Smash Brothers clone? Smash Brothers beater? Work of genius, or just plain hack job? PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale has been a controversial game since it was first announced, as for many it represented a very cynical ploy by Sony to capitalise on a multi-million dollar franchise.
As far as I’m concerned, though, the games aren’t really comparable. All-Stars is actually far more like a very different game from the Gamecube era, and it’s also substantially better. Which game? You’ll need to watch the video!
In fact, this is one of the most fun multiplayer games I’ve ever played on the PlayStation 3, so it’s well worth a look.
Enjoy the video!
Very solid video review. I had a lot of the same impressions from my time with the demo a couple of weeks ago. The arena announcer sure reminds me of Smash Bros, and of course the general idea drew a lot of obvious inspiration from the series, but the actual feel of the combat felt quite a bit different to me, with a good deal more actual strategy. One I plan to eventually pick up.
Great review Matt!
I'm having a blast with this game. I snagged it on Vita (it's $20 cheaper!) and I've killed my Vita's battery like four times already.
I am ever, ever so slightly less of a fan of the Vita game. The block/ dodge button is uncomfortable for me on the Vita, and so some of my strategy is compromised.
Are we PSN buddies? We need to play!
The sooner you do the sooner we play!
I have a friend that's a HUGE Smash Bros. fan, and he called me last Monday or Tuesday afternoon. I missed his call, and hadn't had a phone call from him in a while…so I wasn't sure what it was about…then I saw him playing this game on the PS3 Tuesday night and had my question answered!
I don't think I'll be grabbing this one, as the Mrs. got me Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, and I ended up trading that one off just because I didn't play it much, and didn't stick with the single-player campaign.
You mentioned the Shrek combat style and showed some footage of it, not sure why, but it kind of reminded me of Power Stone for the Dreamcast when I saw it.
This game has a solid online multiplayer mode (lag free for me so far, which is amazing – and a first – for a fighting game). Long term that's where all the value of this game will be, so I suggest if you do pick it up, hit up Chris and I and Nick once he has a copy of the game for a bout or two.
Mabye we'll make it a tournament!
As for Shrek – it is very much like Power Stone in terms of level design and the way it's animated. I can't remember exactly how the "point scoring" of Power Stone worked, but in Shrek it is almost exactly the same as it is not in All-Stars.
Haha, the next PS3 game I get, will probably be chess….
The destruction and camera placement in the Shrek footage is probably what got me on Power Stone, but it's been 10+ years since I played that one, and don't remember much about it.
haha, Chess works for me too!
Just to put this on the record too – I do not in any way suggest you track down a copy of Shrek. It is a bad, bad game, with horribly unbalanced characters and almost no depth to the fighting.
The only comparison it has to PS All Stars is that "do damage to build up a super attack" mechanic. It's very core to the experience, but All Stars gets it right. Shrek… didn't 😛
I've played it on both systems and the only thing that I've found is that it's easier to use the joystick on the PS3, than with the Vita. Considering I don't use it on either of them, it wasn't a factor at all – I actually prefer the block/dodge strategy on the Vita too, but that's just me – I'm kinda crazy. Haha