PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is Sony's take on the Super Smash Bros. formula; Sony and Nintendo are among the few companies that have a strong enough IP backlog to make the formula work. The mobile version for PlayStation Vita is not a second-rate version of the console title, reiterated the official PlayStation Blog.

"The only separation between the two versions is where players choose to play, not which platform," Bluepoint Games senior producer Daryl Allison added. Mobile Players can go online and play against PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita players, or players can play on the console and resume on the Vita. The point is to allow the games to interchange, whether playing with friends or alone. Arcade mode, online play, player progression, unlockables, and customization are included in the mobile counterpart.  

The game also runs at 60 frames-per-second on Vita, despite the weaker hardware. For a fighting game, smooth movement is probably essential.

"Running at 60FPS is as much for the smoothness of the game as for the controls. It's important that there are no advantages (or disadvantages) due to the different hardware," the blog post continues to read. It may be interesting to see how the developers cope with a smaller screen and if that impacts visibility. More objects on levels will mean a packed screen, so developers need to find a delicate balace.

Buying the PlayStation 3 version also gets users the Vita version for free, Bluepoint Games confirmed. The studio's previous experience is in remastering titles ICO and Metal Gear Solid in the high definition (HD) collection Sony released.

Nintendo is following a similar approach with Super Smash Bros. Wii U, building a Nintendo 3DS and Wii U version. Cross-platform competitive play would seem like a logical addition. Earlier in the year Microsoft's Phil Spencer, from Sony, was asked if it would bring a Smash Bros.-esque title out. The answer was a resounding "no." Having multiple Master Chiefs on screen concurrently would probably wear thin.

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale launches this fall. A beta is launching soon with wider availability than August's beta, though no date is announced.