Ridley (Metroid)
Throughout the history of the "Metroid" series, Ridley has received positive reception as the series antagonist. He is widely considered one of the most renowned and best Nintendo villains of all time and is regarded as a favorite amongst both the "Metroid" fandom and the series's developers. Nintendo Power listed him as their sixth favorite Nintendo villain, citing both his involvement in the death of Samus's parents as well as his determination, dying at Samus' hands many times yet always coming back. Computer and Video Games editor Mike Jackson described Ridley as a "fan favorite." GameDaily called him the 16th greatest Nintendo character, commenting that he "beats Mother Brain by a mile as the coolest Metroid villain." IGN editor Jesse Schedeen called Ridley the real villain of the "Metroid" series, commenting that he would have to be included in a "Metroid" film if one were made due to him being too important to leave out. 1UP.com editor Nadia Oxford described the Nintendo Comics System version of Ridley as being more of a "squashed bug" than a "fearsome reptile." WatchMojo.com ranked Ridley at #3 in their Top 10 Nintendo Villains list. The 1UP.com staff listed the battle with Ridley in "Super Metroid" as among the most iconic in Nintendo history. They stated that his appearance in "Super Metroid" is more memorable than any other appearance in the "Metroid" series, and that his return from the original game added some familiarity to "Metroid" fans. GamesRadar listed him third on their list of video game villains who will never stay dead, calling him Samus's "great white whale" that, even while he has tormented her throughout her life, she just cannot seem to kill. Gaming Nexus criticized the lack of fellow "Metroid" villain Kraid in "", but stated that the developers made up for it by adding the best Ridley battle in the series's history. IGN editors Phil Pirrello and Richard George listed Ridley as the second most deserving Nintendo character for inclusion in "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", stating that Samus was the only playable character in the game to represent the "Metroid" series (despite it being one of Nintendo's most famous and revered), and that the inclusion of Ridley would broaden the series's range. Overall, he is seen as one of the best Nintendo characters in general. In 2018, Watchmojo.com ranked him #1 on their "Top 10 Most Anticipated New Characters In Smash Ultimate" list.
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe
In an opening cutscene, Spider-Man finds himself beset by his enemies from the films: Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, and Venom. He gains help from New Goblin as he combats the villains. All six characters suddenly find themselves targeted by an enemy force and one-by-one, the villains and New Goblin begin disappearing. Meanwhile, Spider-Man is rescued by Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D., who informs him that the meteor which brought the Venom symbiote to Earth had broken up in the Earth's atmosphere and five more pieces had landed in numerous locations across the globe. Fury sends Spider-Man to retrieve the shards of meteors. Spider-Man quickly finds that the villains who attacked him and several more of his foes, including Rhino and Scorpion, have been placed under mind control of a mysterious villain. The villain also creates and controls holographic/symbiote combination foot soldiers called P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s (Perpetual Holographic Avatar Nano-Tech Offensive Monsters). As Spider-Man fights his enemies one-by-one and rescues them from the mind control, they promise to aid him in finding the villain responsible. As Spider-Man progresses, he obtains more allies such as Black Cat, Iron Fist, Silver Sable (only playable in Microsoft versions), Prowler, Lizard (not portrayed as a villain), and Blade. He discovers that the mastermind behind the P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s is Mysterio (whom Venom refers to as "bubbleman"), who intends to use his army to take over the world, using each shard of the meteor to make them stronger. Spider-Man decides to temporarily don the Black Suit for the final battle. Ultimately, Spider-Man defeats him and turns the shards over to Fury, who decides to analyze them and refers to the study as "Project Carnage" although the character himself is not featured, except in the PSP version. Even though she does not appear in the game, Madame Web is mentioned when the computer says she is here for Nick's 4:00 meeting.
"Spider-Man: Friend or Foe" was developed by three different companies. The Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 2 versions were created by Next Level Games. Beenox developed the Windows edition. Artificial Mind And Movement developed the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable versions of the game.