A Diehard Smash Bros. Fan Goes Hands-On With PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

GotGame: Playstation All Stars Battle Royale is going to live in the shadow of Nintendo’s fighter. Some may say that this is unfair to developer Super Bot, but they made the comparisons inevitable by the virtue of their design choices. The game’s visual style is clearly reminiscent of Smash right down to the HUD and menu elements. The physics and overall mechanics of the series are similar to its inspiration.

[majiebeast]

Dont agree with how the controls dont feel tight especially compared to the floatyness of brawl, or that he thinks getting attacked doesnt matter you go take 3 hits by a AP drain weapon and you lose about 75% of a bar that is alot to have to regain especially in a 1v1 match.

I dont like smashes ring out system 1 amazing powerup for your opponent can cost you the match if your unlucky and i dont see turning off powerups as a option because it would make the game pretty boring. This game isnt based around luck as much as smash is and more strategy is involved.

Parrapa is a great example of the stategy in this game like his AP generator can be a double edged sword. When i see a Parappa player trying his best to stay away from the combat,i know he is gonna use that AP generator so i always knock them away and snag that AP. If i dont he wouldve been building meter extremely fast now its me who got that extra AP while he just lost about 15-20 seconds of the match and accomplishing nothing.

[LiquifiedArt]

I've said it from the beginning. Their "KO" system, has to ability to completely break the game from being incredible.

I never understand why you would change a GOOD element from a game. They could of taken smash and KEPT all the good and simply refined and replaced any nuiances.

[smashcrashbash]

Okay first of all you can't run in SSB either so I can't see why that is a problem. Why should PASBR people be able to run? Second of all why is he comparing the combos to Tekken or MVC. In all the talk of SSB they didn't have combos and the moves did not move as smoothly as fighting games do. I mean really if you compare SSB to Tekken or SF4 the move set is rubbish compared to them. Thirdly we have already gone through what people think of the KO system and many people say it works just fine. If we are still saying 'the attacks felt like you are doing nothing' then you are not up to date.Each attack and item takes away more AP depending on what you do to your opponent. So when you attack it isn't nothing.

Fourthly how is having a button to pick things up a complaint? How is that any different from just pressing A in SSB? And how is it taking away from the satisfaction of a big hit? When you manage to take out all you opponents in a row with a single attack like Cole's ice wave or Sly's bombs or using Parappa's skate board and wiping everyone out or being the only one that managed to dodge the the attack how is that not satisfying? And finally what is with the whole article comparing it to fighting games like Tekken, STF4 and MVC? Are you saying somehow the moves and attacks of SSB are equal to STF4 or Tekken or Soul Edge but PASBR isn't? Really? You compare the complected move set in Soul Edge and Tekken to SSB?

So in short I know many people have misgivings about this game but if this article is how a diehard SSB fan thinks then you are just nitpicking things. I mean why can the characters run? Why can't SSB characters run or have a complex combo system? Why didn't you ask these questions when you got any of the games instead of asking why PASBR didn't so it? Why are people making such a big deal about Cole being two characters when Nintendo wasted several slots with Toon Link, Young Link, Dr Mario,Daisy, and Fox, Wolf and Falco that were cookie cutter fighters? What you guys can only see the faults on out lawn but not the crab grass growing in yours?

[dark-hollow]

Not saying I agree with him but you can run in super smash.

[fabod86]

i think that in PASBR is not needed, the arenas are not that big to need you to run imho.

[smashcrashbash]

Yeah sorry about that part. I haven't played the game in a while and forgot about it. But as usual a single sentence doesn't cancel out everything else I have said. Just because I didn't remember that part doesn't mean I have never played the game ever.I hate how people only focus on a single sentence of what you said and miss the whole point of what you are trying to say. I assume that may attackers didn't read any other part of what I said and instead just took a single mistake and didn't listen to a single word I said.You missed my point completely. Typical N4G.

[fabod86]

@smashcrashbash
wow... couldn't say better, bubble up. :)

[Chidori]

"Okay first of all you can't run in SSB either so I can't see why that is a problem. Why should PASBR people be able to run?"

So that's when I stopped reading your comment. You obviously have no idea what you talking about. Every single character has been capable of running ever since the N64 days. I'm not bashing PSABR for this, but the fact that you believe a run was't possible in Smash Bros, you definitely haven't played the game. Ever.

[TongkatAli]

I have played over 200 hours of Smash Bros and I don't remember if there is a run button so I wouldn't say he has never played Smash. Are you telling me you cant run in Allstars ? Everyone walks gently to each other ?

[FanMan]

i have played smash at friends house multiple times. i had no idea you could run :p

[JustinWeinblatt]

1. You can definitely run in Smash Bros, and most games have some sort of universal mobility options such as dashing in MvC3 or Street Fighter and Soul Calibur's 8 way run. I never said not being able to run was inherently a bad thing, I just said it was different. Characters in this game seem to rely on lunging attacks instead like Big Daddy's tackles or Kratos' spear charge. Again, never said it was a bad choice, just a different one.

For the record, here is what I said on the matter "I’m not ready to pass judgment on whether this is a good or a bad design choice, but it makes for an interesting wrinkle to the traditional formula." Did that really sound like a complaint?

2. I compared the combo system to other fighting games to give a general idea of how they functioned. It's not a game like MvC3 or Tekken where moves instantly link and cancel into one another, except for a few basic attacks. Again, this wasn't a complaint, just a statement of how things work. I was intrigued by the combo system, and it could be one of PASBR's strongest features. Don't know why you thought I was complaining about it. Again, here were my comments for the record.

"Combos don’t flow as easily as they do in a game like Marvel vs Capcom 3 or Tekken, but they offer a nice bit of flexibility. I can imagine players stringing together interesting and elaborate combos as they dive deeper into the game’s physics engine." Again, I think you misunderstood me if you read that as a complaint.

3. Personally, aside from the Supers, I didn't find many attacks satisfying to use. This was partially due to the game system, and also part of the audiovisual package. Maybe other people found it to be fine, and that's their right, but those were my impressions.

4. In general, the less buttons you use, the better. It makes things simpler and more natural. Why does their need to be a devoted button for JUST picking up items, when you could use an attack button for the same purpose? This wouldn't have bothered me so much BUT considering that throws were awkwardly mapped to the second thumbstick, I thought Super Bot could have made more intelligent control choices. Why not use a shoulder button for grabs, and one of the attack buttons to pick up items?

5. I clearly let people know about any biases I had upfront, but I think you read more negativity than I wrote. I clearly stated that not having a run system was neither good nor bad, and I wasn't complaining about the combo system. I was just trying to give my overall impressions of the game. And of course, I never complained about 2 Coles. In fact, I praised the roster, and as long as the two Coles are as varied as the characters in the demo, I'll be happy with that.

But, on the whole, PASBR just wasn't as polished as it should be. I think I summed up my reasoning for that. It's not a horrible game, or even a bad one, but there are some areas that clearly need work. Like I said, their could be a great fighting game made with these elements, but the game isn't there yet.

Anyway, thank you for reading and commenting on my article. Even if you did disagree, I appreciate your time and attention :) If you're looking forward to the game, I hope you enjoy it.

[GenericNameHere]

Now why don't we get a diehard Battlefield player to try out Call of Duty, why don't we? Or vice versa. I'm pretty sure that's a GREAT idea!

[Parappa]

They already have played CoD...That's why they now play Battlefield.

[JustinWeinblatt]

Look at it this way. Who would give better insight into a fighting game. Someone who has experience with similar games, or someone who has no knowledge of that style of gaming?

[SOULJER]

I just get the feeling, if the guy was on the Super Bot team. It would be over for SSB. Like he had all the answer's. RIGHT. LOL. Like when he wrote he not a huge fan of Sony, or their doom forever to be second best. WOW! Way to be impartial. All this from the beta. I trust this person's opinion as far as I can throw him.

[JustinWeinblatt]

Haha! You actually remember that article! That artcle was incredibly bad, and I'm actually embarrassed that you remembered it, but I guess it's a good thing I made an impression at least?

At any rate, this was a hands on impressions thingy. This isn't the final word on PASBR, just what I thought after a brief demo. It's really quite common in the gaming media. Could the game impress me more in the final version? Absolutely! But, that's what I thought based on what I had a chance to play, and I think I did a decent job of being impartial... this time :)

[Inception]

I never play smash bros or try psbr beta. But all i want to say is...smash bros is not the first fighting games that introduced crossover characters from different franchise. Cmiiw, 5 year before the first smash bros (1999), SNK made the first fighting games with crossover characters in king of fighters 94. In 1996, capcom did it too with marvel vs capcom & xmen vs sf. The list goes on of course. So if some people say that sony copied (i like the word inspired than copied) smash bros for psbr, the answer is yes. But nintendo did the same thing too for smash bros.

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

I played All Stars at the Eurogamer Expo last week and I can honestly say me and my friend had a lot of fun with it and everyone else playing seemed to be the same.
There was always going to be a s**t storm of hate and negativity for this game and I'm sure we will be getting plenty of articles after it gets released about how Sonys Smash Bros clone has failed.
It's a lot harder than smash bros and more tactical and I'm guessing that's what put this guy off but give it a chance guys because after playing it for myself I will be picking it up day one.

[FanMan]

i have a feeling this game is going to get shit on by reviewers for all the wrong reasons...oh well