Saturday, June 16, 2018

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Metroid Contents

As with Zelda, let's go through the confirmed Metroid contents in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Of course the big deal is this guy:


Ridley! Finally, the Metroid series got a new playable character, who isn't just some other version of Samus. To be fair, the Metroid franchise doesn't really have many recurring (main) characters going for it, for the most part it's really just Samus. But Ridley is her arch nemesis, who has appeared in a majority of the Metroid games. So, he deserved this spot without a question.

With that we have now three fighters from the Metroid universe:

  • Samus
  • Zero Suit Samus
  • Ridley

They also showed as Meta Ridley at some point, which wasn't featured as an alt in the E3 demo. But it's likely that this is still an alt that can be unlocked or wasn't simply available in the demo and not some Echo fighter.

Zero Suit Samus was my main in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U / Nintendo 3DS and I'm glad that she remains as a separate fighter. She even got a new Final Smash, which looks alright. The old one wasn't exactly good and in competitive matches you won't be using items anyway, so Final Smashes aren't that important overall.

What I don't really like, is how they decreased her bust size quite a bit. I guess, it makes sense for her to be more "sporting", but I always liked how Samus is this unrealistically attractive bombshell under the Power Suit. It's not a big deal, but I hope that this change wasn't made to cater to some feminists or alike.


With stages, we so far got three confirmed returning stages:

  • Brinstar (Melee)
  • Norfair (Brawl)
  • Frigate Orpheon (Brawl)

Those are exactly the same stages that used to be in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and hopefully there is more than that. The stages, which haven't been confirmed yet, are Planet Zebes (64), Brinstar Depths (Melee) and Pyrosphere (Wii U).

Planet Zebes might be a questionable case, because it essentially just was the prototype for the Brinstar stage and both use the same mechanic with the rising acid. It's still possible, however, since the layout is somewhat different and other franchises have had stages that are similar as well. They should rename the stage then, however, because both Brinstar and Norfair are part of Planet Zebes. Alternatively, the hazardless version of the Brinstar stage could resemble the original Planet Zebes somewhat.

Brinstar Depths already got a music track featured on the official site, but this doesn't have to mean anything, because this track also used to be in all games ever since, while the stage itself was absent. However, it certainly would still be nice to have this stage back with Kraid in the background, while you fight as Ridley in the foreground. Out of the missing Metroid stages, this one looks the most promising.

Pyrosphere is a special case, because it essentially was a boss stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, featuring Ridley as the boss, who has now become playable. So, there is a high chance that this stage won't return. But... the Ridley in Other M was a clone of the original Ridley, where you technically could have Ridley fighting his clone here, which could be fun. It would also be the perfect stage for duels between Ridley and Samus and they could simply remove the boss, if it were an issue... So, I wouldn't write this stage off entirely just yet.

Anyway, we've also already seen both the Metroid and Mother Brain Assist Trophies. Only Dark Samus would be absent so far, while Samus seemingly doesn't even have a Dark Samus recolor alt any longer, which leads us to the following topic...


What else could there be?


In terms of fighters, there is really only one character that still has a shot and that is Dark Samus. Overall we probably shouldn't expect anything for Metroid at this point, since we already got Ridley, but with Dark Samus half of the work is basically already done with the Assist Trophy.

I've seen people suggesting Dark Samus an Echo Fighter for Samus, but this probably wouldn't do her justice. While she would probably be still a clone of Samus, her Assist Trophy already displayed quite different moves, like the homing Phazon spheres. In the Metroid Prime Trilogy games she also never used normal Missiles or Bombs... So, Dark Samus would be better off as an Assist Trophy, instead of becoming an Echo, if she were to lose her moves.

Otherwise there aren't really any candidates. Sylux might become one in the future, but at first he needs to star as the antagonist of Metroid Prime 4, which was absent at E3 2018. So, it might be a while, before he could be considered for Smash, if ever.

In terms of stages, it would be nice to have something that represents the most recent game: Samus Returns. Four of the past stages have all taken place on the Planet Zebes, where it would be nice to feature SR388 for a change. The most iconic place here would probably be the surface, where Samus' Gunship has landed. They could even feature the infamous Baby Metroid here in some form. And if you've beaten Samus Returns, you know that this place will be a really good choice, considering...

If that's still too new and if the Pyrosphere really won't return in Ultimate, they could also use a different area from Metroid: Other M, like the Biosphere. This way they could even re-use some of the smaller enemies that were present in the Pyrosphere stage. And they could put Baby Ridley in the background, which would be funny, where it maybe could even rile up the monsters on the stage.

If Dark Samus really makes it into the game, there could also be a stage to feature her, like the Sanctuary Fortress from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, where you duel with her in the original game. Elysia could make for a beautiful stage as well. But it might be a little bit out of date to include stages based on the Prime Trilogy now... If Metroid even gets one new stage, we can already be quite happy.

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