Man last week was crazy! Last Thursday saw Gametrailers TV reveal something officially that most of the gaming community, especially those of us here at PSLS, knew well in advance. Yes, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is real, but one major surprise is that the game is slated for release this holiday season. However, the segment on GTTV, as well as our hands-on preview of the game, only revealed six characters. Some of those characters seemed like no-brainers which SuperBot Entertainment probably chose to reveal like Kratos and Sly. But some of them were genuine surprises like PaRappa the Rappa and Fat Princess. But what other characters from the PlayStation canon could fit nicely into a fighting game? Again some of them are a given, but others, while sounding far-fetched, would fit into a game trying to utilize some of the existing aesthetics of Nintendo’s coveted Smash Bros. series of fighting games. Moreover, SuperBot also stated that third-party characters are also being considered, and a full roster size has yet to be revealed. And so, in no particular order, here’s our list of characters that should be considered for inclusion in PSASBR.
1. Nathan Drake
I’m pretty sure that everyone saw this coming, but considering that he’s a character exclusive to the PlayStation brand, has been in four games, and is one of the most recognizable PlayStation icons it seems like a safe bet that Drake will make an appearance in some form or another. My guess is that he’s probably going to play like Fox in Smash Bros. with some ranged attacks, the ability to throw back projectiles (or at least grenades), and will move pretty speedily through the environment. It’s hard to determine what his supers could be, but I suppose that they could be very similar to some of the Kickbacks from Uncharted 3. Maybe SuperBot could give Drake the ability to turn into a swarm of insects as his level 3 super. Plus as a treasure hunter, he might have an ability similar to Sly in being able to steal energy from other players.
2. Sackboy
Oh Sackboy, how could I forget you? You’re like the Kirby of the PlayStation Brand! Cute and cuddly to look at, but a bad ass when he has to be. I think that Sackboy could be something of a shapeshifting character like Shang Tsung from MK or Double from Skullgirls. He could take on traits from any fighter he goes up against even donning on special headgear appropriate to the abilities he gains. As for some of his unique moves, I think one of his supers should be sticker bombing the entire level. Definitely guaranteeing a large number of kills quickly.
3. Jak and Daxter
It’s difficult to say whether Jak and Daxter would fight as a team or as individuals, but there is precedent for either case. Jak seems like he would be best suited to ranged attacks much the same way as Radec. However, the presence of Daxter also adds a few melee style attacks which could couple well with Jak. But if they were a team, how would they control? Would it be like the Ice Climbers from Smash Bros. Melee? Hmm…then again it might be better to have them just fight separately. But speaking of couples, let’s move on to…
4. Ratchet and Clank
I suppose that these two would probably control much the same way as Jak and Daxter, but Ratchet’s arsenal is much larger than Jak’s. Plus with Clank added into the mix this brings up the possibility of being able to call upon his alter ego Secret Agent Clank. The supers they could call upon could also bring in Captain Qwark or even Doctor Nefarious!
5. Cole MacGrath
Putting Cole into a fighting game might at first sound like an absurd idea, but considering his appearance in the PS3 version of Street Fighter X Tekken and his history as a PS character it seems highly likely that the electric man will make an appearance in PSASBR. His Amp would definitely be a weapon along with his electrical powers, but which Cole would they use? Good Cole or bad Cole? Maybe you could switch on the fly kind of like Zelda and Sheik in Smash Bros. Brawl. His supers could be anything given the plethora of powers at his disposal, but my guess is that all of them will include electricity and explosions…lots of explosions.
6. Polygon Man
‘Who’s Polygon Man?’ I hear some of you asking across the interwebs. Polygon Man is a former mascot for PlayStation North America. He’s basically a head with a bunch of polygonal spiky hair. I’m putting him on this list not because he could be playable, but could actually be the boss. He could be like Master Hand was to Smash Bros. but with a back story talking about being forsaken and harboring a deep seeded hatred of the rest of the beloved PlayStation characters. I would be on-board with the idea. Though given this story that Phil Harrison, former Executive Vice President of SCEE, told Edge Magazine back in 2009, Ken Kutaragi, former President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., probably wouldn’t be down with the idea. Here’s Harrison’s story as told to Edge.
“I remember walking onto the E3 booth in 1995 with Ken and seeing the Polygon Man design on the side of the booth. Ken just went absolutely insane,” says Harrison. Kutaragi’s problem was that SCEA was investing a limited budget in an alternative brand. “But the thing that really upset Ken was that the Polygon Man design wasn’t Gouraud shaded, it was flat shaded! So Polygon Man was taken out into the car park and quietly shot.”
7. Crash Bandicoot
While there hasn’t been a new Crash game in a very long time, the Crash Bandicoot series was responsible for huge sales for the PS1. There were even commercials with a guy dressed up in a Crash Bandicoot suit hawking Sony products. The spin attack alone along with this history almost assures we’ll see Crash in PSASBR. Plus if Crash shows up maybe we’ll also see Dr. Neo Cortex.
8. Spyro
With Skylanders only recently having hit the market it seems like this could be a good time to reintegrate Spyro into the mainstream Sony brand. I don’t have to remind people that Spyro has several PS games to his credit as well. Putting him in also opens the door to a whole bunch of DLC including the rest of the enormous Skylanders cast. Trigger Happy, anyone?
9. Solid Snake
Solid Snake showed up in Smash Bros. Brawl, but the crux of Kojima’s Metal Gear franchise has been on Sony products. Maybe he might not be Solid Snake in this game and could instead be Old Snake. Either way having Snake in the game in some form or another would be pretty great. His supers could include calling in an assist attack from the Cyborg Ninja or having Metal Gear Rex (or Ray) smashing and destroying everything. Considering his sneakiness, he could be a second character, in addition to Sly, who could turn invisible.
10. The Unnamed Wanderer
We don’t have a name, back story, or even a purpose for him, but we know that he’s on a journey. The unnamed wanderer from Journey would be a cool addition to PSASBR. How he would fight or what moves he would have would be beyond me, but I have to guess that gliding and his long scarf would be involved. This is definitely some wishful thinking, especially considering how including him in the game would only work to undermine the artistic nature of Journey. Still…why should the retail games have all the fun?
11. The Mannequin
Echochrome was one of the first artistic games to grace PSN in the early days of the service with its perception based puzzles. His basic attacks would probably be pretty standard martial arts attacks, but his level 3 super could have it turning the entire stage into an Echochrome puzzle with the player controlling the camera and attempting to kill as many opponents as possible that way. Sure it’s inclusion is a longshot, but I can dream can’t I?
12. Any of the characters from Heavy Rain
Putting in the characters from Heavy Rain would be both hilarious and fun. As Ethan Mars your super is called ‘Press X to Jason’ and every time you do a car runs over your opponents. Or as Norman Jayden, you’re super is ‘Ari: Comment’ in which evidence markers pop-up on screen. You’re objective is to then CSI your way to each clue to score KOs. In all seriousness though, I doubt that David Cage and the rest of the crew at Quantic Dream would ever go for such a ridiculous idea, but the power of the ‘Press X to Jason’ meme being what it is could have some stake in the negotiations.
There are probably a bunch of other great ideas for characters to add into PSASBR. So what characters would you guys add? Is there one or two that simply have to be in there for some of you to even play this? Let us know in the comments below.
