Honestly, if you were around in 2012, you remember the hype. Sony was finally doing it. They were making "the Smash killer." We all sat there with our PS3 controllers, waiting for the PlayStation battle royale roster to drop, thinking we’d finally see Crash Bandicoot punch Kratos in the face.
But then the list came out. And man, it was... complicated.
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Look, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale wasn't a bad game. It actually had some of the tightest combat mechanics of that era. But when people talk about the roster today, it’s usually with a mix of "Oh, I loved playing as Sir Dan" and "Wait, why was Fat Princess there instead of Spyro?"
The Fighters That Actually Made the Cut
The final PlayStation battle royale roster ended up with 24 characters if you count the DLC. It’s a weirdly eclectic group. You had the heavy hitters you’d expect—Kratos from God of War, Nathan Drake from Uncharted, and Sackboy from LittleBigPlanet. Those were the "no-brainers."
Then you had the deep cuts. Like, Sir Daniel Fortesque from MediEvil. That was a win for the 90s kids.
The Full Playable Lineup
Basically, here is who you could actually play as:
- Big Daddy (BioShock) – A weird choice since he’s not strictly Sony, but he was a tank.
- Cole MacGrath (inFamous) – They actually gave us two versions: Hero Cole and Evil Cole. This took up two slots, which kind of annoyed people.
- Dante (DmC: Devil May Cry) – This was the "reboot" Dante with the black hair, not the classic white-haired Dante we all knew. Major controversy there.
- Fat Princess – A cult classic, but maybe not an "All-Star" to everyone.
- Heihachi Mishima (Tekken) – A legend. You can't have a Sony brawler without Tekken.
- Jak and Daxter – They fought as a duo, which was handled pretty well.
- Kat & Dusty (Gravity Rush) – She was DLC, and honestly, one of the most fun characters to move around with.
- Mael Radec (Killzone) – If you liked zoning people out with guns, he was your guy.
- Nariko (Heavenly Sword) – A deep cut from the early PS3 days.
- PaRappa the Rapper – You gotta believe.
- Raiden (Metal Gear Rising) – Not Snake. We got Raiden.
- Ratchet & Clank – Another iconic duo.
- Sly Cooper – Stealthy, annoying to fight, and perfectly realized.
- Spike (Ape Escape) – The OG PlayStation mascot for a lot of us.
- Sweet Tooth (Twisted Metal) – The face of the game for many.
- Toro Inoue – Sony’s Japanese mascot. Most Americans had no clue who he was.
- Isaac Clarke (Dead Space) – Added as DLC later.
- Emmett Graves (Starhawk) – Also DLC.
- Zeus (God of War) – Because one God of War character wasn't enough?
The "Almost" Fighters and the Great Leak
You want to hear something crazy? The entire PlayStation battle royale roster leaked way before the game launched. Someone found files in the beta, and the mystery was gone instantly.
But the real tragedy isn't what was in the game—it’s what was left out. For years, rumors have swirled about characters that were supposed to be there. We know for a fact that Dart from The Legend of Dragoon and Abe from Oddworld were being worked on as DLC before Sony pulled the plug on SuperBot Entertainment.
Imagine Dart in a modern fighting game. His "Dragoon" transformation would have been a perfect Level 3 Super. Instead, we got the files, a few pieces of concept art, and a lot of "what ifs."
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Why the Roster Felt "Off" to Some Fans
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about why this roster didn't hit the same way Smash Bros. did. It boils down to identity.
In Smash, every character feels like a pillar of gaming history. In the PlayStation battle royale roster, you had characters like Colonel Radec and Fat Princess standing next to Kratos. It felt like Sony was trying to promote their current PS3 games rather than celebrating their entire history.
The lack of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon was the biggest blow. At the time, Activision owned them, and apparently, the deals just couldn't get done. It's ironic because, in 2026, we see these characters crossing over everywhere, but back then, licensing was a nightmare.
And don't even get me started on "Donte." Using the reboot version of Dante instead of the classic Devil May Cry version was a choice that felt very "corporate synergy" and not very "fan service."
The Combat System: A Blessing and a Curse
You couldn't just knock people off the stage. That’s the thing most people forget. To get a kill, you had to build up your "AP" meter by landing hits and then use a Super Move.
- Level 1 Super: Usually a small, short-range attack. Hard to land.
- Level 2 Super: A bigger AOE or a transformation.
- Level 3 Super: A cinematic board-wipe. Think Sackboy turning everyone into prize bubbles.
This meant the PlayStation battle royale roster had to be balanced differently. If your Level 1 Super was bad, you were a bad character. Period. Characters like Raiden and Kratos were monsters because their supers were easy to connect. Meanwhile, poor Big Daddy struggled to catch anyone with his drill.
Is a Sequel Ever Coming?
It’s 2026, and the rumors won't die. We’ve seen Sony’s new heavy hitters like Aloy from Horizon, Jin Sakai from Ghost of Tsushima, and even Astro Bot. If Sony ever decided to revive this series, the roster potential is insane now.
Think about it. You could have:
- Aloy using her bow for long-range zoning.
- Ellie from The Last of Us using stealth and brick throws.
- Selene from Returnal with some bullet-hell mechanics.
- Venom or Spider-Man (if the Marvel licensing gods allow it).
The biggest hurdle is always going to be that "Smash Clone" label. But if they leaned into the "Battle Royale" aspect—maybe making it a 10-player chaotic brawl—they might finally find their own lane.
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How to Enjoy the Roster Today
If you still have a PS3 or a Vita tucked away in a drawer, the game is still playable. The servers are mostly a ghost town, but the local multiplayer is still a blast for a nostalgia night.
- Try the DLC: If you bought it back in the day, Kat and Isaac Clarke are arguably the best-designed characters in the game.
- Master the "Supers": Don't just mash buttons. Learn which attacks "confirm" into a Level 1 Super. For Kratos, it’s his overhead chain slam.
- Explore the Stages: The stages were actually the best part. They were "mash-ups" where two games collided. Like a God of War stage being invaded by Patapons. It was chaotic and brilliant.
The PlayStation battle royale roster might have been a bit of a mess, but it was our mess. It represented a specific era of Sony—ambitious, slightly disjointed, and weirdly experimental. Even if we never get a sequel, seeing Sir Daniel and Parappa share a screen was a moment in gaming history that we probably won't see again anytime soon.
Next Steps for You
- Check your PSN library: See if you ever claimed the free "Cross-Buy" version for the Vita.
- Look up the Dart DLC concept art: It’ll make you sad for what could have been, but the design was incredible.
- Fire up a local match: Seriously, grab three friends and play as four Sackboys. It is pure, unadulterated chaos.
The legacy of these fighters lives on in the "Small World" of PlayStation Easter eggs found in games like Astro's Playroom, but for many of us, the arena is where they truly belonged.