Game Info
Game Name: PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
Developer(s): SuperBot Entertainment
Publisher(s): Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform(s): PS3/PlayStation Vita
Genre(s): Fighting
Release Date(s): November 20, 2012
ESRB Rating: T
It’s time to fight!
It’s time for a brawl! The fight you have been waiting for is hitting the screen as all of your favorite PlayStation heroes and villains are hitting the screen for an all-out battle. Each character comes into the fight with a plan and a reason…and winning the battle is the only chance they have of getting the answers they need! The fight is on!
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is a fighting game released for the PS3 and PlayStation Vita. The game was released to moderate reviews and average sales.
Super Smash Bros. was a big hit for Nintendo and showed a big event. Characters from all over Nintendo and other platforms came together to duke it out in a fighting game that is less violent than games like Mortal Kombat and a bit more cartoonish in appearance (it still feels weird shooting Parappa in the face with Nathan Drake). It makes sense that other systems would like to get in on action…but with PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, it feels a bit too little and too late.
When a fat princess rides a chicken the whole world trembles
The game jettisons a storymode (though providing little stories for the characters). It primarily is just a beat-em-up fighting game. This is both its blessing and its joy. The game isn’t that deep, but it also feels like it doesn’t try hard enough. The game doesn’t really provide anything new to a fighting game.
It does have a wide swath of characters to use. Big Daddy (BioShock), Cole MacGrath (Infamous), Colonel Radec (Killzone), Dante (Devil May Cry), Evil Cole MacGrath (Infamous), Fat Princess (Fat Princess), Heihachi Mishima (Tekken), Jak & Daxter (Jak and Daxter), Kratos (God of War), Nariko (Heavenly Sword), Nathan Drake (Uncharted), Parappa (PaRappa the Rapper), Raiden (Metal Gear), Ratchet & Clank (Ratchet and Clank), Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet), Sir Daniel Fortesque (MediEvil), Sly Cooper (Sly Cooper), Spike (Ape Escape), Sweet Tooth (Twisted Metal), Toro Inoue (Doku Demo Issyo). Zeus (God of War) and Isaac Clarke (Dead Space), and Emmett Graves (Starhawk) were provided as downloadable. The characters do have a lot of playing styles and some are fast (like Sly) while others are big brawlers (like Big Daddy).
All Parappa has to do to win is “BELIEVE”!
The fighting of the game is also very divisive. The game doesn’t rely on a bunch of special moves like other fighting games. The goal mostly is to build up your fighting meter to get to a special move which unleashed creates a knock-out. This almost dumbs down the fighting while still providing some challenge by finding ways to boost your power…and ultimately irritation if you miss or are blocked after it builds.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale was a good step but feels like too little too late. It has some fun but it also feels like a desperate attempt to capitalize on Nintendo’s success with their franchise (ditto with LittleBigPlanet Karting). The game is a solid replacement if you don’t have access to Super Smash Bros., but it needs to be a bit more innovative and new…something the game just doesn’t succeed in.
