Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has a strong core to it– it’s just a shame that that core is surrounded by unpolished gameplay elements and a harsh lack of content. With further support and polish, All-Star Brawl could be a fun Smash Bros. alternative, but for now, it’s just short of that.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
Developer: Ludosity
Price: $40
Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch (reviewed,) and PC
MonsterVine was provided with a Switch code for review
Like many people, I grew up watching classic Nickelodeon cartoons. From Spongebob to Rugrats, you couldn’t pry me away from the TV when Nick’s wonderfully weird cartoons were playing. Even as a teenager I watched a ludicrous amount of Ren & Stimpy and Rocko’s Modern Life. So when I heard of a Nickelodeon Smash Bros. game, I was cautiously excited. The Nickelodeon Racing game from last year was pretty enjoyable, so maybe we’d strike gold twice. We struck bronze, I’d say, as the base of All-Star Brawl is surprisingly deep, it’s just everything else that sticks out as a tad rough.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl features Smash Bros. combat where you try to knock a character off the stage using a number of different attacks. Hitting your opponent increases their damage percentage, making it easier to smack them away. It’s your standard party fighter gameplay, and All-Star Brawl does it quite well. Hits feel satisfying, and knocking players away makes you feel like a master. There are even advanced techniques like wavedashing, which goes to show how much work Ludosity put into the fighting in All-Star Brawl. Hell, the online mode even has rollback netcode, making for a largely smooth online experience. The gameplay of All-Star Brawl overall is a bit floaty, but still quite impressive.
Each character has three attack buttons that change depending on the direction held and can be used to create diverse combos. Each character feels different, and has moves that are accurate to their television personas. The roster is pretty well-fleshed out, even if the lack of Jimmy Neutron could be considered a criminal offence. Pretty much every era of Nickelodeon is at least partially represented, making it so that players of any age will have someone nostalgic to play as.
“[…] the collective cries of “that’s so weird!” and “whoa, you can be them?” solidifies the party atmosphere that games like this thrive at providing.“
All-Star Brawl is best played with friends, as that’s where the multiplayer madness truly shines. Knocking around your friends with all sorts of insanity happening on-screen is a blast, and the collective cries of “that’s so weird!” and “whoa, you can be them?” solidifies the party atmosphere that games like this thrive at providing.
Unfortunately, there’s very little content in All-Star Brawl. It’s inevitable that this game draws comparisons to Smash Bros., but it’s in All-Star Brawl’s breadth of extras that the comparison is the most stark. Outside of a couple pieces of artwork and the tracks used throughout the game, there’s little incentive to do any single player modes. There’s no vault of models, challenges, or bonuses to unlock, which makes Arcade mode feel a bit pointless. There aren’t really other modes outside of Arcade either for those who want to play alone, so the game ends up feeling quite empty.
I’m of two minds when it comes to the visuals of All-Star Brawl. Some of the models, like Ren, Stimpy, and Catdog, reflect their original art styles wonderfully with expressive animations that feel lifted from the show. On the other hand, models like Danny Phantom and the Avatar characters look lifeless and stiff. I know it’s tough to condense so many drastically different art styles into one unified look for this kind of game, but some of the models are truly creepy.
The music for each stage is fine and fits each theme, but the lack of voice-acting is a major misstep. These are some of the most colorful and hyperactive characters in the animation industry, so not hearing them say anything or make any form of noise while battling isn’t just eerie– it’s a huge wasted opportunity.
The Final Word
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has the potential to be great, it just doesn’t quite reach that level. What’s there is pretty good, but the lack of polish and small amount of content makes All-Star Brawl fall short of the excellent party fighter that it could be. Hopefully, the devs continue to support the game and polish it as time goes on, as it could be a diamond in the rough given a bit more time in the oven.
MonsterVine Rating: 3 out of 5 – Average
