How do you imagine characters like K. Rool, Dixie, Toad, Little Mac, and Ridley playing? Little Mac I can kind of see how he would play, but I admit that I have trouble imagining how K. Rool would play. I also have trouble figuring out what people want Ridley to be like. For me, Ridley always seemed to be a little too big to fit into a Smash Bros. battlefield. Do people want him to be shrunk down to fit better?
I made a ton of movesets. Here are my movesets for K. Rool and Ridley.
K. Rool moveset:
K. Rool was one of two characters I was considering for the third Donkey Kong spot. The other being Dixie Kong. One of the main reasons why I chose K. Rool over Dixie was because he had more potential to be unique than her. However, some people think K. Rool would be too similar to Bowser However, K. Rool has a lot going for him that would set him apart from that other heavyweight reptilian villain. There has been a lot of attacks for him to have from the many games he has been in such as the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy, Donkey Kong 64, and the King of Swing games. It is for this reason that making a move for K. Rool (at least for his specials and Final Smash) would be quite easy and unique at the same time.
As for K. Rool as playable character, I envision him to be slow, powerful, and quite humorous in his attacks and animations. K. Rool is obviously obese, and I plan to make some of his moves reflect his big golden belly. While not a joke character, K. Rool will provide plenty of laughs, and at the same time be quite lovable, much like his bumbling self during Donkey Kong Country (and 64) games. It is his quirkiness and humorousness that I hope would make him standout among the heavyweights in Smash 4 and thus give him a place among the Smash roster. I am hoping that many of you will love the moveset that I crafted for him.
As for K. Rools design, usually with Smash the latest appearance is what the design of the character is in the game. However, I am more fond of Rares design for K. Rool than in the Jungle Climber games (he was also made less goofy, one of the main things that separated from other big Nintendo villains, in the Jungle Climber games). However, I think that there should a compromise of designs, with him having the same cape and crown as his Jungle Climber design but retaining the eye tic and golden belly from the Rare design. As for how K. Rools official artwork, I imagine him jumping up in the air a bit with one of his arms raised up in the air like he is a champion or something (sort of like his trophy in Brawl). I think K. Rools moveset will help establish how K. Rool should be in the Donkey Kong series (one of the few things that was lost with the DK series after Rare left was K. Rools bumbling nature), and thus help him gain a whole new generation of fans.
K. Rool regular moves:
A: K. Rool does an exaggerated powerful punch.
AA: K. Rool does another exaggerated powerful punch.
AAA: K. Rool bashes his opponent with his big, round belly.
A-tilt: K. Roool smacks his opponent with his stubby tail.
Running-A: K. Rool get thrusted foward quickly by his blunderpuss.
Down-tilt A: K. Rool does a headbutt with his crown, ouch.
Up-tilt A: K. Rool does a flip and lands on his posterior, not a good move to do.
A-Air: K. Rool does a spin in the air.
Backward-Air: K. Rool looks back, and claps his hands backward.
Up-Air: K. Rool takes off his crown and smacks someone upward with it. This is a kill move.
Down-Air: K. Rool does a downward body slam (K. Rool comes down very quickly, just like with Toon Links down air).
Forward-Air: K. Rool bashes his opponent with his big, golden belly in the air.
Foward-Smash: K. Rool bashes his opponent with the end of his blunderpuss. This is obviously chargeable.
Down-Smash: K. Rool spins on his belly, think like Bowser down-smash and Warios down-smash (only K. Rool does it on his belly instead of his back).
Up-Smash: K. Rool pulls out his backpack copter and starts pulling a cord to it (this is how he charges it up), when he stops pulling he attacks upward using the propeller part to the copter. It has limited ranged upward, but it is very powerful.
For K. Rools grabs, he uses the suction power of his blunderpuss from Donkey Kong Country 2. The blunderpuss sucks opponents toward K. Rool which allows him to do grab attacks on them. The suction length for the blunderpuss is about the length of Links Hookshot.
Grab-A: K. Rool holds onto his opponent while bashing them with the butt of his blunderpuss.
Grab-forward: K. Rool bashes his opponent with his blunderpuss forward.
Grab-backward: K. Rool bashes his opponent with his blunderpuss backward.
Grab-down: K. Rool body slams his opponent (think Bowsers down grab).
Grab-up: K. Rool throws his opponent a little upward, then bashes them with his crowned head. His most powerful throw move.
K. Rool special moves:
Regular-B: Blunderpuss Cannonballs: K. Rool takes out his trusty blunderpuss, then blasts out a cannon ball. However, the cannon balls that come out are random, and dependent on how much damage K. Rool has accumulated. At 1-50% damage K. Rool will mostly just shoot out regular cannon balls. At 50-100% damage, K. Rool will mostly shoot out spiked cannonballs, which obviously do much more damage than regular cannon balls. Also, the way the cannon balls come out can differ. Sometimes the cannonballs will just go in a straight line, while other times they will bounce or spin around in a circle. However, sometimes the cannon ball will drop in mid-air which will allow your opponent to use the cannon ball against you (however, you opponent wont be able to touch it if it is a spiked cannon ball). Sometimes K. Rool will even shoot out two cannon balls at the same time. However, once K. Rool has 100%+ damage K. Rool will stop blasting out cannon balls and start shooting out those clouds from the later stages in the Kaptain K. Rool fight. The blue clouds momentarily freeze your opponents, red clouds make you move much slower (and even affects your opponents fall speed), and purple clouds reverse your opponents controls. The status effects from these clouds only last for about ten seconds or less (you can button mash your way out of frozen one).
Side-B: Crown Throw: K. Rool throws his trusty crown at his opponent. The throw speed is dependent on how much damage he has accumulated though. Also, after the crown hits an opponent or disappears off screen, it magically appears back on his head.
Down-B: Rump Waves: This move is derived from the K. Rool fight in Donkey Kong 64. This move is chargeable, and K. Rools posterior glows while charging it. Whenever you let go on down-b, K. Rool jumps up in the air and when he hits the ground, he creates a multitude of green shock waves on the ground.
Up-B: Backpack-Copter: K. Rool uses the backpack copter from Donkey Kong Country 3 as his recovery move. This moves is a very good recovery move (has good vertical and horizontal recovery and lasts quite a bit), however, the only way an opponent can get hurt from it is if they get hit by the propeller for it. Also, there is one big downside to this move, if an opponent throws an item or a powerful projectile at the back of K. Rools copter, then it will short circuit and K. Rool will have no control over where it goes, thereby endangering him.
Final Smash: Cannon Ball Barrage: K. Rool jumps up in the air and slams the ground and cannon balls randomly shoot down from the top of the screen, however, unlike in Donkey Kong Country, the cannonballs do not have a pattern, and are random. The cannonballs also fall really fast, and the Final Smash lasts longer than PK Starstorm. However, the cannonballs do no have as much area as the stars from the PK Starstorm.
K. Rools taunts are as follows:
1. K. Rool goes Yeaaaaaaaaaah, while raising his arm up like hes a champion (this is based off of what he would do during the K. Rool fight in Donkey Kong 64).
2. K. Rool plays his belly like if it were a drum.
3. K. Rool inspects the gun part of his blunderpuss, then a whole bunch of black smoke comes out of it, and K. Rools entire face is covered with black soot. K. Rool sneezes and all the soot comes off.
Victory animations:
1. K. Rool jumps up and down saying Yeaaaaahh uh-huh yeeaaaahh uh-huh with his arms and the air and he spins around, it sort looks like he is dancing.
2. K. Rool attempts to a backflip, and instead lands on his back. K. Rool then gives a thumbs-up.
3. K. Rool starts saying Thank you, thank you while bowing, only that his back is turned toward the screen. K. Rool notices this and quickly turns to the screen and waves hi.
Running animation:
K. Rool runs like how he runs in Donkey Kong Country, he swings his arms from side to die. I would also make him breeze heavily, as though running is hard work for him.
Idle animation:
K. Rool simple clenches his fists like he is in a boxing animation. Once and while, K. Rool scratches his head and yawns.
Costumes:
Costume 1: K. Rool has a blue cape, and a blue-shiny belly.
Costume 2: K. Rool has purple cape, and a purple-shiny belly.
Costume 3: K. Rool has a black cape, and black tint to his scales.
Costume 4: K. Rool has a white cape, is a lighter green than he normally is.
Costume 5: K. Rool has a green cape, and a green-shiny belly.
Unlockable costume: Kaptain K. Rool
Kirby Hat: Kirby gets K. Rools crown and his eye tic for one of his eyes. Kirbys does the blunderpuss cannon balls as the special move that he copied.
K. Rool- Snake Codec Conversation:
Snake: Colonel, who is this fat alligator with the crown and cape?
Campbell: Thats King K. Rool. Hes leader of the Kremling Corps and Donkey Kongs arch-nemesis.
Snake: He doesnt look that threatening to me.
Campbell: He may look that way, but he carries around a gun that can shoot cannonballs and has a backpack helicopter.
Snake: He still doesnt seem that bad.
Campbell: Dont get cocky Snake. K. Rool has a thing for pretending to be down when he isnt. He fights back best, when you think he is done.
Snake: So he likes to play opossum.
Campbell: Yes, so dont let your guard down, and dont underestimate him.
Snake: Got it colonel.
End of codec.
Ridley moveset:
Ridley is perhaps the one character that everyone was expecting to show up in the roster, but didnt. Ridley is now by far the most requested character for Smash 4, however, he has a huge albatross hanging around his neck, his size. Ridleys huge size has often made many pro-Ridley topics quickly devolve into heated debates and flame wars. Many of Ridleys detractors argue that Ridleys size is what makes him Ridley, and that downsizing him would take away his ferocity or be demeaning to the character (the fact of the matter is that these same people, only say this because they dont want to see Ridley get on the roster).
First off, Ridleys size means nothing. Many characters throughout the history of Smash have been resized. Bowser, Ganondorf, Pikachu, Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, all had their sizes adjusted to fit in with the other Smash fighters. Heck, take Olimar for example, he is only the size of a quarter, yet he was resized so that he was no a tiny being, despite one of the main tenets to the Pikmin series is being a tiny being in our normal sized world. However, no one has said that Olimar was ruined due to being resized. Ridley himself also barely needs to be resized if we are going by his Super Metroid incarnation. In Super Metroid, Ridley is only 1.5 times the size of Samus. Ridley can easily be resized to be the size of Ganondorf (who is the tallest character in the game), while in his Super Metroid positon (where he is hunched over).
The main tenet to Ridleys ferocity and the aura behind him (despite most of these people not even being Ridley fans) is that Ridleys tendency to show up when one has forgotten about him and the cruel nature of his attacks, not his size (if there is one Metroid boss that is famous for his size, it would be Kraid). Ridley is iconic for being a boss that shows up when one least expects him and for being an awesome boss in most of games he has been in. Really, I dont think resizing Ridley would have any bearing on his ferocity. Look at Ganondorf and Mewtwo, they are both god-like beings in their respective series, yet they were placed into Smash as playable characters and few people complained about them being playable limited the sense of respect people had for them (however, there are/were people who complained about how terrible Mewtwo was in Melee, and how bad Ganondorf is in Brawl).
Ridley can retain much of his brutality through the right type of moveset. Ridley is a dragon with sharp claws, a pointed tail, and a mouth full of knife-like teeth. Obviously, there is a lot that can be derived from for a possible moveset for Ridley. Ridley also has the ability shoot fireballs out of his mouth, as well as create gusts by flapping his wings (or at least that was a new ability given to him in Brawl). Ridleys anatomy and brutality has a lot of potential to bring a very unique moveset to the Smash Bros. roster.
As for Ridleys design, I think Ridley should just be regular Ridley in Smash Bros. In Brawl, Ridley was made into light-blue, a color that he never was in the main Metroid series (the only time he was ever blue was when he was Ridley-X in Metroid Fusion, in which case he was dark blue). In other Metroid games, Ridley was purple (in Metroid and Super Metroid) or grey (in Metroid Zero Mission). It is for this reason that selecting which default color Ridley should be to be quite difficult. However, I am leaning toward purple since that is the color Ridley is usually viewed as being. As for what Ridleys battle pose would be, I imagine him being in a similar position as when you fight him in Super Metroid, where he is hunched over, but looks feral and vicious. As for his official art, I imagine him in the same hunched over position, only he looks more calculating and ominous than feral and vicious (it is hard to describe). Overall, I am hoping that you will love the moveset I made for everyones favorite Space Pirate commander and that it captures Ridleys nature from the Metroid series.
Ridley regular moves:
A: Ridley swipes with one his arms.
AA: Ridley swipes with another arm.
AAA: Ridley bites his opponent.
Running-A: Ridley lunges at his opponent with both of clawed hands.
Side-A-tilt: Ridley slashes his opponent with the knifey end of his tail.
Up-A-tilt: Ridley bites upward.
Down-A-tilt: Ridley stabs with his tail in the same manner as a scorpion.
A-Air: Ridley spins diagonally, slashing with his claws and tail.
Forward-air: Ridley stretches out his neck and bites his opponent.
Backward-air: Ridley viciously stabs his opponent in back of him with his tail.
Down-air: Ridley does a downward stab with his tail (it works like Toon Links down-air in which he comes down quickly and bounces off his opponent when he does it).
Up-air: Ridley breathes a small stream of fire with his head pointed up. Similar to "tail pogo" attack from the 2D Metroids.
Forward-Smash: This is actually a weird one, considering that it is a combo. Ridley will first drive one of his claws into his opponent, then head-butt him or her, then he quickly stabs him or her with his tail.
Down-Smash: Ridley does a roundhouse with his tail. While the range to this attack is quite big, the only part that really does a lot of damage is at the tip.
Up-Smash: Ridley stabs with the pointed edges of his wings (its most similar to Charizard's up-smash)
Grabs:
Grab-A: Ridley scratches the face of the opponent he is holding.
Forward-Grab: Ridley throws the opponent forward a bit then scratches him or her even further.
Backward-Grab: Ridley throws the opponent back a bit then whips him or her even further back with his tail.
Up-Grab: Ridley tosses his opponent up a bit then he bites them. It does a lot of damage, but it does not toss your opponent up much vertically.
Down-Grab: Ridley slams his opponent to the ground, then jump up a bit and drives all four of his clawed limbs into his opponent.
Ridley special moves:
Regular B: Dragon Cannon: This move is chargeable. Ridley opens his mouth then starts charging up a bunch of fire in his mouth. Once you are done charging, press B again to unleash a huge death beam from Ridleys mouth (think about what he would in the Meta Ridley fights in the Metroid Prime series). This move is not particularly powerful and it only covers about the length of about half of Final Destination, however, since it comes directly from Ridleys mouth, it is not really a projectile and it cannot be reflected.
Down-B: Death Wind: This move is taken from the Ridley fight in Brawl. While this move does no damage, it is an excellent edge-guard move. Keep pressing down-b to make Ridleys wings flap continuously which will blow back your opponent a bit. Your opponent gets blown back further the more damaged they are, also, the move is more effective against lighter characters than heavy characters.
Side-B: Dragon Rush: This move is derived from the second half of the Meta Ridley half in Metroid Prime. It works like Fox and Falcos Phantasm, however, with Ridley there is a bit of start-up time to doing (though he has super-armor during the initial start-up). This move also does much more damage than Fox and Falcos Phantasm (over 15%). Ridley will also do a spin attack with his tail (based off again off of this same attack from the Meta Ridley fight in Metroid Prime) if you hit side-b again near the end of his dash. While the move is predictable, the spin attack can easily punish your opponent from its sheer range (the tale is extended outward fully).
Up-B: Wings of Terror: This move is very similar to Pits recovery, only it lasts a shorter time (about two seconds shorter). Ridley will flap his wings for a bit to fly around, also, there is no way to indicate that Ridley has performed this move other than his wings flap continuously, so if the player does not know how long this recovery move lasts, he could be in a heap of trouble.
Final Smash: Omega Ridley: Ridley will transform into Omega Ridley from Metroid Prime 3 as his Final Smash. Omega Ridley is massive (at least half the size of Final Destination), has a huge power increase, and his attacks have a lot range as a result of his massive size. The major drawback to this Final Smash is that it does last as long as other transformation Final Smashes. Also, many of Ridleys fire attacks are now Phazon attacks while in this form.
Alternate Final Smash idea: Pain Cycle: When this Final Smash is activated near an opponent, Ridley grabs a nearby opponent, and then goes into a cutscene (think Captain Falcon's Final Smash). Ridley will then begin flying and scraping the grabbed opponent against a wall like in Brawl and Other M. Ridley can only do this attack on one opponent at a time, however, it is very powerful, doing 75%-100% damage.
Ridleys taunts are as follows:
1. Ridley gets on all fours and screeches at his opponent.
2. Ridley will turn to the screen and his eyes will glow and have his wings stretched out (it is similar to one of Meta Knights taunts).
3. Ridley will squint his eyes then crack one of his knuckles.
Ridleys victory animations are as follows (I tried to capture an eery mysteriousness to it):
1. Ridley will be in his idle battle animation, but he will be facing the screen and his eyes will glow.
2. Ridley puts one of his hands under his head, and closes his eyes.
3. Ridley flies up for a bit then comes back down, with a battle ready pose.
Running animation:
Ridley does not run like Charizard and Meta Knight (which is they fly-float). Instead, Ridley moves sort of like Donkey Kong (he runs on all fours), but he sorts of has hopping lunges .
Idle animation:
Ridley will simply be in his Super Metroid position, doing absolutely nothing, sometimes though his eyes will glow, or he will squint his eyes menacingly, or cringe one of his talon arms.
Ridley costumes:
1. Blue Ridley
2. Gray Ridley
3. Red Ridley
4. Black Ridley
5. Green Ridley
Kirby Hat:
Kirby becomes like Ridleys head in shape almost (a bit pointy), and he sprouts Ridleys wings and tail. The special move he can do is obviously Dragon Cannon.
Ridley also has three jumps, however, they have as much vertical value as two regular jumps for most characters. Ridley also has the ability to glide.
Ridley-Snake Codec Conversation:
Snake: Colonel... colonel! What is this dragon beast that I am fighting?!
Campbell: Thats Ridley. Ridley may not look like it, but he is a brilliant tactician and holds the title as leader of the Space Pirates.
Snake: So this dragon-thing is an intelligent sentient being?
Campbell: Yes, Ridley is widely known for his cruelty and brutality. Its because of him that the Space Pirates have become a source of fear and unrest throughout the galaxy. Why, rumor has it that he personally murdered the parents of Samus Aran?
Snake: Samus.... you mean that woman in the armor-suit.... no wonder she seems a bit cold....
Campbell: Ridley and Samus have a long running hatred for one another. Samus has defeated Ridley many times, but he is driven to return to the battlefield by his sheer hatred for Samus.
Snake: What are Ridleys tactics?
Campbell: Ridley will use his claws, his tail, and even his teeth. Not to mention he has the ability to create gusts of wind by flapping his wings, and fire a jet of fire from his mouth. Ridley is persistent Snake, and he lacks any sense of pity or mercy.
Snake: So I am facing a tough battle ahead of me huh.
Campbell: Snake, Ridley may be battle hardened, but so are you, so get out there and give it your all.
Snake: I wont let you down Colonel. I am going to slay this dragon.... for you Samus....
End of codec.
