Multisoft All-Star Overdrive

Multisoft All-Star Overdrive is the third installment in the Multisoft All-Star series of crossover fighting games, developed by a development team consisting of Bandai, Game Arts, and staff from other developers, and published by Multisoft for the Nintendo Wii U, Playstation 4, and Xbox One. This game takes a big departure from the previous two games in terms of gameplay, making this game more advanced than the others.

Gameplay
As stated before, Multisoft All-Star Overdrive departs itself from the average 2.5D-style gameplay in exchange for a 3D battle system akin to Capcom's Power Stone, though it still keeps the same system from the previous two games. Players can choose from a large selection of characters, each attempting to knock their opponents off the screen as they fight on various stages. The characters in Overdrive include most of the same ones as the predecessors, such as the well-known Thunder and Riley. The Power Gauge from the previous two games makes another comeback, but this time, it cannot be filled by attacking or taking damage. Instead, collecting items known as Flash Stones will fill the Power Gauge. Collecting five of them will completely fill the gauge, making it active to perform Flash Attacks.

The characters in Overdrive fight each other using a variety of attacks, that give the player a wider selection than the predecessors. Players execute each move by pressing a button in conjunction with a tilt of the control stick or a press of the D-pad, depending on the mode of control. In addition to basic attacks, characters have access to more powerful moves, known as smash attacks. Each character has four unique moves, which often cause effects besides damage to an opponent.

Characters can use items ranging from projectiles to melee weapons; each has a different effect on the characters around it. Although many items have returned from previous Multisoft All-Star games, new ones have been introduced as well. Some returning items have changed appearance and function. Two varieties of items, Assist Figures and Dimension Drives, temporarily summon guest characters and Dimenbeasts, respectively, that generally aid the summoner. They cannot be controlled by players and are usually invincible.

Group
In addition to the standard multiplayer mode, Overdrive features other multiplayer modes and options in Group mode. Special Evolution Mode, from the previous game, returns as Special Overdrive Mode. In this mode, players are able to battle in matches using special rules for a greater level of customization. Whereas previously standard options such as "Giant Fight" or "Stealth Fight" were limited to one feature per match, players may now select multiple options for a single match. Another returning game type, Tourney mode, enables players to create an elimination-based tournament, where up to 32 players can play, with a large number of game-controlled or human-controlled opponents. A "Rotation" feature has been introduced in Overdrive, which allows up to sixteen players to compete in sequence by switching out winners or losers after each round.

Solo
Like its predecessors, Multisoft All-Star Overdrive includes various modes of play from the previous game designed for a single player. Arcade Mode is obviously a classical approach to the game, in which players fight individual characters in a selected order. Each match features an arena or opponent from a particular series, such as Re;LiVE or Dimenbeasts. Several matches have a unique battle condition, such as a metal opponent, large opponent or a two-on-two team battle. Similar to Arcade Mode are Legend Mode and Boss Attack Mode, where the player has only one life to defeat all of the playable characters and bosses, respectively.

Overdrive features Missions, which are matches with predetermined battle conditions such as defeating opponents within a time limit or reaching a specific goal. New to single-player mode, each of the 41 Events has five difficulty levels, with a distinct high score recorded for each. In addition to the normal set of 41 Events played with a single player, a smaller set of 21 two-player Events is included.

Stadium mode is a collection of objective-oriented minigames, or small games within the game. Returning from the two previous games is the "Target Test!" minigame, in which the player must break ten targets as quickly as possible. Additionally, items scattered across the stage are available for use. In the Frenzy Attack, the player must defeat Frenzy and its clones in a specific time limit, only possible with the use of a Frenzy Gun. Updated from Evolution, all Stadium mode mini games feature cooperative or competitive multiplayer.

Adventure Mode: The Twilight Empress
Multisoft All-Star Overdrive features a new Adventure mode titled "The Twilight Empress" (TTE). This mode features unique character storylines and numerous side-scrolling levels and bosses to fight, as well as cut scenes (animated by White Fox) explaining the plot. TTE introduces a group of antagonists called the Twilight Army, who are led by the Primordial Lord. Some of these enemy characters appeared in previous Multisoft video games, such as Sludge Chimera from the Petropolis series. TTE boasts a number of original enemies, such as the Dragbike, a robotic unicycle; the Clonoid, a one-eyed, ball-like creature which can replicate itself if left alone; and the Neandark, enemies that fight with a variety of weapons. Though the game is primarily played as a single-player mode, cooperative multiplayer is available. This mode features a mechanism which strengthens the selected character's abilities. They are in the form of collectible sketches that can be applied to the base of the player's character trophies.

Unlike other game modes, TTE has a team system for the characters, with a limited choice of characters at the beginning of the mode. Others join the team as the game progresses, while some characters may leave the team temporarily. Most characters start off with their own teams, but the teams merge occasionally until they become a unified team by the end of the game. In cooperative multi-player, once one player loses a life, an ally can take his or her place until the number of lives run out. If there are no lives left and player one is defeated, the game is interrupted, with the choice of starting again from the previous "door" the player passed through or quitting.

Vault
Returning from Evolution are figures of video game characters and objects that give brief histories or descriptions of their subjects, such as Thunder and Sammy, or other characters and items that appear in their respective series. A minigame, the Figure Ball, replaces the lottery machine from Evolution as the primary method of obtaining trophies. The Figure Ball is a machine that acts like a pinball machine, like Multisoft's pinball games from the past, with figures occasionally appearing on the board. Coins can be used to bet on the victor of online battles via Spectator mode. Figures unavailable in Figure Ball mode are obtained by using an item called the Figure Stand on weakened enemy characters and bosses within The Twilight Empress. Figures obtained in this manner may contain information on the backstory of the Twilight Empress.

In addition to figures, players can now collect sketches of video game artwork. Players can place sketches and figures onto virtual backgrounds and take snapshots, which can be sent to other players via internet. Sketches can be applied to characters to power up their abilities during the Twilight Emperor.

Other sketches or figures which cannot be collected through the Figure Ball minigame, Twilight Emperor, or Vs. matches can be unlocked from the Challenges menu, an interactive display which catalogs unlocked features and items in gridded windows. Once a window has been broken and its contents are unlocked, horizontally adjacent windows display the conditions necessary to unlock them.

Overdrive contains remakes of several Multisoft games, named "Tales", which mostly feature characters playable in Overdrive. Along with Tales comes the inclusion of the Chronicles section, a library of previous Multisoft games which lists games either previously made or published by Multisoft on the consoles. New games appear when certain characters, figures or sketches related to the game are unlocked.

On that note, Overdrive includes an original video animation (OVA) animated by White Fox titled "Twilight Origins." This OVA explains the creation of the Gilbots, Lunar Cells and the Twilight Cage, as well as the events prior to the game's main story mode.

List of characters
Multisoft All-Star Overdrive allows the player to select from 38 characters. Some are new, but others return from Evolution—in some cases updated or refined, either in appearance, fighting capabilities, or both. For example, Sammy and Riley have adopted original designs exclusive to this game. While Walter and Rayne are the first two characters to not return from a previous game (despite still appearing as sketches or figures), one noticeable surprise is that the protagonist of the previous two games, Hina Frost, has also been removed. Malik Brooks, the creator and founder of Multisoft, said that he purposely removed Hina from the roster to make a type of saga, in which "Hina Frost no longer leads the Multisoft heroes, but is instead against them in a different form." Wataru Kanzuki, the character from Multisoft x Cartoon Network, takes her place.

Some previously represented series have had more characters added to Overdrive. Subaru Whisker of the Petropolis series and Katsuro of the Red X series make their first appearance in the Multisoft All-Star series. Other newcomers are the first to represent their series. These include characters such as Sol Drake, representing Velvet Hunters for the first time since its arcade-only release, Frederick of Demon's Tale, Red of the Red the Dragon series, and Quinn Bearton of R-Bear Trigger. A new original character, known as Gilbot, is also one of said newcomers. DC's Batman, Dragon Ball's Son Goku, and Joe Shimamura of Cyborg 009 are the first third-party characters to appear in the Multisoft All-Star series.

Veterans

 * Thunder Storminski (Petropolis)
 * Julie Vixen (Petropolis)
 * Zero One (Petropolis)
 * Sammy Porter (Re;LiVE)
 * Anna Rivers (Re;LiVE)
 * Kanae Tsumiki (Re;LiVE)
 * Meika Negai (Crown of Flowers)
 * Rook (Realm Souls)
 * Len (Realm Souls)
 * Riley Jays (Star Maidens)
 * Byron Turner (Alien Killer)
 * George Fields (Awakening Fear)
 * Lisa Welsh (Awakening Fear)
 * Jin Arson (Final Edge)
 * Nugget & Tender (Nugget the Chicken)

Newcomers
Subaru Whisker: A former scientist and current leader of the Chimera Army. Since the Chimera King's death, he did everything in his power to fulfill his wish: to conquer the world. Whisker uses his katana in most of his normal attacks, but can summon chimeras in his specials. (Flash Attack: Chimera Berserker)

Sol Drake: A red-haired teen who is the descendant of Suzaku. Along with Lee, Faye, and Guy, he helped a woman named Kristi defeat a race of demons called Velvets. Most of Sol's attacks are close-ranged, but he still excels in defense. (Flash Attack: Phoenix Rage)

Kimez: Also known as The Fifth, he is one of the Thirteen Leagues that work for Zorgan. Eventually he knew Zorgan's plan and betrayed the Leagues to help Kozor, the Void of Rook. Kimez uses his chakram in most of his attacks. (Flash Attack: Fire Dash)

Quinn: A bear-demon who binges on pizza and is an otaku. But despite this, he notoriously fought against terrorists who want to return to their former way of life. Quinn is the slowest character in the game, but he has greater attack power. (Flash Attack: Demon Quinn)

Frederick: A demon summoner who once saved the world from a potential disaster. In order to do this, he used the gems of Blake, Mia, Hanzo, and Riley required for summoning. Frederick uses these four demons in all of his specials, but he can perform his own magic, too. (Flash Attack: Apocalypse)

Leonard: A lion beastman from an alternate version of Earth, where beastmen replace humans as the dominant species. With the help of other beastmen, including a human child, he stopped Xavier from using the gods as a mean for extinction. Leonard basically fights with his claws. (Flash Attack: Lion's Rage)

Arc & Louise: Arc was a dog beastman whose spirit resides in a dog owned by Louise. The two worked together to stop Leonard from using the Beast Soul for his own purposes, even if it meant defeating others. While Arc does most of the fighting, he can call in Louise to help assist him. (Flash Attack: Spiritual Eruption)

Lucia Stacey: One of the surviving members of the Spatial Syndicate, a group that hunts down alien zombies. She relied on most of her survival skills to fight against the alien zombies on a distant planet. Lucia uses the weapons she uses in her origin game. (Flash Attack: Spaceship Blaster)

Red: An anthropomorphic dragon who questioned why he was living among humans. However, he became known as a hero for saving his kingdom from many evil forces. Red is the only character that can fly for a longer time after jumping. (Flash Attack: Flame Shower)

Kai: A normal boy who was sent to the Beast Dimension. With his two Dimenbeast partners (Rick the Tyragon and Daisy the Draiden), he manages to save himself throughout his strange journey. Kai uses his Dimenbeasts to fight for him, and he can switch to one of them anytime. (Flash Attack: Cyborg Tyragon/Queen Draiden (depends on which Dimenbeast is present))

Veterans

 * Bolt Cinnastar (Petropolis)
 * Metalium (Re;LiVE)
 * Christie Reynolds (Star Maidens)
 * Zalon (Dragon World)
 * Blue Seal (Red X)
 * Lizzie (Li'l Stacker)
 * Gen Hiroto (Sky Cutter: Mecha Legends)
 * Super Shooter (Super Shot)

Newcomers
Gilbot: A new original character for this game. One of a series robots made by Hina long before her disappearance, Gilbot was created to follow his creator's very orders, which led to him being the Primordial Lord. Gilbot has a special type of moveset which almost copies some of the cast's movesets. (Flash Attack: Matter Laser)

Ralph Marks: A young boy who was killed by the Zerobytes, but was revived by Mia's son Mylo. Given a scythe to fight back, he joined other revived humans to defeat the Zerobytes. Ralph is a lightweight character that can be bound to jumping off stage via misuse. (Flash Attack: Red Bombs)

Gin: A reincarnation of the Space Emperor Adi. He was born to hate the Star Maidens for killing his successor, so he took it upon himself to defeat the Star Maidens for his personal revenge. Gin is the only character that can levitate across the stages. (Flash Attack: Silver Meteor)

Katsuro: Blue Seal's rival who is the co-leader of bandits in the Crimson Desert. He also assisted Blue Seal in defeating the daughter of the previous Black Rider, who is said to have been revived. Katsuro is slower than his adversary, but his sword skills make up for his lack of speed. (Flash Attack: Dust Slashes)

Tina: A tanuki beastman who is a kunoichi searching for her long lost twin brother. She was with the human hero to lift the despair off the alternate world and stop the gods from destroying it. Tina wields a large shuriken during battle, and is considered the quickest next to Ralph. (Flash Attack: Leaf Technique: Mirage Slice)

Takumi: A young boy who was experimented on his arm by Ficts, but escaped from them the moment they were about to run more tests. The remnant got to the rest of his body, but Asuna managed to snap him out of it. Takumi can use his Remnant arm to lock onto his opponents. (Flash Attack: Fict Armor)

Batman: A guest character from DC's Batman series. He is a vigilante who has saved Gotham City from countless threats. Batman plays as he does in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and Injustice: Gods Among Us, where he uses most of his gadgets. (Flash Attack: Batplane)

Son Goku: A guest character from Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball series. A Saiyan raised in the planet Earth, he fought against many villains, even those that were from different planets. Goku plays as if he was in the Dragon Ball Z fighting games. (Flash Attack: Super Saiyan 1)

Joe Shimamura: A guest character from Shotaro Ishinomori's Cyborg 009 series. One of the nine cyborgs created by the organization Black Ghost, he led the other escaped cyborgs against the organization, and also took on other evil beings. Joe can use his super-speed, among his other abilities, to fight. (Flash Attack: Cyborgs Assemble!)

Bosses

 * God King (Multisoft All-Star)
 * Goddess Queen (Multisoft All-Star)
 * Sludge Chimera (Petropolis 12)
 * Kikaigon (Dimenbeasts)
 * Gorgon the Snake (Red the Dragon)
 * Torubog (Rebirth of Life)
 * Skull Torubog (Rebirth of Life)
 * Cyborg 0011 (Cyborg 009)
 * Tuturibomber: A giant turtle robot that is built like a tank. Gen, Leonard, and Len were the first to witness him across the desert. Tuturibomber can shift from his tank form to his monster form, which he uses to fight. In his tank form, he is much more compact, only being able to attack by either firing the missiles on his back, or simply by ramming into his foe at a high speed. He is also quite agile in his simian form, capable of performing extremely large jumps, leading to the possibility that his jumps are jet propelled.
 * Chromia: A robot formed from the Super Shooter clones. They were formed right after Joe knocked the Super Shooter clones out of the Falship's control room. Chromia's armor is comprised of, like its namesake, chrome, making less damage. It has a weakpoint in its chest that can be revealed after tiring it out a few times. It rotates 180 degrees to change its attack strategy. The wheels it pivots on are the Yin and Yang symbols from Chinese belief, symbolizing balance and juxtaposition of two forces.
 * Rebus: the leader of the Twilight Cage, the main antagonist and final boss of The Twilight Empress. Her plan was to cut World of Multisoft into pieces and take them to the Twilight Cage for her world. However, she herself cannot leave the Twilight Cage, which is why she created the Twilight Army to act in his stead. Rebus took over the Primordial Islands, the home of the Gilbots, and forced them to serve her under the threat of annihilation. Rebus first discovered that Super Shooter had Lunar Cells in him, so she captured him to harness the power, and thus the Twilight Army was created. Rebus studied and took control of the master of the Multisoft world, God King, who enlisted the help of Metalium, Subaru Whisker, Zero One, Kimez, and Quinn (who only served because he did not want to die). These five would track down any fighters that would stand in the way of Rebus' ambitions. It was later revealed that Rebus was originally Hina Frost, the protagonist of the previous two games, forced to succumb to the Lunar Cells she harnessed upon entering the Twilight Cage. (explained in the OVA)

Stages
There are 42 stages in the game, 32 stages which are new to the game and 10 stages returning, enhanced, from Multisoft All-Star Evolution.

New stages

 * Battlefield (Original)
 * End of the World (Original)
 * Kingdom Hills (Petropolis 10)
 * Bronze Beachside (Petropolis Battle Nexus)
 * Future Streets (Petropolis DASH!)
 * Chimera Airship (Petropolis 7)
 * Windmill Island (Petropolis 12)
 * Gregory's Mansion (Crown of Flowers)
 * Centipede Street (Awakening Fear 2)
 * Fear Castle (Awakening Fear 2)
 * Ghoul's Pyramid (Re;LiVE)
 * Zygote City (Re;LiVE 2)
 * Drejen Nest (Alien Killer 2)
 * Wilkop's Cave (Alien Killer 2)
 * Paradox Tower (Realm Souls Memory Link)
 * Maidens' War (Star Maidens Astra)
 * Edge Tower (Final Edge)
 * Angelic Isles (Dimenbeasts)
 * Silver Airport (Red X: The Return)
 * Hell's Castle (Red the Dragon)
 * Pin Park (Nugget & Tender)
 * Town Siege (Beastman's Requiem)
 * Super Shot + (Super Shot +)
 * Velvet Block Party (Velvet Hunters)
 * Terrorist Area (R-Bear Trigger)
 * Black Forests (Demon's Tale)
 * Lively Town (My Life)
 * Burning Streets (Burning Streets)
 * Chill's Puzzle Palace (Chill the Jester)
 * Gotham City (Batman)
 * Planet Namek (Dragon Ball Z)
 * Black Ghost Lab (Cyborg 009)

Evolution stages

 * Miracle Kingdom (Petropolis 3)
 * Tangled City (Crown of Flowers)
 * Bryce's Cathedral (Awakening Fear)
 * President River's Building (Re;LiVE)
 * Planet 43 Triax (Alien Killer)
 * Cross City (Realm Souls)
 * Uniplus Central (Star Maidens)
 * Enemy Airship (Final Edge)
 * Azure Fields (Red X)
 * Kiryu (Dragon World)