What? Caterkiller hasn't come in to comment about Ridley!? FOR SHAME CATERKILLER!
I didn't say much on Ridley as Adrok pointed out and I'm sorry but yeah I am disappointed a bit. My hope isn't entirely diminished though. A few things really stick out to me and keep my delusions in order.
1 - For the second time Sakurai has yet to call Ridley by name. In the Japanese Miiverse he is referred to as "the trauma of Samus" and in english "An enemy from Samus's past..." Fast forward 8 months and he mentions other boss characters will make an appearance and proceeds to show Ridley's shadow. A big part of me is asking why is he being so cryptic with the way he is handling Ridley?
As far as I can remember, even with Melee, Sakurai has hinted at Secret characters but nothing like this. Sakurai likes to be vague and likes to troll as seen with his Miiverse posts. So I wouldn't put it past him to really mess with the fans expectations.
2 - Having one role in the game doesn't equate to a characters only role. ROB started as just another generic Goomba in our major subspace reveal with Brawl. Ultimately he was to be a secret character that was pushed right in our faces. Giga Bowser was once a boss and then became playable, even if just under special circumstances. Despite not even being the same person, Toon Link in the Spirit Tracks stage is replaced by Alfonzo when Toon Link is selected. To an even lesser extent, Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong in 75 Meters.
I think it's completely in the realm of possibility that even if Ridley is a boss he could still be playable. What was shadowed in the Direct was undoubtedly Other M Ridley. The boney tail, the spikes coming out of the shoulders, and the wing fingers extending past the skin are all from the cloned Other M Ridley. The Smash Bros brawl version of Ridley who was modeled after his Super Metroid/Zero Mission look could be the playable character. Oh and I bring up Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong in 75 meters because it still helps my case, they are different characters just like Other M Ridley and classic Ridley that stole the baby Metroid.
3 - Was anyone else even slightly puzzled at the choppiness of the shadow's animation? Aside from Giga Bowser, every boss that has come before has a very smooth transition from being idle to moving again. This Ridley shadow moved like someone was controlling him with an analog stick. Look back at any Brawl boss or master hand, the fluidity is there, even with yellow devil. After having 2 full on boss battles in Brawl I can't imagine this Ridley's movement pattern to be lacking fluidity even if the game is still under development.
With that being said it also came to mind that, what if that's Ridley's gimmick? He is really clumsy on the ground and weak but in the air he is a beast? Opposite of Little Mac? What if like Peach, Ridley has a hovering mechanic that just lets him float at a certain altitude and attack from there? That could be his unique gimmick and I do have some suspicion that was what we were seeing do to the choppy/sudden animation.
It's also come to my attention that during that portion of the direct Ridley's shadow did grab Pikachu. Seeing the shadow of Pikachu's tail and Ridley's body made me realize the wings are huge but his body isn't so big that he couldn't be playable.
4 - "Other bosses will make an appearance." In the context it just screams Ridley is a boss on Pyrosphere and nothing more. Once again though I think about the Brawl Dojo update, "There's a character named Ness who has appeared in the Smash Bros. series up until now, and Lucas is very similar." Does anyone else remember this and the wars and panic it started? Holy crap! Here is the link.
http://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us/characters/lucas.htmlOther bosses will make an appearance huh? What does that mean exactly? I consider Metaknight and Ganondorf as bosses too and they will certainly make appearances.
I think those are all for my major points. Look I know I'm reaching especially with my last point but if Sakurai wasn't such a playful guy who toys with our expectations I would take everything at face value but until the game comes out with no playable Ridley I will always have hope.
I'm not saying Ridley is in, I only ever claimed that like 2 weeks ago, fufufu, but I think there is still a possibility. Though I'll shut up about it for now. Well for most of the time. For a week. I won't.
One thing that really stuck out to me during this Direct is how much Sakurai has decided to remove random elements from the characters themselves. He has acknowledged the people who like to play competitively and it's showing in more ways than just the For Glory mode.
1 - Random tripping gone! Nuff said!
2 - Olimar plucks Pikmin in a set order.
3 - King Dedede - Only throws Gordos now. They were insanely powerful in Brawl and that random bit of luck caused me a lot of games at home with my Dedede maining brother.
4 - No forced switches or changes mid match. None period. I think this is a great move despite losing a bit of uniqueness from the characters affected.
5- Diddy Kong's jet barrels no longer fly separately when they are knocked off.
These changes I think are all absolutely fantastic and it makes me really wonder about Luigi's torpedo, Peach's turnips, and Game & Watch's hammer. I'd rather all(or maybe the majority) of the unpredictable aspects of the game come from items and stage hazards and not the characters themselves and so far that's what is happening.