If This is a Ripoff, Please Let the Gaming Industry Make More "Ripoffs"

User Rating: 9.5 | PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale PS3
I followed Smash Bros ever since 64, and it's always been my favorite party game of all time. But even back in 2005-ish I remember thinking "What if Playstation had one with it's characters?". Then, in April, my dreams came true. I've been hyped for this game for months, more hyped then I've ever been, and I gotta say it doesn't disappoint whasoever (As long as you know exactly what you're getting).

Story - 8/10
The arcade mode is this game's story mode, and for what it is, it's very enjoyable. The cutscenes (some of which are just slideshows) are short and sweet, and excell when they don't take themselves seriously. There is no "story" perse but what we do get is a 30 minute session for each character totalling 10 hours of single player content alone.

Gameplay - 10/10
All Stars does two things amazingly, one is be like Smash Bros while the other is be nothing like Smash Bros. Conceptually, this is the brand's big characters coming together is a 4-player sidescroller fighter, but the way it plays is far different. The Super System remains a blast to use even after hours of playing, and landing a level 3 is SO satisfying everytime.

This games goes leaps beyond Smash in it's movesets, each character having over 20 moves, some even nearing 30. The characer's movesets are all so diverse and not a single character feels the same (even Cole and Evil Cole are completely different give or take 3 moves). Superbot brilliantly brought the characters from their franchise and makes every attack/Super feel like an homage to something in their series. My personal favorite moveset is Drake who can break through ceilings, hide behind cover, throw explosive barrels, make ziplines, swing on walls and all sorts of things. The diversity in the characters is crazy.

The stages, while limited to just 14, are AMAZING. Not a single one is bad. The mashups are done brilliantly, and they bring a cinematic level to fighter stages that I simply haven't seen before. For example on Invasion, the Killzone/Ape Escape stage, you start off on 2 landing crafts battling it out, then they drop you off at this destroyed warzone, then the floor blows out and reveals a bottom level, then a robot from ape escape comes and turns the level into a jungle. Simply put, incredible.

Re-Playability - 10/10
It's party games like this that I'll keep playing forever or until the sequel, mastering each character will take awhile and every character has it's own level (which can get as high as 300 something). Ridiculous amount of playtime offered here.

Graphics/Sound - 9/10
I don't know why people are saying the graphics don't show full potential, everything from the lighting to animations looks nothing short of dazzling. The game worlds are recreated with fine attention to detail and the stage hazards all look super awesome.
The sound effects are perfect, the voice acting is dead-on the few times it does show up and with a few exceptions the musical choice is amazing.

Uniqueness - 8.5/10
While the inspiration from Smash is undeniable, it manages to make itself it's own game and that is an accomplishment. The Super System is one of the coolest things I've seen in a fighter and I wouldn't be surprised if every mash-up game from now on copies the stage mash-ups.

If you want that game that you can play whenever your friends are over, this is it. If you like Smash, buy this. If you like Playstation, buy this. With the promise of free DLC, this game can only get better and better.