The easiest way to oversimplify PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is to just think of it as a Sony version of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series. No one would blame you for drawing that conclusion since on the surface it is. But after sparring a couple of rounds with this four-player fighter for the PlayStation 3 at a recent preview event in Los Angeles, Calif., I quickly realized it has three key elements that make all the difference.

1. Sony’s history

Even though it’s obvious that PlayStation All-Stars features characters from Sony’s games and not Nintendo’s, let’s not overlook that significance. This is the first title to really unify and bring together the wide array of franchises from almost two decades of PlayStation. Developer SuperBot has the intimidating task of translating the heroes and villains from a ton of different genres of games into fighters and stages.

On one hand, we see the glorious return of the skateboarding PaRappa the Rapper. On the other is the trigger happy Colonel Radec from Killzone 2. Sly Cooper can turn invisible in lieu of being able to block. And Fat Princess calls upon her villagers to help bring the pain to Kratos, the God of War. While the combatants tear into each other, it might start to rain golf balls thanks to some inconsiderate folks from Hot Shots Golf.  

Let’s face it: Sony isn’t trying to win over the Nintendo fanboys with this one but instead is really giving back to the PlayStation faithful and celebrating its rich gaming heritage.

2. Fighting style

“The first thing I think fighting fans will notice is you’re not knocking players off the stage,” lead combat designer Paul Edwards told me. “The second is there’s no health bar.” These two points make a significant difference in how players win in PlayStation All-Stars.

At one point, I was trying to get my fighter, Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal, onto a platform while my opponent, Sly Cooper, kept knocking me off whenever I got close. This brought back all kinds of traumatic, exclusionary memories from playing Smash Bros. Then, he stopped -- probably realizing that this isn’t the same kind of game. It’s not like he would eventually send me flying into oblivion since no one is keeping track of health.

Instead, the focus is on smacking your foes around to build up your super meter. Once, say, PaRappa karate chops Radec and Fat Princess enough, he can unleash a special attack. These range from three degrees of intensity. His ultimate move is a performance of that “I gotta believe” song from the original PlayStation title that instantly takes out all the other characters. This scoring method effectively frames the contest around who can rack up the most kills by making the best use of their special attacks.

3. Mashups

To ensure that SuperBot can fairly represent a wide array of PlayStation titles, they’re going with a novel approach. “When we first thought about this game and the idea of mixing things, we allowed that mashup concept to permeate as many decisions as we could,” game designer Omar Kendall said.

As a result, All-Stars has a Buzz! trivia moment interrupting the constantly developing LittleBigPlanet stage. In the God of War underworld level, Hades and the Patapon warriors are in the background, spectating the brawl. Additionally, the soundtrack takes songs from each universe and mashes them up as well.

Some of the juxtapositions might seem a little silly and some might make perfect sense. Either way, this setup allows SuperBot to craft some creative and fresh experiences for players compared to the safe approach of one franchise theme per stage in the Super Smash Bros. series.

In the end, it shouldn’t really matter how similar PlayStation All-Stars looks or feels like Super Smash Bros. Just how the music industry can support all artists writing their own love songs, the game industry can handle publishers each developing their own cameo-heavy fighters. The key thing is everyone brings their unique experiences.

Plus, Kendall was quick to point out that he and his team “are big fans of the entire brawl fighting genre. We’re not scared to say that we’ve taken influence from all the great things that have come before us, while also putting something new into the game.”