Why PS All-Stars Isn't a SSB Ripoff

[Conker]

This topic is not aimed at any members of the GCN.

I know the timing of this topic and posts of mine in the other thread make it seem so, but it's not.

I had planned to write this up for a long while now, and just decided to do it now.

 

I just thought I'd write something up about this, since I find any claim of it being a ripoff total bullshit.

 

 

1. Why do people consider it a ripoff?

Quite simply put, the only reason people do think such is because it looks a lot like Smash Bros.

Not only that, I also think there is plenty of bias in play, and the fact most people love to rip on almost anything

Sony does; that's a story for another time, though.

 

 

Let's be honest: the games do look similar, but so does ANY game of the same genre. Isn't it funny? It's as if genres COMPLETELY go out the window when people compare these two games, and I find it funny.

 

Sure, Smash Bros. may have been the game to start this particular sub genre of fighting games, and it was definitely the first game

in said sub genre, but let's not forget PS All-Stars wasn't even the second, so it's not deserving one bit of all the hate it's getting for

being a "ripoff". I'll go more in depth about this whole genre thing in a later section, though.

 

 

2. Let's compare Smash Bros. and PS All-Stars.

When you actually take the time to look past a screenshot, or two(maybe even a short video) like many people do not, you will actually

realize that, while they're similar, they're very different.

 

How is this? Well, for starters, it's really apparent in the battle system(you know, that thing that defines a game like this), and I shall explain

the mechanics of PS All-Stars' battle system here for you, so you can hopefully ditch some of the confusion you've packed on while reading

misleading, biased articles about this game on the internet. But yeah, here goes:

 

1. Combat System:

If anything, the combat in this game is more comparable to something along the lines of Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom, and we all know

that Smash Bros. definitely does not play like that; you'd be a fool to think it does. So, basically, the combat is more fast-paced, and allows for

waaaaay more combos than you could even get in a Smash Bros. game. So, in a sense, combat in this game is more deep.

 

1-2. Super Meter:

Ah, yes. The Super Meter. It's no doubt that thing everyone will ignorantly compare to SSBB's Final Smash move, even though Smash Bros.

didn't invent finishing moves. Anyways, the Super Meter is separated by three levels, 1 - 3. Each level of the super meter houses a finishing move,

unique to each character of the game. You can choose to fill it up completely, all the way to level three so you may unleash hell on your enemies,

or if you're in a jam, you can quickly unleash a level one or two you've got waiting for you.

 

How it works, is you fill it up by landing successful attacks on any opponent, and getting enough damage in there gradually fills up your meter.

You can also bust open special crates that appear randomly in stages which give you glowing blue orbs, which helps fill your meter. Attacking your

opponents with any item that spawns in the match knocks blue orbs out of them, too, so that helps a good deal. And considering your Super Meter moves

are the ONLY way to kill your opponents, I would say this game's combat system already separates it from any SSB game right away.

 

2. No Ring-Outs:

We are all aware of how iconic ring outs are in Super Smash Bros. You hit your opponent off the stage, the crowd gasps, and if you've knocked them

out far enough, they explode into a large burst of colorful energy. Not only that, that's pretty much how you kill people in SSB(unless you're playing on Stamina Mode, even then it still works). This, however, is completely absent in PS All-Stars, and it makes the experience all the more better, in my opinion.

 

3. More Dynamic Stages:

Another thing which differentiates the two games, is that PS All-Stars' stages are much more dynamic, and each of them have an environmental hazard

which you should try your hardest to avoid. Smash Bros. has it's fair share of these, of course, but it's not nearly on the same level as in this game, so

it really sets PS All-Stars apart.

 

I can go into more detail here, but I think you should use your better judgment.

 

3. PS All-Stars wasn't the first to "ripoff" SSB, just so you know.

Yeah, it wasn't. Not at all. Let's talk about some games which used SSB's formula before PS All-Stars:

 

1. TMNT: Smash Up:

(screeshots in spoiler)

 

(Would you look at that? That character select screen is more of a damn copy of SSB's than PS All-Stars'!)

 

TMNT Smash Up, it's a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fighting game. It's definitely very similar to Smash Bros., much like PS All-Stars, yet... why, I don't think it got nearly as much shit as Sony's getting with their game, and it even came out way before it. I'm going to say it again: bias. People hating on Sony's game, because it's Sony's game, and it's apart of the same genre as Smash Bros.

 

Though, any similarities here are not accidental; it's made with the same engine that Brawl uses.

 

2. Small Arms:

(screeshots in spoiler)

 

 

So, what have we got here? Another game which took inspiration from SSB, and is apart of its genre. It's Small Arms, and was released

on the Xbox Live Arcade years ago, yet, it too, has gotten hardly any shit from anyone... hardly at all. Yet, PS All-Stars seems to be getting

all of it for taking inspiration from Smash Bros., too, but everyone's mad because it has Sony Characters. Boo-fucking-hoo.

 

3. Shonen Jump: Super Stars:

(screenshots in spoiler below)

 

 

Now, what we have here, is what people would essentially call "Smash Bros. with manga characters", and they'd be wrong to say that.

It is, like I keep on saying about the other games, a member of the fighting genre Smash Bros. brought forth. Is it so hard to accept?

Anyways, this, too, hardly got any shit from what I remember, and PS All-Stars... you know where I'm going with this.

 

There you go, people did it before PS All-Stars, as hard as it is to believe for you.

 

4. What is this genre I keep talking about?

Isn't it obvious? Smash Bros. brought forth a new sub genre of fighting, and it was a major success. Now, when a genre is so successful, people are

going to make their own games to add on to it, right? Right. It has been done plenty of times, yet, people who add on to SSB's little fighting genre are for

some reason frowned upon, for loooord knows why!

 

I am going to make some examples here of games that brought forth many other games in their image(keep in mind, people are okay with this, for some reason):

 

1. Wolfenstine:

Who can forget about Wolfenstine? It paved the way for first person shooters everywhere, and we owe it thanks for that. I mean, without producing it,

ID probably wouldn't have made the even more successful DOOM, and we most certainly would not have first person shooters today(I like to believe, at least).

But, wait! According to anyone's logic who frowns upon PS All-Stars, and calls it a "shameless ripoff", games taking after ID's Wolfenstine, DOOM, Quake, ect.,

are shameless ripoffs, and have no originality. Yep, that means EVERY FPS game after Wolfenstine should be ripped on, but yet, we don't(for the most part, CoD gets lots of hate, but for good reasons). Why?

 

2. Heavyweight Champ:

The first fighting game, by SEGA. Every game that takes after it should be a shameless copy, right? Right? No? Well, of course not! But logic says otherwise.

 

3. Street Fighter:

Not the first fighting game, of course, but the first to play like it does(if my research proves right). Now, why is Mortal Kombat, something which plays so similarly, almost as if it's a slightly slower, bloody copy, get so much praise? Well, I guess people of that time weren't into closing down a genre to ONE game series, and I respect that. It's completely different now-a-days.

 

4. Virtua Fighter:

The first 3D fighting game, that allowed rotating up and down the stage while fighting, to my knowledge, and its creation spawned the likes of many similar games after it: Tekken, Dead or Alive, Soul Calibur, the 3D Mortal Kombat games, and so on. We all praise these games, and never once think of how they(according to the logic of many people who diss PS All-Stars) ripped off Virtua Fighter. Good show, people.

 

I can go on here, but meh... I'm just lazy, 'kay?

 

5. Closing thoughts, bro.

Look, all I'm saying is, PS All-Stars is adding to a genre. That's all it's doing. Every game, EVERY GAME does it, and just because a genre is more

untapped than others, and one particular series in it is very well known, that DOESN'T mean games newly entering said genre are total ripoffs.

I'm sorry, but that's a fact.

 

By the logic I see thrown around many websites and blogs I read, every game in existence is a shameless ripoff of something, and we all know that isn't true.

[Gump]

I'm coming into this to be completely unbiased as even though I like SSB, it's not a series I can say I absolutely love.

 

Objection to #1:

I'll be honest, I see much more people hating everything Nintendo does compared to Sony. I constantly see people say how Nintendo sucks and that Sony is so amazing. That's the fanboyism. I mean, look at Chad Warden. Huge PS3 nut and says that Nintendo and Microsoft have shitty games. That's true for all systems, not just Nintendo and Microsoft. So the "hating everything Sony does" just seems to be a way you perceive things. Not saying its wrong, but it's the same for every company.

 

Objection to #2:

I don't have an objection; I havent played the game yet.

 

Objection to #3:

Well, wait. I have never heard of those games before; they definitely aren't as wide known as PSAS or SSB. Not saying that this isn't a reason they haven't gotten bad credit to the same level Sony has, or that I'm a guru of games. I'm just saying these games aren't popular, so you aren't going to see a whole lot of dirt on them.

There's also a difference between these games and PSAS. They are based around a particular franchise. I mean, TMNT has a grand total of 8 characters to choose from. Small Arms has its own characters. The only hard one to debate here is Shonen Jump, but it's true; it's only Shonen Jump characters.

 

You might be thinking "So? Sony is only using its characters from its franchises, too." And you be right. They are. But the difference is, TMNT is just TMNT. Shonen Jump is just Shonen Jump. But PSBS is, well, all of Sony. Just like how Nitendo all of Nintendo. So instead of possibly creating a new series with completely new characters or a subgame to a game, they went with all of their best characters, like how Nintendo went all with theirs. Thats my take.

 

Another thing, just my own thought on Wolfenstein and stuff: the difference between an FPS and platform-fighters is that FPS is considered a genre. Platform-fighters are just us genres.

 

That's my argument, take it or leave it. It's more of an interpretation than it is an argument. I'm just simply stating p why I think fans are reacting the way they are.

[Conker]

I'm coming into this to be completely unbiased as even though I like SSB, it's not a series I can say I absolutely love.

 

Objection to #1:

I'll be honest, I see much more people hating everything Nintendo does compared to Sony. I constantly see people say how Nintendo sucks and that Sony is so amazing. That's the fanboyism. I mean, look at Chad Warden. Huge PS3 nut and says that Nintendo and Microsoft have shitty games. That's true for all systems, not just Nintendo and Microsoft. So the "hating everything Sony does" just seems to be a way you perceive things. Not saying its wrong, but it's the same for every company.

 

Objection to #2:

I don't have an objection; I havent played the game yet.

 

Objection to #3:

Well, wait. I have never heard of those games before; they definitely aren't as wide known as PSAS or SSB. Not saying that this isn't a reason they haven't gotten bad credit to the same level Sony has, or that I'm a guru of games. I'm just saying these games aren't popular, so you aren't going to see a whole lot of dirt on them.

There's also a difference between these games and PSAS. They are based around a particular franchise. I mean, TMNT has a grand total of 8 characters to choose from. Small Arms has its own characters. The only hard one to debate here is Shonen Jump, but it's true; it's only Shonen Jump characters.

 

You might be thinking "So? Sony is only using its characters from its franchises, too." And you be right. They are. But the difference is, TMNT is just TMNT. Shonen Jump is just Shonen Jump. But PSBS is, well, all of Sony. Just like how Nitendo all of Nintendo. So instead of possibly creating a new series with completely new characters or a subgame to a game, they went with all of their best characters, like how Nintendo went all with theirs. Thats my take.

 

Another thing, just my own thought on Wolfenstein and stuff: the difference between an FPS and platform-fighters is that FPS is considered a genre. Platform-fighters are just us genres.

 

That's my argument, take it or leave it. It's more of an interpretation than it is an argument. I'm just simply stating p why I think fans are reacting the way they are.

 

1. It is people being biased. Go on any Nintendo news site that made an article about the game, and watch the hate flow in the comment sections.

 

However, while the hate is still there on other news sites(more than Nintendo coverage), it is not as evident. That just helps prove there's bias, since you have less Nintendo fans roaming around to act as they do towards it.

 

(I also know its not only Nintendo fans, trust me. They're just a big contributor)

 

Anyways, I'm pretty aware that there's hate for each console, and you don't have to try and school me on such a thing.

 

2. Secondly, the reason I mentioned how it's hate for Sony, is because all people compare it to is SSB, and those other games are never brought up. Regardless of them being lesser known, I consider most of it Nintendo biased hate since comparisons are made how they are with such hate.

 

 

 

3. I'm not even remotely thinking that, because PS All-Stars doesn't only have Sony characters. It has Big Daddy, for example, a character from a third party series. And Raiden, from that new MGS game(forget the name, but it's multi platform and now being produced by a third party rather than Kojima Studios, which doesn't even stick to Sony only anymore), as well as Dante from DMC, a third party game, so it's not only Sony characters.

 

4. That's negative thinking. It doesn't matter if platform fighters aren't a main genre, it still can't be populated by one series only; that's just stupid, and it's even stupider when people chastise every new entry for bring a knock off.

 

Anyways, I'm going to join the cool people: every FPS after Wolfenstein is a shameless ripoff. Yay logic.

 

Want to make clear:

I am and always will be a Nintendo fan, I just find it ridiculous how this game is being treated.

 

-- Transmitted by an ancient satellite from across the cosmic web. Or my cellphone, if you prefer.

[Secant]

Look, all I'm saying is, PS All-Stars is adding to a genre. That's all it's doing. Every game, EVERY GAME does it

...

By the logic I see thrown around many websites and blogs I read, every game in existence is a shameless ripoff of something, and we all know that isn't true.

 

Just thought I would point out the contradiction here, you might want to amend your statement, because you seem to be saying all games add to a genre, except they don't.

 

People who are passionate about gaming are always going to be loyal to the gaming companies that make them happy, and will often try to find fault with competition because it threatens the company they love so much. It doesn't just happen in gaming, either; take just about any product with multiple manufacturers, and you'll see people compiling lists of reasons why products made by one group or another are crap.

 

That said, as to why this game in particular is getting so much crap (which I'll agree isn't really justified as the gameplay is similar but the main idea of scoring is quite different, or at least as different as it can be while fitting in the same niche genre) is because it's one really big company borrowing ideas from another really big company--news like this just can't get covered up and it spreads like wildfire, and inevitably reaches the ears of someone who fits into the mindset I described above. Essentially, just 1upping the point To Coool was making, because it's quite valid.

[Conker]

Well, yeah. I am aware new games come along, and some of them bring forth new genres, however, I was talking about games adding to already established genres.

Anyways, there's a possibility I am misunderstanding you here, since my head hurts and I'm very hungry, and have no way to deal with either of those currently, so my judgment is

kind of derped right now. In which case, can you please explain the contradiction more for me?

 

It should also be noted I wrote this topic up in a hurry when I already wasn't feeling too well, so it would be easy for me to accidentally slip in contradictions and not really realize it.

[Secant]

Look, all I'm saying is, PS All-Stars is adding to a genre. That's all it's doing. Every game, EVERY GAME does it

...

By the logic I see thrown around many websites and blogs I read, every game in existence is a shameless ripoff of something, and we all know that isn't true.

 

First line seems to suggest that every game adds to a genre without any exceptions, yet you seem to be trying to convey in the second line and several other spots throughout this thread the exact opposite, that some games do, in fact, bring something entirely new to the table rather than work in an existing genre, however small or large a niche it may be.

[Conker]

 

First line seems to suggest that every game adds to a genre without any exceptions, yet you seem to be trying to convey in the second line and several other spots throughout this thread the exact opposite, that some games do, in fact, bring something entirely new to the table rather than work in an existing genre, however small or large a niche it may be.

 

I met they add to the genre, as in, it's another entry.

 

For example: you have Medal of Honor released in the FPS genre, and then Battlefield comes out. Two new entries to add to the overall genre.

 

As for bringing things new to the table, I meant so new it can be its own genre. See, when I said "every game adds to a genre", I was talking about genres that are established and have a few/bunch of entries so far. I am full aware new, original games come along.

 

I also believe games like PS All-Stars that join a genre and bring enhancements/new features to it, shouldn't be called blatant ripoffs because the genre is so unpopulated.

 

Also, since this is, like I've made known(at least I think I did), a quickly written topic, I didn't have time to flesh it out as much as I'd like.

 

Anyways, I got my point across. At least I hope I did. xP

 

-- Transmitted by an ancient satellite from across the cosmic web. Or my cellphone, if you prefer.

[Secant]

Ah, I see what you're saying, and in that case, I would agree, but then shit like this exists.

 

 

It makes me weep. But thankfully, this is a very egregious exception, not the rule, so in more general terms, I'll drink to that, Blinx.

[Arcaith]

The main issue I have with a lot of games lately is that they stick to a genre format far too religiously, and end up fundamentally predictable. I actually like that PSAS is on the surface similar to SSB, because it then subverts expectations for people who like the genre, and who can walk away with a new experience.

 

I still don't like the design of the PS controller, though, so that's really what ruins the game for me.

 

I'm accessing by mobile, don't count on swift replies.

 

 

[Conker]

It's all a matter of preference, I guess. I love the PS controller, but that's just me.

 

Anyways, I plan to play this on the Vita, mostly.

[Niosai]

I'm deeply enjoying All-Stars...