PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is a crossover fighting game featured and played on Gamer Nation, Dope! or Nope, Smosh Games Review, Smosh Game Bang, I Have a Raging Bonus, and Smosh Games VS.

Game Information
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is a 2012 crossover fighting game developed by SuperBot Entertainment, in conjunction with SCE Santa Monica Studio, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. It features various characters drawn from different PlayStation game franchises competing against each other in multiplayer battles.

The game received generally favorable reviews. Critics praised the multiplayer components and gameplay mechanics, but criticized its lack of content and presentation. More than a million copies of the game were sold upon launch.

Gameplay
Up to four players can battle each other using characters from various Sony franchises such as God of War, PaRappa the Rapper, Infamous, and Sly Cooper, as well as third-party franchises such as BioShock. Players damage other players to receive "AP" orbs that build up a power meter at the bottom of the screen. Earning enough power allows players to use one of three levels of "Super Moves", which can be used to defeat opponents and earn points.

The game features a single-player arcade mode, in which players must defeat several randomly selected opponents, followed by a character-specific rival battle and a battle against the main antagonist and final boss, Polygon Man, the former mascot for the PlayStation in North America. Multiplayer modes include time-based matches, stock-based matches, and kill-limit matches, where players compete to be the first to reach a certain number of kills. The game also features a single-player challenge mode, in which players attempt to complete specific objectives. Completing matches and fulfilling objectives with a character will gain them experience points; leveling up a character will unlock bonuses such as in-game costumes, victory animations, and profile icons.

There are 14 different battle arenas, and each stage is based on a combination of two games, such as "Dreamscape" (based on LittleBigPlanet and Buzz!), "Stowaways" (based on Uncharted and BioShock Infinite), and "Hades" (based on God of War and Patapon). As time passes, a stage's second representation takes hold, usually introducing a map hazard into the level. There are several item pick-ups that can be used by players, which can be used to augment a player or do damage to an opponent but some items can be used to steal or get AP.

Reception
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale received generally favorable reviews. Critics praised the multiplayer and fighting mechanics, but criticized its lack of content, still images in campaign mode and few cutscenes. The use of super moves being the only way to defeat a player had mixed reception. While some critics thought it lacked depth, others believed that filling up the meter to land a knock-out added strategy to an otherwise only decent fighting experience. Despite the relatively lackluster reviews, All-Stars won a few awards.