PlayStation All-Stars: The Untold Stories Behind Sony's Smash Bros.

[@TheGoldenBolt]

Go to buyraycon.com/TGB for 20% off sitewide! Brought to you by Raycon. -PaRappa- Killzone MAWLR mains represent.

[@404Errored]

Lol no. Raycons are trash.

[@Soapy_Papoose]

Sly is my guy.

[@CMC007]

Parappa main here. Jak too

[@trevorromein14]

Somewhere out there, the Devs of this game are crying melancholy tears for this video

[@smashmaster521]

I'm more of a Dante and Kratos man myself.

[@jasonhazelroth]

Ah All-Stars memories. I was a Superbot developer, and I remember all the hate it got. For what it’s worth I loved working on it and I met a lot of great friends and coworkers to this day. There were admittedly many mistakes from the studio, as well as from the publisher that contributed to much of the criticism, but I genuinely loved the gameplay, and I’m not even a platform fighter fan. I actually remember the thing about about sending gift bags to appreciators like yourself. Thanks for the awesome retrospective. I thought it was very fair and done with a lot of passion. Great job!

[@philknight1972]

Thanks for contributing to create a great core memory for me.

[@LizardClone2]

Thank you for working on one of my favorite PS3 games.

[@MrLuisisthebest]

This game was awesome! And this is coming for a huge fan of smash bros. My friends and I used to play this game along with street fighter and smash bros. Great memories!

[@brandonchido13]

Thank's for everything!! you made one of the best games for me, I was literally adicted at PSASBR, every single day I played the crap out of this, sometimes online with my friends and other times by myself, I have nostalgia and believe me, this game helped me a lot to get through bad days

[@RiceSwizzy64]

Thank you for helping out creating this game for the PS3 it would stay in my heart as one of my favs to remember

[@baileypalmer103]

It does feel pretty bad for Superbot. They tried so hard to make a fun game for fans but got destroyed for things that were out of thier control.

[@verbage432]

@@tempusername-l5d What???did you even watch the video?? The game WAS successful

[@diamonshade7484]

@@tempusername-l5d tbh yea they should have embrace it but they were also getting backlash from being a clone which I don't get the hate for which lead them to making some bad decisions like not using the percentage system

[@mattkugelman4369]

@@diamonshade7484 well the backlash thing has been a thing since smash bros came out, a lot of Nintendo fans hate it when someone makes their own version of one of their games, either because a marketable movie/product tie in game made a subpar version of sec actual game or because they think any game company that’s not Nintendo are doomed failures, so either way superbot was doomed from the start with backlash

[@HoshitheLycanroc]

​@@diamonshade7484makes me wonder how things would of gone if it was made today?

[@ThoseCrazyBuckleys]

Honey, The Golden Bolt uploaded. I will be gone for the next 1-2 hours.

[@MrAjking808]

Cringe

[@TurtleHouse]

Come on bro we know you don't have a girlfriend.

[@100kdes]

@@MrAjking808 crazy how liking something can be cringe

[@MrAjking808]

@@100kdes because it is.. y’all don’t say anything at all just cringe jokes

[@sertiana2512]

@@MrAjking808 Yeah, because all your jokes are actually original and funny 🙂

[@DankRedditMemes]

Funny that people bashed on PS All-Stars for being a smash clone back then, but nowadays, people WANT 1:1 Smash copies and praise games for being such (Brawlhalla, Nick All-Star Brawl, Multiversus, etc)

[@freelix-44]

@@DankRedditMemes all of these are so bad .. rivals of aether 2 is the only one coming close to smash

[@nsgames24]

This series deserves a legit comeback and I still feel for everyone at SuperBot for having to go through all the nonsense with the game's development, behind the scenes. That "Michael" commercial alone still makes me smile and proud to be a fan of PlayStation and I still feel that this series has huge potential, nowadays. Heck, I'll say flat-out that PlayStation All-Stars not only had some heart put into it, but SuperBot did things in this game that I think even Nintendo could take notes from. Case in point: - Online Play let you chat with others before, during, and after the match - Every character in the game had many unlockable outfits (some of which were DLC) that referenced their games - Every character had different introductions to the stage, as well as numerous win and lose animations (some of which were also references) - Stages were connected with each other, which makes sense considering that this is a CROSSOVER, after all - Every character has rivals, but they're not from their own respective series, which was neat - The character's remarks to when they pick up certain items, during the match and heck, even the character's remarks on the player selection screen were unique - The game literally had a combo tutorial mode for each character (showing that the devs made this game with competitive play in mind, which is definitely something Nintendo doesn't want folks to do with Smash, these days (at least not with Melee)) - Unlike in Smash where the characters are just toys, characters in PS All-Stars are the actual characters from their own respective universes all coming together to punch, kick, shoot, and slash each other's lights out Despite the fact that Smash Bros. went all out with Ultimate, Nintendo is literally at a point, right now where both Nintendo and Sakurai-san himself don't really know what to do with the next game. Not to mention, Ultimate's DLC support has officially ended and other folks have thrown their hats into the ring when it comes to the brawler genre, these days: the Rivals of Aether series, Brawlhalla, Brawlout, Nickelodeon All-Stars Brawl, and of course, the most recent being Multiversus. And even if Sony can't get a lot of third-party companies onboard, they actually own a decent number of characters themselves that would make for a decent roster. Don't believe me? Look up all the series that they have made, up to this point including ones they made recently. Yeah, I understand the problems that would come from that seeing how most folks who look at PlayStation, they don't just think of Sony owned franchises unlike Nintendo and their systems. Not to mention, PlayStation's characters while iconic are not nearly as iconic as Nintendo's, but still. I still believe that they can do another fighting game crossover justice, these days, but the main problem that I see them having is: "Whose going to make it?"

[@CMC007]

Amen

[@trishaishot462]

I think either capcom or Bandai namco could do it

[@michaelriverside1139]

@@trishaishot462 If there'll never be another Power Stone of Rival Schools, then Capcom should be the one to make a 3D-Brawler with only First-Party Sony characters... Could you imagine the potential of something like that where Ratchet can go truly ballistic with his arsenal, while Kat flies all over the Place and Aloy summons machines like Jill in Marvel vs Capcom 2?!

[@trishaishot462]

@@michaelriverside1139 dude yes that would be so hype I would love that. Capcom knows how to make good fighting games and usually has good netcode

[@demiliomason1565]

No offense but all those brawler games, aside from nickelodeon and multi versus, all had decent fanbases and had been already released for multiple years, even before ultimate came out. So to tie the end of it's development to them and their success is flat out wrong.

[@Ulraspider]

I will NEVER stop saying this but it truly makes me happy seeing more love for this old game, issues and all. I played this with my best friend back when I was younger, even though he’s gone I still remember the times we had on this game.

[@CrashJakFan1994]

Perhaps it is lacking these days, but I spent so many hours on this game. I even remember bringing my PS3 to my high school's video game club to play this with other students. I also credit this for getting me to try out other franchises like "Ape Escape," "MediEvil," and "God of War." "PlayStation All-Stars" means a lot to me and it's a shame that it's become a laughingstock over the years, but I'll never forget the good memories I had with it.

[@nsgames24]

I wouldn't say it's considered a laughing stock, these days. I mean yeah, you may have some folks, out there that will probably chuckle, if you mention this game’s name in a game conversion, but I noticed over the years that many have actually had a change of heart for this series. Heck, I was one of those folks who didn't care for this game for the longest time and yes, unlike some fanboys of Smash, back then I actually played the game BEFORE forming an opinion. But the more I watched that Michael ad, the game’s intro, and especially found out what happened with the game's development, behind the scenes thanks to KZbinrs like The Golden Bolt and Matt McMuscles, I'm just hoping that this series can get a second chance.

[@smashmaster521]

@@nsgames24 And then there's me. I got a PlayStation Vita not too long ago to play Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. However, I obviously needed more than one game to play on that Vita, but my options were limited. PSABR was one of those options, and I actually got hyped to play it by virtue of constantly being delayed from buying it (I had the God of War Collection to keep me occupied in the meantime). Once I got it, though, PSABR went from a game that barely registered on my radar to an underrated game that I've played almost as much as Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 on the Vita. Part of that is due to my relatively small Vita collection, but the main reason is that I could enjoy the game on its own merits without the baggage of all the controversy that surrounded it. Plus, earning Trophies for the first time was so rewarding even when it was for the simplest of tasks. Also, I proudly admit to being a Dante main.

[@nsgames24]

@@smashmaster521 Dude, no joke. I own a PSvita (and even a PSTV), as well as a few other games for both systems and despite me having other fighting games for the PSvita: Skullgirls, Ultimate MVC3, Denkei Bunko: Fighting Climax, and BlazBlue (to name a few), PlayStation All-Stars is the main fighting game I own on my PSvita (and PS3) that I put the most time in. Whether I play a few rounds against the CPU to kill time, go on training mode to sharpen my skills, or even go on the game’s Story Mode (which I personally enjoy, though I definitely see room for improvement), I still have fun with this game. And heck, coming from someone who doesn't care AT ALL about collecting trophies or in-game achievements, even the trophies that I was awarded made me smile, especially when I beat the Story Mode with a new character.

[@smashmaster521]

@@nsgames24 I still need to find Injustice Gods Among Us: Ultimate Edition for my Vita. For now, PSABR is tied with Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 as my most played Vita game, and it's the one I've earned the most trophies in (Granted, part of that is due to my Vita being pre-owned, which prevents me from getting trophies in some of the games I own for it).

[@Shrimpeace]

I have spent over 4000 hours with this game. I miss it so much. Such nice childhood memories.

[@TheDanTheManShow]

I love the fact that in the span of less than 3 years, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo used Robot Chicken to advertise their products.

[@BovineDesigns]

It really is a shame it got so much backlash. Even though I grew up with mostly Nintendo, I was desperate to see something like Playstation All-Stars because I wanted to be introduced to new games I'd never seen before. Heck that was why Smash itself was so important to me growing up in the first place.

[@valletas]

I wish they would do something like this again but make a traditional fighter this time

[@Nintendrone42]

If only Sony wasn't in its Dumb Decision Arc for this game, they would've realized that they would have to pull out all the stops to challenge Smash Bros. Get your key designer on the ground floor from day one for a good core. Make the production values high so the game is big and beautiful enough to turn heads. Add those characters the fans (and devs) actually want. Throw your weight around courting third parties. And of course, don't throw the devs under the bus over things out of their control. These are all things that should be obvious to anyone hoping to dethrone Smash, but sadly this was the era of Sony screwing everything over because they're convinced they can do no wrong after two generations of dominance.

[@felixdaniels37]

Sony never LEFT that era. Even now, they're still massively screwing over anything that isn't their AAA studios, censoring games, and increasing prices across the board. If anything they're even WORSE now thanks to the ps4 being a hit.

[@totallytubular618]

When you described getting chills even talking about the commercial, I was in the process of getting chills. I remember that ad very fondly. I thought it was the coolest thing in the damn world that all my favorite characters were chanting *my* name. Good times. Haven't finished the video yet, but I love your content. Those Ratchet and Clank retrospectives? Binged em all in about a day.

[@DominoPivot]

You're making me feel nostalgic about that era when I called myself a PlayStation fan and a gamer. By the time PlayStation All-Stars released my tolerance for Sony's mistakes was dwindling. The way this game was treated less like a celebration of the past and more like a big marketing stunt made me realize I should be faithful not to brands, but to the people actually making games. Because the people working on this one? They definitely did a decent job given what they were asked, and they didn't deserve the vitriol they received for the missing characters.

[@HollowSleep]

Playstation Allstars Battle Royale is the PERFECT example of an "Over-Hated" game. This was before Smash was effectively finished as a franchise (At least for the time being) and the world was a LITTLE MORE ACCEPTING of "Smash-likes". Before the game even dropped, I distinctly and specifically remember how much hate it accrued for simply TRYING to exist. You couldn't go to reveal or promotional trailers online without the comments being FILLED with livid comments from Smash fans denouncing it as a "Smash clone" and deriding it from the top down. But then the game came out, and it DIDN'T play a whole lot like Smash; it had built in combos and strings and actively encouraged somewhat of a facilitated "Competitive" element (I put this in quotes because in the dev's own words, they WANTED it to be competitive), didn't rely on Ring-Outs as a method for defeating the opponent, Items and stage gimmicks were a little more nuanced and utility centric and its control scheme was not as intuitive as you'd think it would be. None of that mattered though, people went INTO the game expecting it to play like Smash due to their criticisms of it being a "Smash clone" and were ultimately disappointed when it DIDN'T play enough like Smash. It was incredibly frustrating for someone who JUST wanted to playa Brawler with Playstation Characters and didn't CARE about any of that or that it was a B-Tier game. But that wasn't enough, because in the background of this you had the other debates about its roster, people whining and moaning about Crash and Spyro not being present. Well, they TRIED. The devs were sweating in the background to get these IP's and people kept shutting the doors on them, and Sony was not backing them either. They were out in the wild with a game literally carrying the name "Playstation" in its title but NO ONE was willing to help them outside of the handful of IP's they did acquire. Had the game not been roasted from the start and been allowed to accumulate a fanbase, it could have potentially secured some of those IP's. It might have GOTTEN a sequel that would have allowed them to followup on their original ideas but with more support from Sony. But none of that happened. The entire thing was a passion project that everyone collectively turned their back on then gawked at its failure. And the people who actually ENJOYED the game or JUST wanted a Playstation Brawler were cucked. Right idea, wrong time. I don't think PAS is coming back. It was too negatively controversial and people crapped on the poor thing too hard. Sony looks back at this thing with shame and supporting a sequel is just going to be seen as a huge financial risk. I've love for it to return, but I have no faith in that happening. (Original comment made by @Impalingthorn on Tactical Bacon Productions: We Need A New PlayStation All-Stars Game video)

[@egateqa1351]

I wouldn’t say PlayStation All-Stars as a failure. I just see as an underrated gem turned cult classic.

[@ulfberht4431]

Exactly! I really hate when gamers and YT gamers use buzzwords like “failure” or “disaster” or “insult” or “worst game of all time!” For one thing, it’s redundant, but also it kinda shows a lack of substance. I really don’t care if people say “oh it’s a hyperbolic statement” it’s an annoying and at times arrogant statement.

[@ShadmehR_23]

same except for one thing super mechanic is bvllshit if it was like MK, Fatal blow or X-RAY moves That would have been great but....

[@weeb_dweeb]

It depends on how you define failure, since it apparently didn't do as well as intended and is seen nowadays as a bad memory of a failed attempt at a crossover, i would consider that it failed at it's purpose. It didn't become a series or really sold that well, mostly just being forgotten to time.

[@matthewbrooks5470]

I was never a Playstation kid, so my experience with this game was solely at another friend's house laughing and having a blast with our favorite fighters. SSB was always something I took way too seriously because I would practice it over and over, so All Stars got to be the actual fun time party game for me

[@bennett2428]

It's stuff like this that truly gets me excited for gaming again. Regardless of how the final product turned out, having that extra perspective of what kind of passion the devs had ignites me. It can help to further enjoy a game when you know what was intended. I personally love checking out long-form analysis videos for games, but the added history and context that you add is what makes me so magnetized to these videos. It's a bit of a rarity to find someone so concise and full of information rather than straight opinion.

[@Wayneisboss]

Great work as always man. Never thought someone could make such an in-depth way of convincing people to play Gravity Rush

[@AlexanderGreensmith]

Well said bro

[@SaoryEmanoelle]

I had SO MUCH fun with this game. Back this year I went back to download it only to find out the servers are dead. I'm still super sad about that, I have so many good memories related to this game and the hours I spent playing it with friends

[@SeelkadoomandJokic00]

I still don't like any platform fighter being discarded as Smash Rip Off seeing as it wasn't even the first Platform Fighter. Shoutouts to The Outfoxies!

[@opadrip]

I hate how childish the internet was back then. Everyone was jumping down this game's throat simply because it *looked* like Smash.

[@mechanomics2649]

Not a lot has changed lol

[@opadrip]

@@mechanomics2649 True sadly

[@felonyx5123]

"imagine that ratchet or sly were sliding on those wires" fuckin hell I completely forgot that was something I did until you brought that back.

[@roger_towny_jr]

Thorgi's Arcade did a pretty epic episode of Build a Roster, and his Hypothetical roster for PS All Stars 2 is honestly an amazing fever dream. With Platform Fighters and crossovers being much more welcomed now, one can only hope Sony makes another honest attempt.

[@CMC007]

Would love to have Ryuji if we can’t have Joker

[@roger_towny_jr]

@@CMC007 Thorgi's persona characters of choice were Yu (protagonist of Persona 4) and Elizabeth (the velvet room girl from Persona 3). My personal choices from 5 would be either Skull or Queen, but knowing devs, they'd probably go with Akechi cause he's the cool edgy popular choice.

[@mathieupr6391]

Being in the back seat at night when it's too dark to see your gameboy screen so you imagine characters sliding on garden rails, posts and such..... Fuck that hit me hard, is this what it is to feel old? (also that was Jak grinding on his hoverboard on the rails of the highway for me, but I'll admit, Ratchet and Sly were also joining in sometimes)

[@jordanhamilton3795]

I think love or hate this game you can agree on this: the theme song for the game, Madeon’s Finale, was absolute FIRE!

[@trishaishot462]

I hate how the community was at this underrated gem. Those devs clearly had passion but people were way too critical for no reason. Bummer there probably won’t ever be sequel

[@crackedmateria4991]

People were critical, but certainly not for no reason. Though the developers tried their hardest, forced crunch and decisions made by higher ups that couldn't be disputed or negotiated caused the game to be well-deserving of criticism. The devs were fantastic and they did what they could. It's just that the game they set out to make and the game that it would turn out they were allowed and ordered to make were two vastly different beasts, and the latter was quite terrible in both subjective and objective respects (objective being things such as terrible balancing and lack of cohesion as a game, once again due to no fault of the devs). The game deserved better than what it got, but the end result was certainly no masterpiece. The product didn't deserve *all* of the hate it got, but to say there was no reason for at the very least a great deal of the criticism would be incorrect.

[@trishaishot462]

@@crackedmateria4991 but if there was a way to revive this game is mods and a good community that balances it and makes it popular but who knows maybe Sony can have capcom make a sequel if we get lucky

[@michaelriverside1139]

@@crackedmateria4991 Yeah, the criticisim was valid until a certain point... For starters, it being a 2-D Platform Fighter when most of the characters originate from fully 3-D Games was rather baffling, even the original prototype was bizarre as the creatives talked about a "Sidescrolling Catch the Flag", come on guys, Power Stone still has a niche community for a reason! Speaking of niche communities, they should've avoided Third-Party characters altoegether, even Smash Bros. had to wait until Brawl to add them and instead focus a bit more on the Obscure, yet clearly Fan Favourite Titles like Dark Cloud, Wild Arms and Legend of Dragoon, even Nintendo was more willing to add less known characters like Ness in Smash 64 or obscure to the west by 2001 Fire Emblem Characters in Melee!

[@smashmaster521]

@@michaelriverside1139 Yeah, I don't think Sony could have gotten away with omitting Third Party characters from PSABR. Call me an old curmudgeon, but most of the best games on any PlayStation come from their third parties. Sure, they have quality games of their own like God of War, Sly Cooper, Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, etc., but when I look at my PlayStation libraries (PS1, PS2, PS Vita, and PS3), 90% of those games are either third-party or multi-platform, with only 10% being 1st Party games.

[@michaelriverside1139]

@@smashmaster521 Oh, without a doubt but when their best bets were Big Daddy and Advertising Versions of Dante & Raiden... Yeah, they could've gone without those to be honest, Heihachi was the only good one though!

[@megamillion5852]

All-Stars really came out during the absolute worst period of anti-Smash inspired sentiment. Glad to say that Smash fans have really turned around on that exclusionary attitude, now craving more platform fighters and Smash-likes than opposing them outright. And while it may be a mess, All-Stars will always be among my most treasured trash! I'll never forget the experience of learning about, and falling in love with characters like Sir Daniel or Toro. Or seeing how complex character movesets could be in the 4 player fighter setting, which I think actually outdid Smash's execution by a mile up to that point, before characters like Rosalina, Bayonetta, and most other Ultimate DLC. If there is any hope in having an eventual sequel, I'd like to see it put its best foot forward and impress right out of the gate.

[@IvanEliasPinto]

I could have sworn that Smash players usually dismiss new platform fighters but I guess I could be wrong

[@phoebeluna4427]

"Glad to say that Smash fans have really turned around on that exclusionary attitude" wait are u trying to cheat me again

[@ironfox4990]

I would also add that the Smash community has been dealing with controversies lately especially in the competitive circles (both the fans and relations with Nintendo themselves), so that’s a possible contributing factor aswell.

[@KaminoKatie]

@@ironfox4990 Not to mention the pedophilia with some of the competitive players

[@jtowensbyiii6018]

This game made smash look like a shit game, and still does tbh, just sad how it turned out behind the scenes

[@vireo2543]

I was apart of the PSASBR community from launch to its dying days. I remember actively being on a PSASBR fan-forum, drawing fanart, making Ask accounts on DA for PSASBR version of Spike while a friend made one for Parappa to help keep the community active, I remember people jokingly calling Kratos “Square-tos” because of the square attack spam for him being so OP for many people casually playing to counter, I remember making my PSN account for the first time so I can play online with people I met on the fan-forum and they kicking my butt but I still had fun, I remember my sister and I making some guy and his brother who had their mic on rage because they couldn’t get me still enough to kill me even though I was play Jak and my sister was playing Toro while they played Sly and Raiden lol. I remember a Spike vs Spike vs Spike vs Spike battle I had online with randoms and my sister and I on the edge of our seats to win because as Ape Escape fans, we HAD to “represent”, I remember the suck cannon to ACiT RYNO special combo with Ratchet where you suck the enemy and toss them to a wall then release the special before they had a chance to roll out of the way 😂 The game itself had a lot of flaws but I have many good memories of it. I remember how active SuperBot was with the community compared to other devs and really liked that, this was before it became more common like how it is today to get in contact with devs or members of the team. Wish I did send them an email to tell them how much the game, despite all of its setbacks meant to me, but hindsight is 20/20, I guess.

[@kernelofficial]

Yes! One of my personal favorites from the late-PS3 era. Looking forward to finishing this one.

[@robinrademacher7984]

Honestly i love the short intro cutscene with the colours and the ps3 menu in the backround

[@KaminoKatie]

It honestly feels like an anime opening

[@andrewbaxter64]

I really appreciate this video. I was actually one of the few people who was legitimately excited for this game (and I'm a Smash Bros. lifer) and I did have fun with the game. It's just a shame that the game was dealt a bad hand from players and the companies that wouldn't play ball with wanted characters. I do think a sequel or a reboot would do wonders as you'd have characters like Ellie, Aloy, Jin, they could actually get Crash, Spryo, Cloud or the real Dante, or god-forbid, if the heavens align, Spider-Man. But even as of now, I still see sparks that the developers cared deeply about the history of PlayStation and their passion deserved more recognition. Do I think a PSAS sequel will happen? I'm not sure, but with all the surprise sequels and revivals happening these days, one can only hope. One more thing. My best friend is obsessed with PS All-Stars and constantly wonders what a sequel could look like. That goes to show that there is still a legacy to this game.

[@GiveZeeAChance]

I mourn this game every day. It was a huge hit in my friend group in college and we had so much fun playing it. My favorite was this exact interaction that I had with a larger number of people than should have ever happened: Person: Oh this game is just a Smash clone Person: *plays game* Person: WHY DON'T MY SMASH SKILLS TRANSFER

[@GiveZeeAChance]

It was also the first game I ever spent time learning to get good at, and it was very rewarding in that regard (while there was still a player base)

[@OneAndOnlyDanky]

Apparently it’s rumored that one of the scrapped dlc characters for this game was Shadow the goddamn Hedgehog and I wish the dlc could’ve continued because that sounds so out of place it’s hilarious

[@ruinouseffigy1810]

I was so excited to see the thumbnail and the video did not disappoint. I also had a soft spot for this game but hearing your dedication and story was incredible. Thanks for not only the entertainment but a deep dive into a game that deserved more love

[@Soapy_Papoose]

I love this game! I still play it from time to time thanks to RPCS3, I'm a dirty Sly main too. I think having played every game represented also helped my interest. I was also one of the very few who was very happy that PSASBR wasn't just like Smash.

[@laterelG]

I'm still upset they never got to release Dart from Legend of Dragoon as a dlc character

[@brytilaar]

Also forgotten platformers like Gex, Croc, Tomba and Punky Skunk

[@Decemonator]

This game will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first serious "fighter" that i ever played. It also introduced me to Starhawk from the DLC character Emmett, which turned out to be my favorite shooter. Miss the hell out of these games, especially Starhawk. A reboot/remake of All-Stars with Emmett would make me cry.

[@realradec]

Good shit my dude, glad you're still making content and its nice of you to have made this to celebrate the 10th anniversary. Can't wait to watch rn. Hope you've been doing well since we last spoke!

[@federicotagliavia5024]

In last years Super Smash Bros clones are more respected as games and Sony has a much larger fan base across new and old beloved franchise. I think 2023 could be a fantastic year to drop a new Playstation All Stars ( if done and supported correctly) Even with his flaws I loved playing it back then. I really want a new one.

[@griefingg0lem685]

This is the kind of video I've been waiting for. In this age of Platform Fighter crossovers, where everyone seems to have a stake in the market, I feel like Sony will be a bit late to the party, but I hope they aren't as you, I, and others have seen that PS All Stars truly brought to this genre that some didn't at the time and many still haven't. The crossover aspect of the stages, the rival battles with witty dialog, and all that stuff that truly makes this game unique that I wouldn't want to see go away if we ever got a sequel. It's all that makes this game so great.

[@evo3314]

just wanted to say that, while me and my brothers played smash brawl religiously when it came out on the wii, when we saw this game come out, we saw a smash bros clone, yes, but in the best way possible. we loved the og ratchet and clank games, and even the ps3 ones and the idea of being ratchet and watching him beat up other characters, like kratos, we were thrilled. We loved this game and i need to fix my ps3 to play it again to relive some of my happier memories haha. Thanks for the video and for reminding me of this amazing gem.

[@3ndg4m3]

I’ve been thinking about this game a lot lately, with all the press around Ragnarok’s release. Pretty cool to see a brand-new video looking into it. I hope Sony takes another crack at this idea someday.

[@_Xerota_]

9:45 That's a MAWLR from KIllzone, Not a Metal Gear.

[@TheGoldenBolt]

Shoot, it is isn't it? I legitimately forgot MAWLRs were even a thing, good god.

[@_Xerota_]

@@TheGoldenBolt I hadn't actually played a Metal Gear game until after I had played Killzone 3. The First time I saw a MAWLR I guess you could say I was blinded by it's majesty, paralysed, dumbstruck. So the MAWLR is quite memorable to me.

[@jackflynn412]

Desperately needs a sequel albeit with other more options to kill than just Supers. That part where they rigged the giveaway for you was surprisingly wholesome. Those poor devs really cared. I know people clown on the roster but it did have a lot of all-stars like Kratos, Nathan Drake, Raiden, and Heihachi. If it had the real Dante I think people would be more appreciative of it. It might not ever get a 2nd chance but a guy can pray.

[@themonsterunderyourbed9408]

It's so stupid Capcom required them to have new Dante instead of just making it an alternate custome.

[@jackflynn412]

@@themonsterunderyourbed9408 Yeah, if they had both Dantes people would hate the reboot one less. He’d just seem like an alternate take on the character not meant to replace the original.

[@Firetrigger2110]

While I'm not a Playstation guy, something that I appreciated about the pre-modern era of Playstation was that eclectic taste. There's a game for everyone, of any genre, pulling from Sony's experience in the music industry. To me, Playstation's brand identity WAS their quirkiness. Now nearly every exclusive feels the same. I'm not gonna buy a PS5 just for Final Fantasy XVI, because that's really the only game that I'd really want to play. Everything else doesn't click with me. Even Nintendo shows you can have a cohesive brand identity without homogenizing everything. The Switch has shown that in spades. It makes me feel bad for the older PS fans who miss that eclectic era.

[@josh5247]

This game is the definition of wrong place wrong time

[@LombaxOttsel]

Loved this game. Kept me busy enough before smash 4 came out and for a while it made me feel somewhat fulfilled. Would love to see it revisited some day with more care.

[@christophercarrasco154]

Surprised you didn't mention God of War Ragnarok making PSABR canon. The thing that made that reference interesting was the writer of that line thought Santa Monica was going to ignore it, but they went out of their way to include it. I really hope Santa Monica is CONSIDERING making a sequel. Also wish you would've touched on characters that didn't make it, but had models. Like that one character from Warhawk. One last thing.... I'm shocked you didn't mention Spider-Man and how he could've shown up had Sony waited lol. They showed him in Astro's Playroom. Would've been a cool movie rep.

[@connorbeith3232]

Astro itself is a treasure trove of references including stuff I never thought we'd see again. Though with Spidey, his inclusion would've been kinda absurd at the time as he didn't have the same foothold in gaming as he did in comics and film (tho James Bond was apparently considered).

[@christophercarrasco154]

@@connorbeith3232 Always thought it would be neat if it WASN'T just a video game celebration. The intro where they played Madeon - Finale made me go "Hey, what if they went all out and used licensed Sony music?".

[@DiamondBatToons]

I can't stand those idiots who were calling this a Smash Bros. Ripoff. Smash isn't the only franchise allowed to make Platform fighters after all! FUN FACT: Apparently Shadow the Hedgehog from the Sonic series was supposed to be a DLC character for this game. But it was eventually canceled without a confirmed reason. I'm still sad about it because it was now what could've been Shadow's only chance of being in a platform fighter.

[@MrFireman106]

Shadow would of been sick

[@TheGoldenBolt]

Just got clarity's sake, nobody at SuperBot has indicated Shadow was ever a thing - some person uploaded a fake model or fan render for a school portfolio or something, and over time that one eventually got lumped in with the others!

[@mechanomics2649]

Saying it's a Smash rip off is not the same thing as saying Smash is the only franchise allowed to make platform fighters.

[@dragondelsur5156]

@@TheGoldenBolt Thank you, for some reason there's people that still believe it.

[@jtowensbyiii6018]

Never underestimate how hateful people are

[@jewelsdragonfly]

Man, imagine they get a second chance, and we get to play as Rivet, Aloy, Jin, and Norman Reedus in a match.

[@jacobgolder6]

I hadn’t thought about All-Stars in a while. That was until the easter egg conversation had between Mimir and Kratos in the most recent God of War. While I was too young to appreciate the game back then, I still look back on it fondly. It was my first experience with a lot of franchises that I’d go one to enjoy and learn about throughout the years. For a long time, seeing franchises like Infamous or GoW made me think, “oh, it’s the character from All-Stars”.

[@Immortal2022]

I remember hearing about this game and being excited for it, but only having like 3 characters I knew didn't do it for me.

[@raze_]

Im honestly surprised you only knew that little. I just rechecked the roster and the only unrecognizable one was the character from a Japanese exclusive game. But i also grew up on sony and even subscribed to the playstation official magazine so maybe i was more aware of sony products.

[@Immortal2022]

@@raze_ Well, I've seen a few of the other characters before, but even growing up on playstation consoles, I still didn't play that much. I think when this game came out, I had played a lot of Little Big Planet and Infamous, because PlayStation gave those games away on the online store at one point. I also played Ratchet Deadlocked on the PS2 non-stop. Cyborg Raiden was undeniably different from the character in Metal Gear Solid 2 and I probably didn't realize they were the same. I had heard of God of War, Devil May Cry, Bioshock and alike, but I never played them.

[@Starwarsdude8221991]

this is one of those games where I feel like everyone got robbed the gamers, the team just robbed of what could have been

[@misterzygarde6431]

I do wonder why Sony didn’t do their own take on Smash during the PS2 era. Sure, they were already beating Nintendo, but Smash Melee was still pretty huge. You’d think Sony would try to compete with their own crossover. If we ever get a second try at Sony’s own Smash Bros aside from the obvious choices (Crash, Spyro, A Persona rep, Classic Dante, etc.), I think it’d be fun if they got Goku and Shrek, prominent meme requests for Smash as playable characters, especially if they kept the rivals idea and both were assigned as each other’s rivals. Imagine how they’d interact with each other during each of their rival cutscenes. Shrek: Why are you following me!? Goku: You look pretty strong. Was thinking we could fight.

[@KaminoKatie]

You had me at the first half ngl

[@Darkbeast42]

I actually really liked this game. I had a friend I would frequently play doubles online matches with, and it was a lot of fun. My mains were Old Man Heihachi and Raiden. I remember developing a deep hatred for Nathan Drake because I could never land any of his supers when I tried to use him but I would, without fail, get hit by every super he threw out when he was being used by my opponent. When I actually got around to playing Uncharted, I intentionally killed myself several times to lessen my grudge. Anyways, my point is this game is a lot of fun with friends.

[@Trappedroom]

Guess you sucked as Nathan drake HE was OP

[@Castcoder]

TOMBA WAS PLANNED????????? I won't forgive a single person who hated on this game.

[@agentclank8183]

I always found this game at its most fun playing with my brother on 2v2s with insane difficulty coms. I mained Ratchet (of course I did) and my brother mained Kratos. Us comboing into the Ryno V will always be a cherished memory. An interesting thing is that this game came with the PS3 that we bought second hand. It also had two other notable PlayStation icons. Like the Ratchet and Clank Hd collection and FIFA 15. If it wasn’t for that specific ps3 from that buyer in offer up I would have never discovered this game, nor any Ratchet and Clank games. By extension I wouldn’t have discovered your videos and have subscribed either. Point is you can thank the Ps3 and this game for even getting me here in the first place (crazy to think Jak and Sly were so foreign to me then, I didn’t even hear from word of mouth).

[@nunchuk28]

I'm not a fan of the final product per se, but it's a shame how much Sony seems to want to forget this happened despite the moderate commercial success. It's also too bad how many roadblocks they just put into it given how seemingly passionate the developers were for the product, they weren't given a good hand. While I'll probably never love any of these other takes on the platform fighter as much as Smash in itself, I think it's good to see others attempt this idea, and for what it's worth, I definitely cared more for Sony's take on this than the more recent Nick or WB take, being far more into games than these multimedium juggernauts. I kinda wish the game was more shameless in ripping off Smash core mechanics, as the super being the sole way to KO an opponent really makes things less exciting as a mere casual player of these things. I can't comment too much on the roster not being that familiar with the iconic classic faces of PS (despite ironically growing with Playstation and becoming more familiar with Nintendo many years later), but some of the 3rd party choices were certainly odd to say the least. With how Sony's recent exclusives have been, I can't say I'd hold my breath for another attempt at this experiment, but as long as they drop the super being the only way to KO opponents then by all means, it'd be cool to see it happen.

[@tabreezsiddique]

Actually that's Killzone invading Parappa The Rappa's world.

[@thesaxon3966]

" San Monaco was forced to land a plane with no engine" Me, a warthunder player: oh, that's not too bad "- or wings" Me:....[muscleman voice] Oh no bro.

[@Jakewake52]

I feel something that should've been mentioned is the game is actually referenced in God of War Ragnarock- meaning there are still some people that care about it... and that it is cannon in the God Of War universe Also the dig at days gone was unnecesary, its a shame how it's been treated

[@BlueEyed_J]

This game will always hold a special place in my heart. I was playing a 2v2 match with a friend, and we both chose Cole (one good, one evil.) And while the game was loading I told what will probably be the best joke I ever tell in my life. I say "Looks like these two were naughty, because all they're getting for Christmas is Cole."

[@connorbeith3232]

It's a game that, while flawed, I still find myself going back to playing every once in awhile because I genuinely find it kinda fun with characters like Sweet Tooth, Fat Princess, Nathan Drake, Cole, and Spike being my favorites. Gameplay had potential with the supers, but could've used a health bar or something to make it more fair. The crossover stages were a genius idea, and there's so many franchises you could mix together in another attempt. The music kinda slaps too, favorites being the menu themes, Black Rock Stadium, Colombia, Littlebigplanet, and the Dojo. And god, the concept art for this game really shows how ambitious this idea was, especially the menus. I'd see a sequel being a collab, with an experienced fighting game dev and an internal PS Studio (my pick would be Team Asobi, since judging by Astro's Playroom, they seem to be the biggest PS fans working there right now). Aside from the standard iconic 1st and 3rd party IPs from the over the ages, it'd be neat to see some Indie IPs make it in as Sony seems to be supporting that scene a lot lately (Filbo from Bugsnax would be my number 1 pick in that category). Kinda wish a figure like your yourself could rally fans to start some kind of hashtag to get Sony's attention like #FreePSABR or even #Michael. Edit: You're kinda wrong about Superbot's fate as All-Stars wasn't their only game, they made, get this, an educational mobile game called Cuddlefish Friends. I have no idea why they went in that direction, but it was real. www.appshrink.com/application-press-releases/superbot-entertainment-and-section-studios-release-cuddlefish-friends/.

[@masterweapon334]

People WANTED to hate this game. That’s how I remember it. Lot of people online talking smack on a game they were never going to play, and no intention of liking. My friends and I poured so many hours into this, right up until the servers shut down.

[@philknight1972]

While deployed in 2014, my coworkers and I played Allstars heavy along with smash and Pokémon X & Y. The memories

[@potatolord8444]

Never forget, we could of had a game where the Bloodborne Hunter fought Crash Bandicoot, I weep for the miss opportunity.

[@LittleBigHamm]

This was one of the games that got me back in the PlayStation community. I remember buying a PlayStation Vita almost specifically for this game. I remember listening to every ounce of content coming out for this game, becoming saddened as this game died and, even now as a 29 year old person who wants to make his own games, hopes that this series comes back.

[@Yarharsuperpirate]

Honestly a large part of why the game failed for me was its roster just having so many awkward choices. How do you make a playstation brawler without Crash bandicoot? Or literally any final fantasy content? Most of the roster was modern PS characters, or just dumb choices in general. The game really could have benefited from more truly classic characters from the PS1 to PS2 era. Lara Croft being a BIG one that would have been amazing

[@meganpayette5996]

I honestly feel bad for this game, Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale deserve so much better and this is coming from a Nintendo and a Super Smash Bros fan.

[@Woobuggy848]

This was during the infamous (no pun intended) dark days of gaming from 2006-2017. I’ll never forget it. 😔 As a side note: we got donkey Kong & crash bandicoot for skylanders at least.

[@mechanomics2649]

Dark days for who? A ton of top tier games came out in that time lmao I have never heard of that span called anything remotely close to "the dark days of gaming". Actually, this's the first time I've ever heard that.

[@Woobuggy848]

@@mechanomics2649 well let's just say during the seventh generation of gaming there was the endless shooter of the week games (first & third person shooters) & dark fantasies (certain action-adventures & most of the hack-n-slash titles), plus you had the black, grey & white colors, the lack of colorful games (mainly platformers that were barely there). But later during the eighth generation, we had such a resurgence with platformers making a comeback (despite having hints of them during said previous gen) and the new metroidvania & action rpg. We were able to see games having color once more. There's still first person, third person, action-adventure & hack-n-slash games still, but not as oversaturated as it was...

[@loganchytraus6829]

2007 had some good classics/bangers, guitar hero3/rock band, halo 3, cod4, mass effect, bioshock, super Mario galaxy, portal, assassins creed, team fortress 2, pokemon Diamond/pearl... agree from 2010-2014ish though

[@TheWaffleFactory]

I would love to see this game get a sequel, I loved the idea on paper so much. Even back then I didnt care it was a smash clone, I just wanted the kills to not be linked to specials. Like you said, the controls made sense to those who played the respective games, so much love can be seen from each character. I was so surprised that Raiden had some of his moves from rising with the same combo inputs. I loved that each level of Jak's specials were from each respective game. The classic outfits really scratched an itch that I wanted smash to give me like classic Jak and Issac, Ratchets going commando outfit, Raidens MGS2 Skeleton suit. God the fan service was out the window it just fell apart. I was bummed that journey never got that stage or that Abe never got his character finished. Great video, loved the care you put into it!

[@Sea_Moose1]

I really think this game deserves a sequel. Now that there's so many well-known characters since this game. In reality, I just want to beat the crap out of Aloy as an Astrobot, that would be hilarious.

[@Jadefire7857]

I feel that if this game got a remake in the style of Smash Ultimate, we could've gotten more characters from Ratchet and Clank, Little BigPlanet, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot and some of the recent Insomniac Games' Marvel games

[@andimjustalex]

My friends and I use to play PSASBR aaaaaall the time. Gotta love them infinite combos...

[@triledink]

I just have to say it, 9:44 that big robot from the parappa the rapper stage is not a metal gear, its one of the big spider robots aka Goliath from the Ressistance games.

[@squeakyhadez3022]

Heyhey man , thank you for the amazing video , and that comment you made early on in the video about ratchet and jak being your only family/ friends hit me pretty hard , keep up the awesome work and can’t wait to see your best project ❤

[@twotim5052]

the gaint robot in parappa the rapper stage is actually a mawlr form killzone

[@therayldeal6683]

This is a fantastic video. I'm new to your content (listening to all of the Ratchet and Clank videos now since I've started platting them), and I like the way you frame your points and arguments. Subbed.

[@SavidgeGaming]

This game got me into gaming as a whole. Constantly checking and reading the news and making a channel and watching other youtubers and twitch streams. I love the game, but man… its a game lol

[@greatwavefan397]

The funny thing I didn't know about fighting Polygon Man as Toro was that Polygon Man was PlayStation's mascot at some point.

[@MusicianNrd]

9:44 That’s actually the robot called MAWLR from Killzone 3.

[@diegoblacutt8994]

I used to own this game back in 2014. Love every second of it even with its flaws. Sadly my dad sold it with some old games to buy me a computer back then and NOW iam considering to buy it again. Should i for good old time sake? I guess it will depend on this video since YOU are my favourite game-restrospective youtuber out there G.B 👌😆👍

[@TheGoldenBolt]

On one hand, the servers are dead and that leaves very little of the game left. On the other, it's probably like $5, so it probably can't hurt!

[@diegoblacutt8994]

​@@TheGoldenBolt $15 its the price of a physical copie in a store i regulary go to buy most of my games. And $2.50 its the normal price for the digital version ($1 more if i want the dlc content). Iam from argentina 🇦🇷 so i will think about it a little after finishing the video. THANKS FOR THE QUICK RESPONSE. ✌️

[@Soapy_Papoose]

If you got a PC play it on RPCS3.

[@flowerthencrranger3854]

Just emulate it on RPCS3

[@hoolopee]

great video!

[@DannyBenS94]

I remember being so hyped for this game back in 2012. Obviously I was disappointed at the lack of Crash and Spyro, but I had so much PlayStation pride back then, I was still really excited. It even encouraged me to try out other Sony IPs to get more hyped. When the game launched...I had fun. I remember playing through one character's arcade mode on PS3 and then going to the Vita version to play through the rival's story. Not too long after though, I did realize it wasn't that great, but I still had a lot of fun. I played it more than Smash at the time, but I think that's mostly because I played it a lot on Vita, which was more convenient for me to play at the time. At the time I determined that I liked more PS All-Stars characters than Smash's roster at the time, but Smash had better gameplay IMO. Nowadays, I've put many, many hours into Smash Ultimate and while I still love many of Sony's IPs, I no longer have PS pride. My view of games has changed a lot, but there are games I loved back then that I still do today. As for this game; I think it's alright and can be fun at times, but I'd rather play Smash overall. I did make sure to play this on its 10th anniversary. Went through and played at least one match as every character. It's still kind of fun today. Did I mention "at the time"? Lol

[@BugsyFoga]

I still stand by this game being a pretty fun time, wish they could give this concept another chance .

[@themonsterunderyourbed9408]

Get rid of the super mechanic and make the story mode better. I'd be all in.

[@johnmiller2691]

The biggest problem really was that it looked too much like Smash Bros while actually having mechanics that created a mindset more like a traditional fighter than a pick-up-and-play party game. If they had done the opposite I wouldn't have been surprised if it had actually been successful.

[@TaRAAASHBAGS]

I'M NOT THE ONLY PERSON WHO IMAGINED SLY ON TELEPHONE WIRES FROM THE CAR???

[@LiterallyAna]

9:44 that's not from Metal Gear, its a MAWLR from Killzone 😿

[@helly9027]

You know I see the potential, even more after this video. I hope they try again one day with the proper support and development it deserves! I think it'd do numbers

[@OneCentPie]

So happy to see PlayStation All Stars rep in 2022. Loved playing this game years ago with friends. My mains were Sly and Toro ^^

[@t_ed2521]

It is kind of funny how PlayStation All Stars, a game that went from maligned to kind of a cult classic, featured guest characters from games like Metal Gear Rising and DmC: Devil May Cry, both games that also went from maligned to cult classics

[@Kasaix]

This game was good for what it was. I'm still glad I managed to snag the platinum trophy when I could.

[@aiwash2766]

Little bit of background, I would go to my friends house because he had a ps3 and I dint all the time to play COD but he also owned this game and I absolutely loved it, I loved every aspect of it and was completely blind to the outage this game had so listening to this whole video opened my eyes to this games whole story, I still remember it fondly and honestly I hope this game gets a spiritual successor, this video was also damn well done legit had me hanging onto every word, great work bolt

[@Dr.Slaughter]

They need to make a sequel to this game, but with much more love and polish. I know this game wasnt the best, but I had fun with it.

[@jackjeager8785]

Man, there is so much more to that story that I did not know. Awesome video man

[@TheLastMelon92]

It wasn't really fair that Allstars was compared to smash like it was. It was unique enough to be it's own game. I feel it was pretty good for a first installment. A sequel would have done the game wonders.

[@famedgaming1865]

God I hurt for more recognition for Legends of Dragoon. Great video though bro, always looking forward to your hard work on these.

[@KaminoKatie]

Ari and Stan from Okage Shadow King could've been in the game too

[@mechanomics2649]

Yeah, i t's disappointing to see that LoD has been just forgotten about.

[@Crashkid255]

I loved this game in fact it was one of my favourites ever made, we had a small KZbin community and use to host sessions, share combos and hold tournaments often I was active on boards and hosted 1v1s on my old KZbin channel other than Kratos being op I loved everything about this game, the music and mash up levels were a genius idea and the fact they used 3 button instead of 2 like smash opened up combo potential The level super attack system was great aswell making it different from smash I know it wasn’t perfect but I loved this game and would be still playing it if the servers were up I’m glad someone did a in-depth look at this game thank you ❤

[@KaminoKatie]

Giving how much of media nowadays is a Ready Player One circlejerk of "Look how many properties we owned in our streaming service!", it feels like a sequel or remake to PlayStation All-Stars could happen

[@andret3739]

I really hope they give this idea another shot sometime, prefebly with a higher budget and a better roster. It does have a lot of potential