Developer: Ludosity, Fair Play Labs, Ludosity AB
Publisher: GameMill Entertainment, Maximum Games
Platform: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Switch
Tested on: PS5
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl – Review
We were quite skeptical when we saw the announcement trailer for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, but we decided to give the game a fair chance anyway. The game didn’t hide that it took the main components of Nintendo’s Smash Bros series, to then of course replace the roster of characters with Nickelodeon-branded characters. We already saw this in 2018 with the release of Nickelodeon Kart Racers, which proved to be a horrible Mario Kart clone. Nonetheless, in 2020, the sequel, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix, proved to be a fairly enjoyable experience. This gave us a modicum of hope when it came to Nickelodeon’s own Smash Bros clone.
Story
All-Star Brawl doesn’t come with any notion of a story. There is no real background information to be found of any of the characters, and outside of a dialogue box with the same sentence over and over again in the Arcade mode, there is nothing to be found that could hint at a story or the franchise your chosen character comes from. We believe, especially for a younger audience, this game could have benefited from a fun story where the worlds of the different Nickelodeon characters collided.
Graphics
The graphics of the game aren’t too bad to be honest. Considering this is a multi-platform release, the character models look decent, and even the arenas are designed nicely. We do find that everything has an air of simplicity around it, but that is to be expected from characters that are mostly directed towards children (except for Ren & Stimpy perhaps). We did spot a fair few clipping errors and some janky animations here and there, but as a whole, the game offers what it’s supposed to offer. We would have liked more skill animations, as these are very bland and sometimes make it seem as if you’re not using any special skill at all.
Sound
Just like the graphical design of the game, the sound department consists out of basic tunes and a very simplistic design. The background music is okayish, but it doesn’t really stand out or linger after you’ve shut down the game. While there is an announcer who shouts a word or two during the selection screen or when you knock someone out of the arena, we do regret that the characters are not properly voiced. You have all these iconic characters thrown into a heated free-for-all, for all of them to be silent, safe for the sound effects that come with their skills. This feels like a huge missed opportunity, and like a poor attempt to make sure the publisher didn’t lose its license to make Nickelodeon games, while also not wanting to invest in the actual game.
Gameplay
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is a fighting game much like Nintendo’s Smash Bros games. Nickelodeon has composed a roster of fighters from its most famous IPs and has put them together in a hectic brawler setting. You’ll just be able to play one match after another, be it alone, or as a team, to come out on top. You can opt to play standard matches where you have a set amount of lives, or you can choose a time limit or even pick sporty variants. The latter is basically still the same as the normal game, but you also need to score points by kicking a ball through a hoop, and so on. As the game doesn’t have anything to unlock except for some artwork and music, you’ll have all the fighters already unlocked from the start.
Besides the fact that there is nothing for you to unlock outside the aforementioned items, we also feel the character roster is somewhat bland and the controls just feel off. There’s a proper foundation present, but we feel like the hitboxes are not precise, the overall moves are a bit peculiar and don’t pack a proper punch, and even certain stronger attacks seemingly do absolutely nothing.
Conclusion
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has a lot of untapped potential. We mainly hope that this game gets a lot more characters added to its roster, an overhaul of the clunky controls and hitboxes, and perhaps a rework of many special moves (and their animations). We feel like this full-priced release is more a Beta than it is a full game. While we did enjoy seeing some characters appear in a free-for-all setting, we also regret the exclusion of many more and the fact that they are being used as a shameless cash grab. We hope All-Star Brawl also gets some much-needed love and care, turning it into something truly worth playing via an update. We saw a huge difference in quality between the first Kart Racer game and its sequel, so we know the developers are more than capable to make it happen.
No Comments