Richard -Dick- Biggs wrote on 05/07/19 at 12:35:57:
I voted for Darkside and Minion in TM3. But mostly because I like the idea of facing those two as mid-bosses in a game. I wish we could have gotten Darkside in TM2 and face him in like Paris or something.
I agree it would have been really cool to fight Darkside in TM2.
I wish there was some sort of official explanation and details about that, but the theories I've read are
-he would have replaced Minion, seeing as they are similarly both beings from Hell, but the battle would have been in Hollywood as suggested by Darkside's TM1 ending. Perhaps the LA map was in the middle of the game originally if that's the case since a boss fight in the first stage is unusual.
*Also, if the character Granny Dark (from TM2 concept art) was meant to be the driver of Darkside in TM2, then Darkside would have seemed less like a Minion replacement since Granny Dark is an old lady, not a demon/or Satan himself like Mr. Ash was.
2nd theory) he would have replaced Dark Tooth as a final boss, but it would not have been in Hong Kong but in New York instead, as the endings all take place in New York which seems to suggest that New York's rooftops were the final stage at some point before the game was finished.
I could have seen TM2 similarly ending on a rooftops stage like TM1, so it's not a terrible theory, and Darkside would make sense for NY, whereas DarkTooth would be less practical on a rooftops map.
funny enough, I'd always think of Darkside in the TM2 Intro Cinematic, which shows a semi truck crash into a city building. But the design didn't match the Darkside design so it's just some other semi blowing up. and Darkside appearing in one of the menu screens as well as in the quick cinematic logo intro is a total tease.
But it was pretty cool of 989 to bring back Darkside. They didn't really mess with his design either, and even though there is no image of the driver it's cool they kept it Mr. Ash, his final appearance in the series (unless you count PS2 Head-On's extras which include TM1's cut endings. *And the last name is re-used for Small Brawl w/ Jimmy Ash, who could very well be Mr. Ash disguised as a child). The special was Minion-inspired with the freeze, and coincidentally the fire & ice combo is fitting because TM1 for PSX & TM1 for PC had different Darkside specials, where PSX had the laser that would burn opponents, and the PC special was a laser that would freeze/stun opponents - TM3's Darkside special does both but I'm sure that's a coincidence, I doubt 989 even knew about TM1PC.
It's too bad you can only play as DS via Gameshark because he is one of the few vehicles that were fun to play as in TM3.