65 Ridley
Metroid (1986 - NES)
Ridley is a character who occupies the whole stage by his many disjoint attacks and his physical presence. Ridley’s three jumps are allowing him to time his moves and thus to be very dangerous in ledgetrap and edgeguard situations. To sum up, a character as strong as his disjoints, really scary when pressuring his opponent.
Characteristics
Strengths
- Range of his moves
- Many disjoint attacks
- Great ledgetrap
- Great edgeguard
- Great killpower
Weaknesses
- Massive hurtbox
- Light-weighted for a heavy
- Not enough OOS options
- Predictable Up B
- No kill confirm
Matchups
Favourable
Unfavourable
Stages
Favourable
- Protective and violent platforms
- Lylat allows fast kills
Unfavourable
- Complicated to ledgetrap in Kalos
- No platform
Skills
Pro Tips
Features
Ridley is a character who can jump three times, which makes it interesting to recover more easily and to delay his landing. Besides, we should also note that his Neutral B (when Ridley spits fireballs) can explode on him if the opponent hits Ridley when he is charging. Finally, his Down B can deal up to 60% damage if Ridley hits with the tip of his tail, his sweetspot.
Best moves
NEUTRAL AIR
Certainly his best move, because it's his fastest Out Of Shield option. The massive disjoint makes it kind of safe and makes it excellent against aerial approaches. The Neutral air is also a great option to start, continue or finish combos. Be careful though, if missed, it is punishable because it has a big ending lag.
FORWARD TILT
The Forward tilt has a great range as well as a big disjoint, making this attack also kind of safe. This attack can easily takes a stock especially if you hit with the sweetspot. It is also a really polyvalent move due to its ability to be angled in three different directions. However, take care because this move is risky when used in disadvantage.
DOWN TILT
The most disjoint move of Ridley while being pretty fast. It can be safe, but only if you hit with the tipper, spacing is thus required. The Down tilt is great to juggle or starting combos thanks to the ejection angle, perfect for both. In stages like BF, it's ideal to lead the opponent in techchase situation on a platform.
SIDE B
The Side B is a command grab, so it ignores shields. It is a very useful tool in advantage phases to kill at high % but also to quickly steal stocks. However, don't overuse it because this move is very punishable if predicted. Besides, if the opponent is not as high %, a better option would be to simply use the grab. Therefore, don't forget that correctly used, the Side B is a great move to induce panic to opponents in critic situations !
BACK AIR
The Back air has a great killpower and is surely the most used kill move by Ridley players. The move owns a large hitbox and many active frames, allowing to 2-frame vertical recoveries! However, be aware that the Back air has a pretty slow startup and doesn't have any disjoint, making it less safe than other disjoint moves.