Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale (PS3) Review
A
Journalistic Review by DefiantParrot
11/21/2016
*Warning: May Contain Spoilers*
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| (1) Playstation Smash-up Brawl Bros. |
Developer: SuperBot Entertainment, SCE Santa Monica
Studios
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: PlayStation 3
Genre: Fighting, Action
Release: November 20, 2012
Way
back in 1999, when I was but a wee little bird Nintendo released Super Smash
Bros. A Video game depicting many of Nintendo’s famous characters from Mario to
Donkey Kong etc., beating the ever loving hell out of each other.
Short story it was a hit. As of now Super Smash Bros. and
its sequels have together sold an estimated 39 Million copies. I tell you this
so you can understand the mindset of a little company named Sony.
In 2008 Nintendo released their third installment of
Super Smash Bros. and everyone and their mother bought a copy, hell I bought
two. Well someone at Sony must have finally stood up in a boardroom and said
“We can do that!” Because four years later. We received Playstation All-Stars
Battle Royale. The worst titled game in history.
Now it does make sense to do this, while not around quite
as long as Nintendo, Sony does also have many memorable and lovable characters
of they’re own. But make no mistake my readers Playstation All-Stars is a Smash
Bros. Clone. Sony Smash Bros. if you will.
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| (2) Ugh |
From the presentation down to the item drops and the very
premise this is indeed a Smash Bros. clone. Now before I dive into this any
deeper let me say this: If you do not like Smash Bros. All two of you out
there, this game will not change your mind. The two are extremely similar and I
don’t feel this game changes the formula enough to be its own thing.
Now Playstation All-Stars has a decent roster of fighters
with there being 20 characters from various games to play as. Plus four more
with DLC, but I have to raise an eyebrow at a few of these. See in Smash Bros.
all the characters felt like they deserved to be in there. Sony Smash Bros. has
some characters that are just here to promote their upcoming games.
Characters such as Dante from the DmC remake (released
January 2013)
Raiden from Metal Gear Rising (February 2013)
I wouldn’t mind these if the selection of characters
overall were worthwhile. But there are some glaring omissions. No Spyro The
Dragon, no Crash Bandicoot, no Lara Croft, no Sephiroth and these are
characters who like it or not made the PlayStation their home in one way or
another. Third Party developers or not these characters will always be
associated with Sony and them not being here is like being invited to a party
after all your friends were told they couldn’t come.
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| (3( It's an irritating omission |
The game also features some unique arenas with 14
available to start with two more as DLC. What make these interesting is the
mashup of two different video games to effect the stage differently. For
instance enjoy the bright and colorful scenery of Franzea until a F*cking Metal
Gear RAY unit destroys the background and begins attacking you and your
opponents. Other combinations like these add an air of fun and interest to
these stages that Smash Bros. doesn’t do.
Now while this game looks, sounds, and controls mainly
like Smash Bros. the main difference to this game is how you win. See every
character has three Special Moves. A meter at the bottom of the screen fills up
as you battle your opponent. The only way you can score a kill on your opponent
is to hit them with one of your Super Moves. With the first one usually being
the weakest and the third one being devastating often scoring multiple kills.
This admittedly does add a bit of strategy to Sony Smash Bros.
Like they’re trying to be known as a legitimate fighting
game and not just a Smash Bros. Clone, and while I will acknowledge their
attempt I personally don’t like this system. I don’t have a well thought out
reason, or some knowledge of the game mechanic to make this decision. I just
have my preference and I prefer causing damage over time and defeating my
opponent that way than saving for a Super Move.
Now thankfully whether you like the Super Moves or not, I
can easily say this game controls very well. What does it control like, well
take a guess my friend. But in all seriousness I never had an issue controlling
whichever character I was playing and I always felt in complete control.
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| (4) Many of the Super Moves are a sight to behold |
The graphics for the game are pretty good overall.
Certainly not the best in a fighting game released in 2012 but it gets the job
done. Honestly the combat is so hectic you won’t really have time to think on
the graphics of the game. On 4 player matches you may spend part of the match
trying to find just where the hell you are, it’s annoying to lose yourself in
the chaos and not know where you’re at onscreen. Which has happened to me on a
few occasions and to be fair is an annoyance this game shares with Smash Bros.
The sound in this game is also decent. The sounds during
combat and the lines from various characters are really good and very enjoyable
to hear. However one area Smash Bros. Brawl absolutely destroys Playstation
All-Stars is the music. Oh man the music here is so forgettable, especially the
theme of the game itself made me want to fall asleep. Now to be fair there is
music from other Sony games in here. But the selection is so miniscule I wonder
why they bothered.
Now Sony Smash Bros. does attempt to have a story here,
basically all of these characters are gathering to battle each other because
they have all either heard or can sense a strange power, and they have gathered
to claim this new power… Yeah so the most boring story ever.
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| (5) WTF is this thing? |
What is nice however is that in each characters arcade
mode, they will come across their rival such as Kratos/Sweet Tooth,
PaRappa/Spike etc. And these are the only cutscenes in the game aside from the
opening scene. These can bring a smile to your face, though I was surely be
irritated by the still shots at the beginning and end of arcade mode. I wish
that they’d had more time to put those cutscenes throughout the game instead of
these boring stills.
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| (6) Character rivalries are entertaining to see play out |
As you play through the game you will level up your
character as you do, you will unlock outros, intros, and even costumes for your
character. Rewarding you with items as you play, there aren’t many of these
unlockables but it is appreciated that they’re here. Or at least I’d be more
appreciative if there weren’t so many more outfits locked as paid DLC.
Another fault I have with this game is the item
selection. Compared to Smash Bros. the items here are so repetitive and boring.
The selection is so few these items pop up repeatedly so soon after each other.
The only item I really got a kick out of was the Gorgon Head from God of War.
Because this item was so rare it made it fun to fight like a madman to get it
and feel all the more rewarded when I did.
I will say happily that whenever I played this game
online I didn’t have any problems. The game ran smooth and I had a lot of fun
either destroying or being destroyed. The hardest part these days is finding
someone to play with but there is always couch co-op which in my opinion is the
best way to play. Had a lot of fun playing this with my brothers and showing
them why PaRappa should be feared!
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| (7) I Gotta Believe! |
Of course I could praise the multiplayer more if it
weren’t for the Online Pass. I’m so glad these are not a thing anymore.
And finally I must complain about the lack of modes. In
this game you have four. Arcade Mode for the lackluster “story”. Online
Multiplayer, a basic VS mode and a Challenge Mode, which is a far cry from the
challenges in Smash Bros these are the most basic and boring of challenges that
could be put together, either for the general challenge or character specific
challenges. No unique or funny ones, no sense of humor just Basic.
And that is probably my biggest complaint with
PlayStation All-Stars Total Toga Party, all of the ingredients are here but it
just didn’t mix well for some reason. And it’s because the personality and
heart of this game doesn’t extend past the general Smash Bros. Clone but with
Sony characters vibe. The fun and interest doesn’t extend past the characters
themselves. Once you get over that feeling of nostalgia seeing Spike again, or
laughing at a sword fight between Sir Daniel and Raiden, you realize that charm
is missing everywhere else.
From the lack of modes, lackluster music, to even the
most boring menus in the world! Playstation Smash Bros. Melee Brawl just
doesn’t reach that mark for me. Many of my problems here can be fixed in a
sequel, but at this point I doubt that’ll happen. So if my friends and I need
to beat each other’s faces in, we’ll just play Smash Bros.
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| (8) For when Smash Bros. won't play with you |
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale receives my Bronze
Seal of Acceptance
If for some reason you can’t play Smash Bros. it’s not a
terrible alternative. But it’s still the bass player in the band of Smash
clones.
References Pics:
1. http://www.ign.com/games/playstation-all-stars-battle-royale (1996-2017)
2. https://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/08/14/playstation-all-stars-gamescom-reveal-dante-sackboy-spike-ratchet-and-clank/ (2017)
3. http://youtubepoop.wikia.com/wiki/Spyro_the_Dragon
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD7y88nYUtw
5. http://playstationallstars.wikia.com/wiki/Polygon_Man
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhZA2y5Mx0I
7. http://playstationallstars.wikia.com/wiki/Doom_Box_ft._PaRappa!!!
8. sfimg.com (2016) https://www.sfimg.com/forum/thread?post_id=182845
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