When PlayStation All-Stars was announced earlier this week, my first thought jumped to the multitude of characters Sony has to work with on this. When Nintendo released their very similar (sh, copyright enforcer guys) Super Smash Bros., they played to their strengths by including iconic characters like Mario, Link and Pikachu. And Jigglypuff. Sony has the opportunity to do the same. Will they capitalise? I've left out the obvious ones in this list, like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro and Sackboy. Here's my list of characters I'd like to see included – however unlikely they might be.
6: Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem)
When you combine Rambo and Oscar Wilde, you'll get a lot of things. Duke Nukem is not one of them. With eternal catchphrases like "Now you see me…now you're dead,” and "You're an inspiration for birth-control!” Nukem was never the epitome of articulation. But if you wanted ass kicked, he was absolutely the man to go to. Having appeared in numerous PlayStation adventures, Nukem is definitely not an impossible candidate for All-Star status.
5: Cole MacGrath (inFamous)
The obvious choice for an Smash Bros./Street Fighter hybrid is a character who is either a martial artist, or an unlikely anti-hero with some sort of superpower. I've opted for the latter here, as Cole is a lowly bike messenger who is gifted (or cursed with) the power to unleash bolts of electricity upon his foes. He's like Pikachu with a tortured past and a dead girlfriend. Unfortunately Sucker Punch, the developers behind inFamous, already have another of their characters in the game in Sly Cooper, which makes Cole's inclusion seem unlikely. Thankfully we still have Sly. Sly Cooper. A raccoon. Yeah. Good choice.
4: Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)
Obviously. He's an icon, he's from the most successful RPG of all time, let alone on the PlayStation. There aren't a whole lot of villains I can compare him to; he's like a cross between Voldemort, Mr Hyde and Death Adder. He can use magic, summon entities from another realm, blow stuff up, and generally be the epitome of evil. Surrounded by an aura of mystery, his mother is the result of a genetic experimentation by an evil corporation. He has the world's most badass theme music. And he carries a sword twice the size of his body. Let's see Parappa the Rapper rhyme his way out of that one.
The chances of a Final Fantasy character straying into the mix are quite good, as Sony have said they will be including a number of 3rd party characters in the game. Fingers crossed they'll go with Sephiroth, or even Cloud. As long as it's not Sora from Kingdom Hearts. We want to see decapitated enemies, not family-friendly Disney keyblades.
3: Sir Daniel Fortesque (MediEvil)
This one I think could actually be included. Although the MediEvil series has faded to the background in recent years, Sir Dan is one of the Sony characters with the best shelf-life. Probably because he's dead. Through the course of his adventures beyond the grave he obtains a plethora of weaponry, including his own limbs, and manages to be funny without saying a word. He's arena-combat material for sure.
2: Tomba (Tomba!)
One of the first video-games I can ever remember playing, Tomba was seriously weird. He jumped around smacking pigs in the face or leaping on them throwing them into walls. Imagine a boy with pink hair, green shorts and the strangest battle cries ever (HWOYAAH!) throwing Kratos into a wall. Brilliant.
1: Raiden (Metal Gear)
At first, nobody liked Raiden. He came into the Metal Gear series as a protagonist, replacing Solid Snake for the first time. That's sort of like making you play as the less-awesome son of John Marston in Red Dead Redemption, which surely no one would ever…oh…wait…
Regardless, Raiden more than redeemed himself in Metal Gear Solid 4, where he is a seemingly invincible ninja. He gets stabbed in the heart like 1200 times, THEN has a 15-minute swordfight with a vampire. He gets run over by a boat and cuts his own arm off, THEN fights off a squad of enemies. Using his sword. In his mouth. Sorry, why wouldn't we want him to be in this game?
It's pretty tough to keep the list of characters down – like I said, Sony has a lot of material to work with.
Which characters do you want to see battling it out in the All-Stars arena?