PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

Many people claim that if you like smash brothers you will like this as well.

I don't really understand that statement.

They are similar games, of course, but any experience one has with smash brothers makes the flaws of this game shine through. First of all, the AP based one shot kill function was a terrible idea, I understand that it was made solely to distance this title from smash brothers but they should have just kept a ring out based victory system and let the pieces fall where they may.

This one shot kill thing just doesn't work on several levels.

First off, it undermines skill. If you are beating people and are the most skilled, your victory is still not guaranteed. A player who had a more difficult but certain progress to filling up their meter can just enter the fray and kill you in the middle of your onslaught and there's nothing you can do about it.

Secondly, because of AP collection characters are tiered. If you're playing with 3 others, you had better just forget about Dante. He's flashy and all but after mastering him its clear that he will always be open to counters and stuns. His attacks rarely blow back and can be walked through while taking damage which is a BIG problem when playing people that have even the slightest idea of what they're doing. Characters like Kratos and Sweet Tooth stun and/or paralyze with two taps of the square button in some cases, sending your character flying across the screen and giving them time to set up.

Party brawlers do not lend themselves well to combo gameplay which NIntendo understood from day one. It is too easy to lose your character and timing in the hellish fray. Simple button presses in conjunction with direction flicks is the easiest and most straightforward otherwise you have characters that are high risk low reward that are just pointless.

Again, the AP meter and one shot kills was a very bad idea that fell flat even if people aren't willing to acknowledge it.

Feel free to disagree.

For a Brawl Knockoff this is surprisingly fun. I have a few minor complaints though, the Ratchet AI is Stupid and there was a one day online bug on the Vita, but besides these complaints everything else is smashing. Polygon Man actually talks and his boss is more exciting than Master Hand, 20 characters is a good start for a first game, but if there is ever a sequel for the PlayStation 4, I expect at least 10 more characters.

AND NO, CRASH IS NOT IN IT, STOP WINING