If game companies actually thought this way I doubt we'd be getting a Persona rep and a Dragon Quest rep in the same fighter pass since they're both JRPG franchises. The one character per genre thing is also just another fan made rule that doesn't make sense when you really think about it.

1) "Indie" isn't a genre.
2) No one wants one rep per genre. People want reps from new genres that aren't already in Smash. New things are interesting and enticing.

 

[TheYungLink]

That's not the point. The point is that it's a first step. It opens the door.

That IS my point, I detailed it in my next paragraph. Basically I do want indie characters (I could have made that more clear I suppose), but I don't like the term "indie rep" or people describing indie newcomers as "representing indie games" because I don't think any one indie character should represent all games made independently with very little AAA corporate company oversight.

If my post confused some people, I do want to reiterate that THAT'S my chief concern with the term, not indie characters in Smash themselves.

 

[RealPokeFan11]

I want Xurkitree in Smash. That alone, is a strange and rare request.

 

[Rhus]

Also, isn't Fox actually an even bigger creative liberty than ZSS?

Anyways onto the main point. The difference I’d argue is that with Fox, there was no (and as far as I’m aware there still isn’t) canon way he acted outside the ships in terms of combat. He COULD fight that way we just wouldn’t know.

Fox main, reporting for duty.

These are both correct and incorrect, just figured I'd chime in here.

Fox is definitely crafted using some creative liberty, but a lot of his moveset is based off his a) known skills in his lore and b) his design direction.

Regarding Fox's backstory, it's stated in flavour text that he was heavily trained in martial arts. In the early manga and the Farewell, Beloved Falco arc, it is shown that Fox is pretty savvy with hand-to-hand combat. Fox and Captain Falcon also come from the highest speed games from Nintendo's IP - I am pretty sure that was an inspiration for his speedy gameplay in smash.

Fox's creation, courtesy of Miyamoto himself, was based off of the foxes of the Inari Shrine in Japan. The foxes were deities capable of fire manipulation and illusions and were elusive creatures. Fox's moveset in smash uses some of these principles (Fire Fox, Illusion), and others are inspired by his canon appearances (Blaster, Reflector - seems to be based off of Barrel rolls to deflect incoming fire). Later on in Star Fox Adventures, Fox's martial arts are showcased, mostly consisting of spinning roundhouse kicks and sweep kicks, though this game came out many years after Smash 64.

Fox has a lot of liberty in his design, but they are based on his history.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

The funny thing is Zelda is even worse than ZSS. ZSS can't do much in the official games, sure. But she's no less a vastly athletic woman even without the suit. That's actually a part of the official character. The worst they did was give her a whip, but that's basically just a re-use of the grappling beam via her gun. Funny thing is she doesn't overuse her gun in a way that's horribly off from canon. Her literal Neutral B is a stun, just like its main capability. The other thing of note is that ZSS officially existed as of the first game, as all it is is Samus without her suit. This is just the first game that didn't make it purely eye candy and made it what it's more accurate in lore, her backup when the armor is off. Really, the most actual new thing was she suddenly has a Stun Gun. Also, there's little reason to believe an athletic woman like her can't fight against normal humans without the power suit, of which many characters are. Or slightly more powerful humans(like Mario, who is hardly super human by any stretch).

Zelda gets worse when you realize she doesn't have much of canon abilities in Melee. She not only never fought in canon at that point(the closest thing is implied that Sheik might have, which is possibly how she avoided Ganondorf but also prevented his minions from stopping her from doing things. She's basically a Sheikah, the royal guard of the royal family. There's a good chance she was already a target. Even if that's not the case, she was blatantly trained by Impa, literally saying she has fighting capabilities). Which cannot be said for literally Zelda. We could've just had Sheik and it'd make more sense at that point. It's nice we got both though. One thing I find ironic is Ganondorf matches his canon self far better, as we seen him being able to use immensely forceful moves like causing earthquakes, which isn't really hard to translate into a punch or kick with extreme force and still be logical. He's got the Triforce of Power. Physical blows very much fit that. He literally slams the ground with energy from his fist at one point. That's not really off from Warlock Punch. The other thing is his Forward Air is literally a remake of his artwork in OOT, which is completely official. Like, I'm not saying he might've been more interesting if he used Dead Man's Volley and his earthquake move too. But a lot of these feel a lot less like liberties. The only moves that somewhat came out of nowhere were Gerudo Dragon and Dark Dive, as they don't really fit his physical blow capabilities at all. Would've been neat if he had basically Mewtwo's Teleport, though. And he did get Flame Choke, which is based upon his canon choke attacks in WW and TP.

But yeah, I don't think there's anything wrong with creative liberties at all. I find ZSS a fun addition, and to be honest, Ridley was the only other one I felt was worth considering at the time. I never honestly thought the Hunters were remotely likely, not before the main villain, and Dark Samus was someone who I never thought was going to be less than a clone of sorts. Of course, her being a semi-clone would've been way better. But every Echo easily could be improved, so eh. I'm just happy with her being in because I really like her overall design and aesthetics.

 

[Idon]

The funny thing is Zelda is even worse than ZSS. ZSS can't do much in the official games, sure. But she's no less a vastly athletic woman even without the suit. That's actually a part of the official character. The worst they did was give her a whip, but that's basically just a re-use of the grappling beam via her gun. Funny thing is she doesn't overuse her gun in a way that's horribly off from canon. Her literal Neutral B is a stun, just like its main capability. The other thing of note is that ZSS officially existed as of the first game, as all it is is Samus without her suit. This is just the first game that didn't make it purely eye candy and made it what it's more accurate in lore, her backup when the armor is off. Really, the most actual new thing was she suddenly has a Stun Gun. Also, there's little reason to believe an athletic woman like her can't fight against normal humans without the power suit, of which many characters are. Or slightly more powerful humans(like Mario, who is hardly super human by any stretch).

Zelda gets worse when you realize she doesn't have much of canon abilities in Melee. She not only never fought in canon at that point(the closest thing is implied that Sheik might have, which is possibly how she avoided Ganondorf but also prevented his minions from stopping her from doing things. She's basically a Sheikah, the royal guard of the royal family. There's a good chance she was already a target. Even if that's not the case, she was blatantly trained by Impa, literally saying she has fighting capabilities). Which cannot be said for literally Zelda. We could've just had Sheik and it'd make more sense at that point. It's nice we got both though. One thing I find ironic is Ganondorf matches his canon self far better, as we seen him being able to use immensely forceful moves like causing earthquakes, which isn't really hard to translate into a punch or kick with extreme force and still be logical. He's got the Triforce of Power. Physical blows very much fit that. He literally slams the ground with energy from his fist at one point. That's not really off from Warlock Punch. The other thing is his Forward Air is literally a remake of his artwork in OOT, which is completely official. Like, I'm not saying he might've been more interesting if he used Dead Man's Volley and his earthquake move too. But a lot of these feel a lot less like liberties. The only moves that somewhat came out of nowhere were Gerudo Dragon and Dark Dive, as they don't really fit his physical blow capabilities at all. Would've been neat if he had basically Mewtwo's Teleport, though. And he did get Flame Choke, which is based upon his canon choke attacks in WW and TP.

But yeah, I don't think there's anything wrong with creative liberties at all. I find ZSS a fun addition, and to be honest, Ridley was the only other one I felt was worth considering at the time. I never honestly thought the Hunters were remotely likely, not before the main villain, and Dark Samus was someone who I never thought was going to be less than a clone of sorts. Of course, her being a semi-clone would've been way better. But every Echo easily could be improved, so eh. I'm just happy with her being in because I really like her overall design and aesthetics.

Are we just forgetting the rocket heels? Her being a fighter isn't out of the question but basing the entirety of her moveset on what is essentially fanfiction is pretty suspect.

If they wanted a unique interesting Metroid character with weird different moves and y'know actual lore, than Dark Samus was right there but apparently adding a final smash gimmick was far more important.

 

[Deleted member]

I think Akira Toriyama's character designs are objectively bad and ridiculously ugly. On top of that, the sword used by the Luminary in Dragon Quest 11 blatantly rips off the design of Glamdring from the Lord of the Rings. Did he think no one would notice? Well I did.

 

[Ryu Myuutsu]

I'm not sure how personal insults are necessary for a discussion on a fighter's uniqueness but go figure. I guess this is how it is sometimes.

Probably.

I don't think kindly of people willfully misinterpreting the meaning behind what my posts. If someone plays dumb and puts words in my mouth, I won't exactly call that person out nicely.

 

[osby]

I think Akira Toriyama's character designs are objectively bad and ridiculously ugly.

A functional character design can't be "objectively bad". This is art we are talking about, not science.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Are we just forgetting the rocket heels? Her being a fighter isn't out of the question but basing the entirety of her moveset on what is essentially fanfiction is pretty suspect.

If they wanted a unique interesting Metroid character with weird different moves and y'know actual lore, than Dark Samus was right there but apparently adding a final smash gimmick was far more important.

Rocket Heels did not exist in Brawl, so not, not forgetting about those. That was something added to 4 and honestly was something that felt shoehorned in for the sake of fanservice. It still worked out decently as gameplay, as they removed tethers at the time. Not that she even needed it.

I keep hearing this lack of lore, but that's never been true. Samus' story has always noted her athletic capabilities outside of her suit and the first canon thing about her in overall storyline is her as a little girl, well before the suit;

Spoiler

Watching Ridley murder her parents.

So excuse me if I don't buy this crap she has zero lore.

-We already have seen that Sakurai prioritizes protagonists over antagonists in a lot of cases
-Metroid has little Japanese popularity
-Ridley was vastly more requested than Dark Samus at that point(and still was, till both got in in the same game. Much of the time the only reason people thought Dark Samus was plausible is because Ridley wasn't, and she was easier to make)
-Ridley wasn't even considered till after Brawl and fan requests erupted(it's doubtful he'd consider a way lesser important character. ZSS is literally Samus and vastly more important than Dark Samus. In the end, Samus without her suit has always been in the lore but also a key part of her character. It's a part of her backstory. She isn't a robot, for cripes' sake).

So yeah, I wasn't surprised at all ZSS came in. I did pay attention to the lore, after all, so she was a pretty easy candidate, and still has more uniqueness on her side in the end. Even if Dark Samus was a semi-clone, ZSS would be more unique. For an analogy, who is more unique when compared to Ryu, Akuma or E. Honda? Answer is obviously E. Honda. I'd have taken Ridley first, though. But I'm quite happy we have 4 really sweet Metroid characters, who all earned a great spot on their own merits. DS being more unique is really all I can ask for.