If you like having fun give Playstation All-Stars a CHANCE!

[captnb2thep]

There are mixed feelings EVERYWHERE about this game, and I was skeptical too. Super Smash Bros. Melee is one of my absolute favorite games of all time when it comes to pure unadulterated fun with friends. But this game is VERY different and a complete blast to play. The more I play it, the more I WANT to play it. I think it offers more depth and competitiveness than Smash Bros does down the line because the no ring-out, only KOs aspect allows for more strategy since it REALLY cuts down on the possibility of cheap kills. The fighters are all very balanced, the 4-Player free-for-alls are very fun, but I LOVE the 1v1 and I think it is very underrated. If you are playing with a skilled player, one-on-one battles can be intense and rewarding, and I've already had a 3 stock 1v1 match that lasted over 15 minutes of an intense, I-dodge-your-super-you-dodge-mine battle of wits to try and gain the upper-hand.

People have two big insults they give this game before even trying it. "ITS A SMASH BROS KNOCKOFF!" The ONLY similarity is that they are both 4 player mascot brawlers, but other than that they PLAY completely differently. Besides, if a game IS like Smash Bros, is that a bad thing?
Also, the other insult they say is "most of the characters aren't even Sony exclusive anyway! Get your own characters Sony!"
Well just to put that argument to rest here is a COMPLETE roster list and I am counting 16 out of 20 (or 15 out of 19 because of two coles) that are 100% exclusive to Sony games OR owned by Sony Computer Entertainment*

Evil Cole
Good Cole
Nathan Drake
Colonel Radec (Killzone)
Fat Princess
Jak and Daxter
Ratchet and Clank
Sly Cooper
Kratos
Sackboy
Sweet Tooth* (Twisted Metal 2 had a watered down PC port, but Sony owns Twisted Metal)
Toro Inue
Spike (Ape Escape)
Nariko
Parappa The Rapper
Sir Daniel Fortesque (MediEvil)

First DLC Characters (free for a week after they are released):
Emmett Graves from Starhawk
Kat from Gravity Rush

The multiplatform/third party characters are:
Heihachi Mishima
Big Daddy
Dante
Raiden from Metal Gear

Bottom line, if you are even a LITTLE bit intrigued or curious about this game, and you have a PS3, GIVE IT A TRY. Rent it, go over to a friends house to play it, go to walmart and try it out, whatever you have to do, but try it for at least an hour, with multiple characters, and if you DON'T have a blast after you get the hang of it, then don't give it another look. But please don't just brush it off due to skepticism, I just think it is the most unjustifiably misunderstood game this year and I feel like people are going to miss out because they are stuck in a mindframe that it is something it isnt. It isn't perfect, I still think Smash Bros Melee is a better game, (I enjoy All Stars better than Brawl though), and I don't think anyone can ever expect any company to build a roster of better characters than the great Nintendo has over the years (except if Disney did a mascot brawler, THAT would be interesting haha) but don't judge it on those merits. Judge it on how fun it is to play.

 

[Vault101]

the zoom comes out a bit far for comfort..and often I can;t actually see what I'm doing because of all the mayhem on-screen

but I'm actually really enjoying it...not having much experience with fighters probably has somthing to do with it

snip

I don;t play many fighters but this seems to be the only kind of game I actually enjoy online

anyway, its been a while since I playes SSB..what are the differences between games?

 

[krazykidd]

Pfft , fun is for casuals ! [small]just fooling![/small].

Is it better than Super smash brothers? I don't want to play a cheap knockoff of another game . I it's actually good and not a cop past of SSB i'll try it . Also , is there online play and is it active.

 

[irequirefood]

I have been enjoying this so much. After taking it to a friend's house who absolutely bashed it before playing, we got about 6 people together, taking turns, and played it for like 4 hours straight. The 1v1 battles after the other two players have died are intensely satisfying. The character diversity is awesome, and it takes a lot more strategy to win. Honestly, if this had only a couple more characters (I.E. Crash and Spyro...) and maybe a couple more levels, I would call this pretty much perfect.

 

[Nomanslander]

Pfft , fun is for casuals ! [small]just fooling![/small].

Is it better than Super smash brothers? I don't want to play a cheap knockoff of another game . I it's actually good and not a cop past of SSB i'll try it . Also , is there online play and is it active.

Yeah, but it's a fighting game, and really just how original can you be with that concept? Two to four guys run around in a boxed up room beating the shit out of each other till one drops. Personally I've always found most of these games repetitive and not worth the cost of a full priced game. They're even less original than shooters or racing games, and I'd say they're a good contender at being some of the most UNoriginal games that gives the likes of Madden Football a run for its title.

Now I know SSB did something a bit different for a change and added platforming and spiking, but if you look at All stars, none of that exist there (Okay, there is platforming, but without fall deaths it's not the same). Instead, the game also has a system quite different from most fighters where in order to defeat your opponent you have to use supers. Plus Allstars has juggling which SSB doesn't. So if anything, Allstars only looks like SSB but plays a lot more like any other fighter in all their creative glory.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

I plan on giving it a try eventually.
Just not right now, during the holiday shopping season when I have almost no money for video game releases.

 

[Razputen]

Although the game is fantastic in practically every way, the combat feels incredibly sluggish compared to the other fighters I enjoy (SSB, MvC3, BlazBlue...). It's annoying because I desperately want to like the game but because of how much inertia the physics seems to have I can't. I actually wouldn't have minded the game being a carbon-copy of SSB, just with an entirely new character roster, because that's all that really matters for me in these types of games.

And I do love the roster which is full of characters I adore, the individual abilities are really fun to use and inventive, but I find myself getting frustrated every match after feeling like it isn't as responsive as I'd like. On the other hand I'm glad that others are having a blast with it because it is a good game and I want more fighters in its style to be made.

It's just not my cup of tea.

 

[Punch You]

I don't have a PS3 and neither do many of my friends so it's not that easy for me to play, however I personally get competitive when I play Brawl and find the game a lot more fun when it's less randomized by what items fall from the sky and what Pokemon you get out of your Pokeball.

All stars just seems like a bit of a cluster fuck sometimes, and since the game is centered around what was the most unbalanced thing about brawl, I'm a bit skeptical of it.

The supers in All-Stars are nowhere near as broken as final smashes (except for maybe Sackboy's level 3).

Also, I don't understand how All Stars is a clusterfuck while Brawl isn't. In Brawl, don't the characters randomly trip? At least in All Stars you can predict how the other characters are going to act according to what super they have ready.

In Brawl, you can lose not just because of items or stage hazards, but because your character decided to fall flat on their face.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

Yeah, but it's a fighting game, and really just how original can you be with that concept? Two to four guys run around in a boxed up room beating the shit out of each other till one drops. Personally I've always found most of these games repetitive and not worth the cost of a full priced game. They're even less original than shooters or racing games, and I'd say they're a good contender at being some of the most UNoriginal games that gives the likes of Madden Football a run for its title.
[/quote]

This is an interesting point. I'd always segregated Fighters into their own hardcore corner of gaming, but it's true the very great majority of them are nearly cut and paste. Unless you have a cadre of friends all into the same fighting game, it is not a worthwile endeavor. (Online mode may remedy this a bit)

The appeal for All Stars, while not a true 'fighting game', is heavily based on the appeal of Smash Brothers. I'm not going to say it's a Smash clone, but I don't think anyone at Sony would have had the great idea for this game if Smash hadn't come first. And then you have to delve into why Smash is so appealing. The nintendo stable is filled with similar things, like if you made a Final Fantasy Allstars. (oh wait...) Besides not knowing the majority of the Playstation All Stars, none of their worlds seem to mesh very well. If I see Kirby on Yoshi's Island that seems fitting. If I see Parappa the Rappa in a dystopian dirt race track, it is not as fitting.

And finally this 'special' ability or whatever they're calling it. I can only think of 2 other games that use this, and neither are very good. Dissidia and Dragonball Z The Legend.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

Yeah, but it's a fighting game, and really just how original can you be with that concept? Two to four guys run around in a boxed up room beating the shit out of each other till one drops. Personally I've always found most of these games repetitive and not worth the cost of a full priced game. They're even less original than shooters or racing games, and I'd say they're a good contender at being some of the most UNoriginal games that gives the likes of Madden Football a run for its title.

This is an interesting point. I'd always segregated Fighters into their own hardcore corner of gaming, but it's true the very great majority of them are nearly cut and paste. Unless you have a cadre of friends all into the same fighting game, it is not a worthwile endeavor. (Online mode may remedy this a bit)

The appeal for All Stars, while not a true 'fighting game', is heavily based on the appeal of Smash Brothers. I'm not going to say it's a Smash clone, but I don't think anyone at Sony would have had the great idea for this game if Smash hadn't come first. And then you have to delve into why Smash is so appealing. The nintendo stable is filled with similar things, like if you made a Final Fantasy Allstars. (oh wait...) Besides not knowing the majority of the Playstation All Stars, none of their worlds seem to mesh very well. If I see Kirby on Yoshi's Island that seems fitting. If I see Parappa the Rappa in a dystopian dirt race track, it is not as fitting.

And finally this 'special' ability or whatever they're calling it. I can only think of 2 other games that use this, and neither are very good. Dissidia and Dragonball Z The Legend.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I thought it would be decent, but it was actually a lot better than I thought it would be (and my friends thought the same). I'd say it is almost on par, if not better than, Super Smash Bros (original and Melee that is - Brawl was horrid). I'd say at least rent it if you like Super Smash Bros and give it a try.

 

[captnb2thep]

As for SSB vs All Stars, both can definitely be clusterfucks, and both can be intense and strategically competitive, especially because in both you can customize rules and items to your liking but in my opinion with SSB it's damage and ringout system can be viewed as both a blessing and a curse which gives it more of an opportunity to be a clusterfuck. Implying default rules, lets say SSB on 4 player, 3 stock. With Smash Bros you can wail on someone until their damage is all the way to 300% but then anyone can barely tap them and they kill them despite all of your work. Likewise you can do all the right things but randomly trip and be defeated for something out of your control. Yes this cheapness works both ways, you can finish someone elses work off but all stars by default is geared a little more toward skill as well as strategy. In All Stars I love that by default you always control your own destiny. YOU are responsible for building YOUR gauge to get KOs and if you miss or fail its either because you mistimed or misused your super or someone genuinely outsmarted you to block or dodge it. THE only way to kill someone is by using your supers which you gain by building your gauge that you and only you can build, so you can only score as a result of your own work, no one elses. Now how you build that AP gauge varies (hitting other players, utilizing items, stage elements or spawning them i.e. Parappa's boombox). There arent really random losses you have no control over to at least some extent. In SSB on its default configuration you can theoretically win the match by literally sitting in the corner and doing nothing while the three other people are killing each other and win without even touching someone provided the final survivors accidently fall off the edge or something.

Not to mention the constant strategy involved (especially in timed matches) where you have to try and decide and strategize on whether you want to use your level 1 or save up for a 2 or 3 based on how much time you have left, how many players are fighting and which character you are playing as. The higher the risk the higher the potential reward.

 

[Maxtro]

I'd get it if I had friends to play with.

It really doesn't seem like something that would be fun by yourself after a while.

 

[captnb2thep]

It is online as well as local multiplayer, and so far there are plenty of people online and for me it takes about 60 seconds from choosing your player to finding a match in 4 player FFA, maybe longer depending on time of day.

 

[Brandon Logan]

Super Smash Bros with a melty blood style super mechanic?

There are few sony characters I like so I'll skip this for now.

 

[captnb2thep]

One thing I will say about it is when it comes to presentation it is ass. The menus are boring, the story cutscenes are still-photo slideshows with dialogue over them, and there is a lot of stuff to do when it comes to challenges and stuff like that but there is not really a point because all the characters, stages, and items are available from the jump, but you can do them to get minions, costume customization options, character intro animations, trophies, badges stuff like that.

 

[Punch You]

eh i have tried
the online is broken

No, SSB Brawl's online is broken.

This game's online, although having a few glitches, actually works 90% of the time perfectly.

That's the reason I pre-ordered this game as soon as I played the Beta. A 4 player somewhat Smash like game whose online is infinitely better than Brawl's?

That and the fact the characters are mostly balanced made the choice easy.