Log Entry 92713OR

THE THIRD LEVIATHAN GUARDIAN

OMEGA RIDLEY

Before Bryyo and Elysia were hit by Leviathans, The sentient planet Phazee gifted the Space Pirates with one for their home world.  In return for a limitless supply of Phazon to strengthen their soldiers, the Leviathan required a guardian, a powerful being from the planet to defend its core.

 

After being defeated on Norion at the hands of Samus Aran, Ridley’s meta form proved to be inadequate for assisting the great and powerful Dark Samus in spreading Phazon throughout the universe.  The Space Pirates upgraded Ridley’s cybernetics a step further, practically turning him into a mechanical shell with some necessary biological organs to control it.  These enhancements proved so successful that Ridley was selected by the Leviathan to become its guardian.

 

Combining results-driven Space Pirate technology with the seemingly unlimited power of Phazon, Omega Ridley is perhaps one of the universe’s most powerful beings, and the guarantee that the Space Pirates can continue their campaign without fear.  Only another being with a great deal of Phazon influence could hope to survive his wrath…

Omega Ridley is an end-game boss in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and one of Ridley’s more unique fights.  He spends nearly the entire battle on the ground, and has a variety of melee attacks rather than rely on tail whips and fireballs.  His ranged attacks are still rather impressive, having massive shockwaves, super-charged spheres that need to be destroyed, and walls of fire that need to be double-jumped to have any chance of clearing them.  It’s the first time we get to see Ridley walk in the series, and he’s overall just a really badass form for the most famous dragon-pterodactyl in gaming.  Best of all, Samus stares him down at the start of the fight rather than regress to her infancy.

STATS

Size: Ridley is a natural quadruped, so his main body (minus wings and tail) is about 1.5x the size of crouching Bowser in Smash Bros.  His tail is easily twice the length of his main body, and his wings are quite large themselves, but these do not have hurtboxes unless they are being used in an attack.

Weight: The same as Bowser.  Whether you want to attribute this to his body being composed of a relatively light metal, or simply for balance purposes, is up to you.

Ground Speed: Average.

Traction: High

First Jump: Below average.  He’s built for long-term flying, not short-term hopping

Midair Jump: Slightly above average, and he’s got 2

Air Speed: Above average

Air Control: It’s Ridley/10

Fall Speed: Above average

THE ARMOR OF OUR LORD

Omega Ridley’s cybernetic body is so well-armored that he has a passive defense buff in the world of Smash Bros.  Non-projectile attacks against him deal 1 less damage, have their base knockback reduced to .75x their normal value, and deal .85x their normal hit-stun.  This makes him both difficult to bring to fatal damage and provides a buffer from combos that would otherwise work due to his size, weight, and knockback reduction.

He does possess a weakness, however.  The armor on his chest can be opened in order to provide medical aid to his cardiac region.  Opponents can exploit this by either grabbing and throwing him, or placing him into a prone or tripped state.  Either method will open his armor and expose his heart for 5 seconds.  Attacks that strike his heart deal double damage, slightly increased total knockback, and 1.2x hit-stun.  This even includes projectiles.

SPECIALS

Neutral Special: Searing Missile

With moderate startup lag and above average end lag, Omega Ridley spits out a fireball the size of Mario’s head, slowly homing in on the nearest foe for 6 seconds, and remaining locked-on to the same foe once it picks a target.  It deals 8% and a flinch on a successful hit, but it can be dissipated by any adversarial hitbox, including those would normally reflect projectiles.

If the fire collides with the stage, it will explode and leave behind a small pillar of flame.  It lasts for 3 seconds, dealing 6% and light set upwards knockback.  While not a particular powerful move on its own, the quirks this weapon has are enough to make it valuable for scouting enemy tendencies and establishing a pace and range fit for our righteous guardian.

Side Special: Blessing of the Seed

Ridley roars as blue Phazite armor forms on his chest region over .65 seconds.  Upon completion, Ridley has seemingly upgraded his defenses, as this armor has no way of being forcibly opened.  Truly, there is no more hope for his foe.

Alas, while this gift from Dark Samus is an enhancement in many ways, it too has a notable weakness.  Upon taking 30% total, the Phazite shatters, reverting back to his original armor.  Furthermore, this move cannot be initiated if Ridley’s heart is currently vulnerable, as the Phazite formation around his exposed heart could prove disastrous.

Up Special: Wings of the Guardian

Ridley leaps straight upwards as high as Falco’s jump, spreading his mighty wings.  This has moderate startup lag, and Ridley is immune to non-grab attacks during the startup.  In the air, this doesn’t have any startup, but it also doesn’t include the initial leap or invincibility.  Once in his flying stance, Ridley can navigate the sky at an average speed, and with all the agility he has during regular jumps.  Flight lasts for 5 seconds or until Ridley takes damage.  Omega Ridley also has 2 attacks in this stance:

Pressing the Attack Button causes Ridley to immediately cease flight and drop the ground, all four feet first like some sort of almighty cat.  His body has a hitbox that deals 14% and a spike.  Upon hitting the ground, he creates a shockwave of Phazon energy that is as tall as Olimar and ends up 2.5x as wide as Bowser.  It deals 10% and KOs at 170%, but its main attribute is that it deals a lot of shield damage while pushing back shielding opponents to its perimeter, protecting Ridley from the above average end lag he experiences upon his crash landing.

Pressing the Special Attack Button results in a small, orange meson bomb to be fired from Ridley’s…uh…torso?  The Metroid Prime games were never clear on where he launches these.  Omega Ridley’s explosive droppings fall to the ground at a high speed, resulting in an explosion that deals 11% and vertical knockback that KOs at 165%.  There’s moderate lag on both ends to firing one of these, and while that may seem awfully spammable for something that can potentially combo into the other flying attack, each meson bomb launches reduces Ridley’s flight time by .4 seconds in addition to its lag time.

Joking aside, this is an invaluable technique for recovering, escaping pressure on the ground, and sometimes even approaching.

Down Special: Divine Spheres

Omega Ridley faces the screen and stands up on his hind legs, easily reaching the lower platforms of Battlefield even when keeping his neck compact.  He then creates 2 large purple spheres of Phazon and holds them in his palms at his sides.  After 2 seconds, he slams them into the ground, creating an epic attack that I can’t describe just yet.

While Ridley is charging the spheres, opponents can attack him or the spheres themselves.  Ridley has super-armor for the entire preparation phase, but the spheres will be destroyed in 1 hit.  If both are destroyed, Ridley is dazed as though his shield was broken.

Ridley can also cancel the preparation early by dashing left or right, which will cause him to simply let go of the spheres as they fall harmlessly to the ground.  This results in a weaker attack than would otherwise occur, but it does allow you to avoid becoming vulnerable should both spheres be destroyed.

The actual results from the spheres’ impact is as follows:

• Both spheres, full preparation: A mighty ring of purple Phazon lightning radiates from the ground, covering an area 2.3 the size of Bowser in total, dealing 18% and outwards knockback that KOs at 120%.  It deals 50% of a shield, and pushes enemies back 1/3 of Battlefield.
• Both spheres canceled or 1 sphere with complete preparation: Rather than a full ring, 4 “walls” of lightning emit at 45 degree angles.  They deal 12% and KO at 150%.  They “only” deal 20% of a shield on their own now, but the crazy pushback is still the same.
• 1 sphere canceled: Now only a single vertical wall of lightning emits from the impact point, dealing 9% and KOing at 175%.  It deals the same shield damage as the previous tier attack, but now the pushback is halved too.

STANDARDS

Jab: Blaze

Omega Ridley opens his maw, releasing a stream of fire .75x as long as Bowser’s fire breath.  It deals 5 hits of 5% a second, and can be held for up to 3 seconds.  The attack has moderate lag on both ends, and doesn’t deal much stun, but it is a useful deterrent to anyone who tries to rush forwards without respect for the great dragon.

Forward Tilt: Phazon Blades

Ridley pulls back one of his front legs as Phazon energy forms around it, creating extensions of his claws to double their length.  He then uses this for a very practical purpose: To rip apart anyone in his way.  This attack deals 12% and KOs at 125%.  Unfortunately, it has the same sluggish startup lag as Ike’s FTilt, but the Phazon infused into his claws gives the attack a very special property: chip damage!  That’s right, like in traditional fighters, blocking this attack results in the opponent receiving 3%, and this attack even provides decent frame advantage on shield.  In addition to the range the Phazon extensions provide to the attack, it has moderate end lag, making it difficult to punish when it whiffs.

Up Tilt: Anti-Crouch

Since he’s already low to the ground, Ridley doesn’t crouch.  Instead, holding up will cause him to rear up on his hind legs, standing slightly hunched over.  He can maintain this stance as long as he wants, and can even hobble forwards as an anti-crawl.  However, he can’t move backwards, shield, or jump.  Generally, he’ll be briefly entering this stance to access its 2 exclusive attacks.

Pressing the Attack Button while standing will cause Omega Ridley to bite forwards, dealing 12% and KOing at 140%.  This has moderate lag on both ends and is entirely suited for anti-air purposes.  It might also hit high enough to reach enemies on higher platforms on stages like Battlefield.

If you press the Attack Button while walking forwards, Ridley delivers a downwards-angled slash that is powered by nothing but his own muscles.  It deals 11% and moderate set upwards knockback, giving Ridley the chance to follow-up with more pressure or make a retreat.  It has moderate lag on both ends and a slight frame disadvantage on block.

Down Tilt: Phazon Whip

Phazon energy encircles his tail, causing sections of it to light up like a neon sign as he lashes it along the ground.  It deals 11%, causes a knockdown, and when shielded it deals chip damage!  Now would be a good time to say that all of Omega Ridley’s Phazon-empowered physical strikes deal chip damage thanks to the combination of his raw strength combined with the holy energy of Phazon.  This attack has moderate startup lag, but above average end lag.  Thanks to the sheer range of his tail, the shield stun it inflicts is enough to keep it generally safe at mid-range.

Dash Attack: Hop and Chomp

Ridley’s dash is in fact a small forwards hop that carries him about 1/6 of Battlefield.  It has a few frames of lag on the start and end, but it’s just to keep him from spamming it non-stop.  During his dash, he is considered airborne, making this a handy tool for dealing with ground-shaking attacks.  It also has anti-grab armor during the startup frames, making this an invaluable method for evading grab punishment and keeping his heart safe.

His actual dash attack is a no-nonsense bite, dealing 13% and KOing at 120%.  It’s quick to start but rather unsafe if it doesn’t connect.  Ridley does extend his neck while attacking to give the move impressive range, though this does risk him reaching past his intended target if performed too close.  If you aren’t sure the attack will land, cancel the dash into a midair jump to give yourself new options.

SMASHES

Forward Smash: Glorious Charge

Omega Ridley spreads his wings and roars as purple-tinted Phazon gas gathers around him, then rockets forwards in a gliding charge across 1/2 of Battlefield!  This deals 14-27% and KOs at 90-75%, and it deals good shield damage.  Unfortunately, the attack has above average startup lag, but it has super armor for a few frames just before he initiates the charge, and it manages to have moderate end lag.

Up Smash: Metaflame

Omega Ridley aims 50 degrees upwards and unleashes a massive (Kirby-sized) fireball that slowly advances in said angle, reminiscent of an attack he used when fighting Captain Falcon and ROB…The fireball deals 12-29% and star KOs vertically at 125-90%, and it continues through enemies until it hits solid ground.  Even other projectiles will be consumed by the great ball of purifying flames.

The attack has above average startup lag and moderate end lag.  It’s a powerful move for controlling aerial space, but it’s not a reliable anti-air for someone who’s already on top of you.

Down Smash: Inferno Spiral

Ridley spews a stream of fire straight ahead the length of Ike’s sword while lashing his Phazon-empowered tail behind himself.  The fire deals 12-28% and KOs at 130-105% with horizontal knockback, while his tail deals 11-26% and KOs at 120-100% with vertical knockback. To make up for a lack of chip damage and less KO strength, the fire pushes back enemies a decent distance to keep it safe, while his tail is rather vulnerable if shielded at close-range.  This attack has moderate startup lag and above average end lag.  It’s primarily meant for 2v2 and FFA battles, but in a 1v1 it can be used in conjunction with Searing Missile to really make enemies afraid to try rolling through you.

AERIALS

Neutral Aerial: Phazon Knives

Ridley jabs on a downwards angle with one hand, claws outstretched, Phazon coating them.  This doesn’t have the extensions (or the range) of his FTilt, but this attack is faster, having below average startup lag and moderate end lag.  It deals 11% and KOs at 160%.  Consider this your bread-and-butter aerial attack.  It’s not too fancy on its own, but it gets the job done, and when defending something as precious as the home world’s Leviathan, getting it done is all that matters.

Forward Aerial: Rain of Terror

Omega Ridley spits a blast of fire with a spiraling tail at a 30 degrees downwards angle.  The fire is fast and hits hard, dealing 12% and KOing at 120%.  While the initial fireball is thin, on impact it becomes a Bob-omb-sized explosion, giving this deceptive range and AOE capability.  Sadly, this potentially devastating attack has above average end lag, and while its startup lag is fast enough to be considered moderate, it’s not something you can rely on in a close-range aerial battle.

Back Aerial: Phazon Lance

Ridley stabs his tail backwards at a 60 degree angle in this variation of a signature attack, Phazon energy coating his entire limb.  This has above average startup lag and moderate end lag, and it deals 14% with a spike.  It also deals great shield-stun and shield damage, making this a scary poke or potential starter for some shield pressure.  Its vertical range also makes it an amazing edge-guarding move, giving Ridley kills even sooner than his strength would indicate.

Up Aerial: Great Shield

Omega Ridley lowers his head and wraps his wings around his front, creating a wall of frontal super-armor for .35 seconds before quickly spreading his wings for a moderately powerful attack: 11% and a KO at 170%.  This has above average end lag, but it can auto-cancel if Ridley lands during the end lag.  If he lands before that point, he stands hunched over in a bipedal position to complete the move on the ground.

Ridley unfolds his wings in an upwards-angled motion, making this a legitimate upwards aerial attack that can also strike horizontally.  Perhaps more importantly, the makeshift armor his wings provide gives him a way to guard his vitals even an enemy has exposed them.

Down Aerial: Phazon Guillotine

Omega Ridley raises a hand above his head as Phazon gathers around it before swinging it downwards at his front.  It deals 12% and a spike, and it has above average lag on both ends.  The key to this move is that like his UAir, the move will continue if he lands during the startup animation.  If he’s on the ground when the attack commences, he’ll slam his hand into the ground, creating a radial shockwave of Phazon energy that covers an area half the size of Bowser around his hand.  It deals 11% and set outwards knockback that covers half a Battlefield platform, and when shielded it pushes the target to the edge of its area of effect, helping to keep the move relatively safe.  Yes, it is possible to combo the 2 hits of the attack into each other.

This flashy attack is best use sparingly, occasionally using it as a substitution for NAir to keep the enemy on their toes.  If an enemy’s shield is broken, this is your go-to damage building tool.  While it won’t deal as much as a fully charged FSmash or Divine Spheres, you could use a Searing Missile to combo into both hits of this attack for 31% if nothing is staled.

THROWS

Grab:

Omega Ridley uses his mouth to grab offenders, allowing him to make quick work of their flesh with his Phazon-fueled jaws.  This has great range and below average startup lag, but it has high end lag.

Pummel: Hyper Grapple

Ridley drains energy from his opponent like a giant cyborg leech dragon.  Rather than mashing the attack button, this one continues as long as you hold it, dealing 2% to the enemy and healing Ridley for .5% every second the attack continues.  There is no lag whatsoever to starting/stopping it, so you can go to the last possible moment before throwing.

Forward Throw: Heat Cannon

Ridley unleashes a point-blank burst of fire into his opponent, dealing 13% and KOing at 100%!  Easily his most reliable throw for pure damage or KOing.

Back Throw: Subjugation

Ridley turns around and swings his head upwards as he releases his victim, tossing them straight upwards a small set distance and dealing 8%.  Both characters recover at a similar time, giving Ridley a chance for follow-up hits.  The simplest way to attempt more hits is to immediately enter the UTilt stance and vary the timing of your bites to mess with your opponent’s air dodges.  If they DI’d downwards from the throw, then an FTilt can catch them as they land, or at least force them block, which would give you yet another follow-up attempt.

Up Throw: Shotgun from Hell

Ridley tosses his opponent a short distance upwards before releasing a burst of flames into them, dealing 12% and KOing vertically at 110%.  It’s a good choice for vertical KOs, but it’s even scarier 3 or 4-player matches.  If someone else ends up between Ridley and his victim as he releases the fire, he or she will take the force of the attack, and just like a real shotgun, they’ll be hit for more damage; to be exact, 15% and a star KO at 95%.

Yes, I did just make a throw with a shotgun reference that functions more as an Easter egg than a relevant mechanic.  Deal with it.

Down Throw: Purge Weakness

Ridley hops forward a short distance, spitting his opponent on a steep downward angle at the highest point of the hop.  This deals 9% and a knockdown once the opponent hits the ground…assuming they hit the ground that is.  It is very possible for Ridley to fire his enemy right into the abyss if performed close enough to a pit.  If Ridley himself jumps off a platform, he’ll regain control as soon as he’s past the point he would have otherwise hit the ground.

FINAL SMASH: GLORY OF THE PIRATES

Omega Ridley rears back and roars to the heavens as Dark Samus’ shadowy figure is seen looming over the background.  Dark Samus reaches her divine hand over Ridley and channels red Phazon lightning into him, causing his armor to take on a purple tint and his very breath to expel Phazon gas.  For the next 12 seconds, Omega Ridley is completely invincible, he deals double damage, and all attacks deal chip damage as the Phazon energy in his non-melee attacks intensifies with a red hue.  At the end of the final smash, if Omega Ridley scored any KOs, you can hear Dark Samus laughing…

ITEM ATTACKS

Omega Ridley holds items in his mouth, looking like a literal space pirate when holding a beam sword.

Item Jab: Not-item Jab

His item jab, hilariously, doesn’t actually involve the item he’s carrying, but instead has him delivering a hook with one of his front legs, dealing a set 10% with set moderate knockback regardless of what item he’s holding.  It has below average startup lag and moderate end lag, but more importantly means he has the unique playstyle of being the only character who isn’t God Mode when holding a fan.

Item Tilt: Thrashing Slash

Ridley swings his head to one side, extending the beam sword a large distance, and dealing moderate damage and knockback.  It has low startup lag and above average end lag.

Item Dash Attack: Rebound Strike

Ridley spits his item at a downwards angle, dealing moderate damage and above average knockback.  If the attack connects (hit or shield), it bounces off the victim as Ridley catches the item in his mouth.  If it misses, the item bounces a short distance away and anyone can take it.  The attack has low startup lag and ends at the same instant as Ridley’s dash, even allowing him to cancel out of the catch animation with any action.

Item Smash: Phazon Item

Ridley charges his item with Phazon as he delivers a vertical slice, dealing high damage and knockback in addition to acquiring the chip damage perk of his main moveset.  This has moderate startup lag and above average end lag, but with the beam sword in particular it deals a lot of shield damage and the sword extends a decent distance.

PLAYSTYLE

Omega Ridley’s goal in a fight is simply to establish dominance over his foes and control the pace of the fight.  While he has relatively slower attacks, their range, general safety, and things like chip damage ensure than someone who tries to block and punish everything thrown their way will be overwhelmed before they ever find the opening that Ridley will never grant them.

This fight for control starts from the word GO, as he either needs to get Searing Missile into play to help him approach ranged fighters, or prepare to counter-approach a more close-ranged fighter.  Preemptive USmash will help him deter aerial advances, and going bi-pedal will assist once someone gets past that, but if someone is about to be right on top him, his final anti-air is to short hop backwards and use UAir to power through.  For more grounded, or slower approaches, start preparing Divine Spheres and dash-cancel away to make them hesitate.  All it takes is to make them go on the defense for a moment and for Omega Ridley to seize that shift in momentum to work his magic.

Once they start shielding, use the opportunity to hit them with an FTilt.  Now they take chip damage and are in an even worse defensive position.  Mix it up with further FTilts, Dash-canceled Divine Spheres, grabs, and aerial attacks (both from raw jumps and from canceled dashes) to keep them perpetually guessing.  Any time they make a bad call, they’re taking 10+ damage (on top of all the chip damage prior) and are being sent closer to the edge of the stage.  Trying to simply disengage isn’t easy thanks to Searing Missile ever-present and stuff like DTilt to catch them dashing away.  When you consider all the shield damage the great space dragon is doing, he can for shield pokes with UTilt and DTilt, and both of these lead to further pressure.

Omega Ridley’s best strength is how quickly he can take KOs.  If he doesn’t kill you outright, he has a nasty timing-based mixup with Divine Spheres.  Recovering players need to consider timing an air-dodge through the Phazon lightning while preparing to counter-attack Ridley’s other edge-guarding attacks.

Omega Ridley has an air game befitting his fighting style in Metroid Games, having much better air-to-ground options than attacks for dealing with other aerial combatants.  He doesn’t have the raw “death from above” abilities he once had in his regular form, but the deceptive AOE capabilities of his FAir and DAir, as well as his ability to continue a super-armored UAir while landing, give him tricky set-ups that make his slow attacks much more difficult to read than they would be otherwise.

Omega Ridley’s biggest weakness is escaping pressure when he’s not the one dishing it out.  Someone who challenges his dominance and brings the fight into close-range can out-speed Ridley and punish things that he normally relies on. To reset the situation, he needs to either predict a grab attempt and dash away, or escape to the air with an emergency Up Special.  Since there’s no hitbox on either of these techniques, a mistimed escape attempt will only make the situation even more unpleasant.

Maintain control the situation, and assert your superiority over those pitiful beings that claim to be your “opponents”.  Sooner or later, they’ll crack under the pressure, and all the struggling did was bring their demise that much closer.

2v2

Divine Spheres is easier to halt, but also much easier to set-up with the right teammate.  Even better is a teammate who can combo into Ridley’s powerful blows.  While Searing Missile won’t lock-on to teammates, they won’t try to avoid them if friendly fire is on, so be wary about releasing fireballs randomly.

FFA

Starting then canceling Divine Spheres is a good way to spread havoc throughout a match and steal KOs.  In general it’s a good idea to just throw out any huge hitbox you can, just to fish out KOs from across the stage and interrupts fights.  Divine Spheres, Up Special, and DSmash make for some good crowd control.

Capture the Flag

Omega Ridley is generally a flag guardian in CTF mode.  He can bombard flag-stealers with constant ranged pressure and his defensive buffs means that he can handle an offensive swarm much easier.  On the downside, his lack of fast mobility options means that if someone escape his base with his flag, he’ll need to rely on other teammates to pin down the enemy for him to catch-up and finish them off.

SPECIAL ANIMATIONS

Side Taunt: Ridley growls as one of those anime eye-glints appears in his eyes.

Up Taunt: Ridley roars as Phazon gas swirls around him

Down Taunt: Ridley claws at the ground a few times before hissing.

Victory Pose 1: Ridley rears back and lets out a mighty roar.

Victory Pose 2: Ridley is nowhere to be seen at first, with even the losers wondering where he is.  Suddenly, they look to the background and start to flee as Ridley swoops by close to the ground.  Ridley then lands with a chuckle as his more courageous opponents return to the screen.

Victory Pose 3: Our great leader starts his first victory pose before an infant of his race scurries onto the screen.  Ridley looks at it with a confused look before roaring at it, scaring it off the screen.  Ridley shakes his head in disappointment before giving a real roar for the players.

Victory VS Sakurai: Sakurai is seen running  across the screen, only stopping to turn around, point, and yell, “IT’S RODAAAAANNN!” before resuming running.  A giant-sized Omega Ridley then stomps onto the screen, angrily shaking his fist and growling as a subtitle appears: “I am not too big for smash bros!”

Team Victory with Yoshi: Ridley sits with a proud look on his face as a META YOSHI walks on to the screen.  Meta Yoshi turns towards the screen, salutes, and makes some evilly distorted version of his regular sounds as subtitles appear: “There you go Sundance!”

Loss Pose: Ridley slouches, angrily glaring at the winner

A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

Back in MYM6, I had a grand vision: A set of 3 movesets based on the Metroid Prime 3 Leviathan Guardians, incorporating as many of their mechanics and attacks as possible.  They were going to be posted Eeveelutions-style, one big epic tribute to my favorite game franchise cumulating in the first major MYMset for my beloved Ridley (HR was an OC form with a lot of differences from standard Ridley).  Alas, but Mogenar and Helios sat nearly finished while I constantly worked and reworked Omega Ridley, barely finishing a few moves before feeling unsatisfied with my portrayal of such an important character in my life.  Mogenar and Helios were able to be posted with warm reception in MYM7 and 8, but poor Ridley continued to sit by the sidelines, watching as I’d make sets for whatever character I would be obsessing over at the time.  As silly as it sounds, when I made my Garble moveset last year with 100 extras, I couldn’t help but feel like I was “cheating” on Ridley.

Then I replayed Metroid Prime 3 for the first time in years, the first time since I worked in the Leviathan Guardians.  Something in my brain clicked, and I finally realized the problem with all other iterations of the moveset: I was forcing it to be a general catch-all moveset for Ridley, rather than one tailored to his incarnation as a Guardian.  Suddenly I was able to conceive of attacks much easier and with much more confidence, and I was finally able to complete a moveset for OMEGA Ridley, rather “Every Ridley shoved into 1”.  I could finally be proud of a moveset for my favorite Zebesian Space Dragon.

For all those people out there who say Ridley can’t be playable, I say thanks.  My desire to prove you wrong is one of the things that got me to really think about game design on a deeper level, and after 11 MYMs of wackier concepts being developed I can say that YES, it’s more than possible to make him playable.  I just made a moveset for the most difficult form of all.

-Hyper_Ridley