For years PlayStation fans have wished that a title similar to Nintendo's Super Smash Bros would make its debut on a PlayStation platform. Today, that dream has been realized in PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale.
Previously referred to as Title Fight, All-Stars was first revealed by Paul Gale of paulgalenetwork.com. As it turned out, all of Paul's details about All Stars were in fact true.
GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZNEWkI8Hak
Developed by SuperBot Entertainment, All-Stars features a robust cast of both PlayStation mascots, and 3rd party characters set to a Super Smash Bros type gameplay that allows up to 4 players to duke it out on-screen. The current roster is comprised of: Sweet Tooth, Sly Cooper, PaRappa the Rapper, Fat Princess, Colonel Radec, and Kratos.
Each character will sport a different play style, allowing anybody to hop on All-Stars and find a character that suits their needs. Move set wise, each character features your basic kicks and punches along with a three-tiered special system.
Specials in All-Stars are executed by obtaining energy - indicated by the bar next to your character's portrait - from orbs dropped by players when they take damage, the more orbs you collect, the more energy you have which will allow you to execute your special. While levels 1 and 2 seem to be flashy attacks that based on what that character is most known for, the level 3 special is where the game really takes a turn.
From what we've been shown so far, each characters' level 3 special transforms them into a damage-dealing brawler. Fat Princess calls upon her army of minions as she sits atop her throne eating cake while her vassals attack the other players. Kratos dawns his Armor of Aries which grants him the power of the gods to slay the competition. Colonel Radec equips a jetpack and goes into a first-person mode - think Solid Snake's Final Smash in Super Smash Bros Brawl - that lets the player rain down hell. Sweet Tooth hops in his ice cream truck that promptly transforms into a robot around three times the size of the rest of the players. Although it would be nice if the level 3 specials were a bit more cinematic, I suppose that would only delay the fast-paced action that All-Stars looks to offer. Did I mention it runs at 60FPS?
Levels in All-Stars are taken from various PlayStation franchises. What makes the levels so interesting is that SuperBot meshed franchises together for some levels. As a result, you'll be fighting in a stage with Patapons messing with Hades in the background of one stage and a Ratchet and Clank-Hydra themed stage. The backgrounds in each of these stages will mostly be dynamic, meaning the characters you see in the background will interact with the players during battle.
The stage that really caught my attention was LittleBigPlanet's stage. This stage starts off as a plain area, and as time passes, the game begins to build the environment, replicating the "Create. Share. Play." aspect of the LittleBigPlanet series. The final phase of this level reveals the Buzz Quiz Show announcer as he takes center stage, periodically shocking players during the match or offering players buffs for answering questions correctly. If SuperBot is able to come up with some more interesting stages, I'll surely be impressed.
Fans of the Super Smash Bros series will also be delighted to know that All-Stars will feature an local and online multiplayer, free for all, and other game modes!
Overally, All-Stars looks like an amazing game. While some might dismiss it as a shameless knockoff of the Super Smash Bros series, I'm certainly excited for this game. I do agree that the game largely resembles Super Smash Bros is almost every aspect, but as long as the game is good, I'm completely fine with that. PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale is due this Holiday season exclusively for the PlayStation 3. As Paul Gale already reported, All-Stars will be playable during this year's E3 so stay tuned!
PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale - Coming Holiday 2012, First Gameplay Footage Unveiled - AnalogHype
I'm really excited!!!