PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale combines the some of Sony's best first-party characters with some of the best third party characters of this generation and puts the in a battle arena. The game was developed by SuperBot Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita video game platforms and released on Nov. 20 in North America.
So is Battle Royale a Smash Brothers clone or does darker personas of Sony's characters create something more along the lines of Mortal Kombat? So far PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale has received positive reviews. Check out our review round-up for the mash-up brawler.
IGN says, "PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale isn't perfect, and it clearly owes its existence to something very special that came before it. But it's also special in its own right. PlayStation fans have long had to deal with unfair comparisons to Smash Bros. while eagerly awaiting this game, but the wait is over, and now you can see for yourself that the two games are as different as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat." IGN gives the game a 8-out-of-10 score.
Joystiq gives the game 4-out-of-5 stars and says, "PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale may be inspired by Smash Bros., but it has managed to become more than a simple imitator. It carries its own ideas that give it a distinct place in the market. The rock-solid fighting mechanics alone make it worth a look, but even non-fight fans can enjoy the frenzied fun of video game icons beating each other mercilessly." Joystiq also recommends that gamers pick up the game for the PlayStation 3. Joystiq says, "The Vita is great for taking All-Stars on the road, and it runs impressively well in its own right, but it's best as a bonus for the PS3 version, not a separate purchase."
Game Informer says, "By no fault of Sony, the roster pales in comparison to Nintendo's fighter. PlayStation has become a massive brand over the last 17 years, but the company doesn't have the pedigree of its competitor. Pitting Kratos and Nathan Drake against each other is a nice novelty, but it doesn't have the same feeling as industry icons Mario and Link facing off." Game Informer gives the game a 7.5-out-of-10 rating. The magazine also says the game is more fun to play with friends and when playing the single-player version "it quickly becomes repetitive and doesn't give you much reason to continue."
Review aggregating website Metacritic currently has the PlayStation 3 version of the game with a 75-out-of-100 score based on 44 reviews. The Vita version is rated a 77-out-100 based on 9 reviews.
You can check out the game's live action trailer below and find out what character gave the developers the most trouble here.
