Wait-- 'Nickelodeon All-Stars Brawl' Actually Looks Good

When Nickelodeon announced a platform fighter in July, the internet was understandably skeptical. Unfortunately, the history of games made for existing products is long and, to put it mildly, pretty fraught:

And in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl’s case, there were two fandoms to fail, A) those of their iconic shows and B) the rabid fans of platform fighters, most notably Super Smash Bros. fans.

I wouldn’t want to piss off Smash fans; one of them threw a crab at Hungrybox.

But as we approach its October 5th release date, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl looks to be masterfully walking this tightrope. Rather than collaborating with any old white-glove gaming studio, Nintendo sought out Ludosity, a gaming studio that had already earned the respect of the platform fighter community with their game Slap City. 

Slap City is regularly played at Smash Bros. tournament and honors the contributions that Smash Bros. made to the genre without completely ripping off one of Nintendo’s darlings. Ludosity has done a lot to ensure that fans of the genre will be satisfied, even including wave dashing, a fan-favorite movement technique for gliding quickly across the ground and being able to use your attacks. However, they’ve also added a lot of their own twists, allowing projectiles to be easily reflected by any character and even grabbed out of the air the same way you would grab an opponent. From casual gamers who enjoy the chaotic nature of Smash on their couches to tournament legends like Mew2King, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl looks to be making every platform fighter fan happy.

Which just leaves the Nickelodeon fans to satisfy. There were doubts about what the lineup could or should be, which characters needed to be in, and which should never be included-- all of which were put to rest when the starting lineup leaked earlier this month. From classics like Spongebob and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to obscure choices like Oblina (Aaahh!!! Real Monsters) and Powdered Toast Man (Ren & Stimpy), the devs have a great sampling from the Nickelodeon roster. Personally, I’m absolutely stoked to play as Avatars Aang and Korra (and to grab their projectiles out of the air with Reptar).

Finally, fans wondered if this game would have legs or if it would be a flash in the pan game that we’d forget in a year or two. Ludosity CEO Joel Nyström laid those fears to rest, telling Kotaku, “Nickelodeon is absolutely on board with having the game be competitively viable That’s been in the conversation from the start. That’s why they came to us.”

Overall, Nick All-Stars is looking to be a promising new entry in the platform fighter genre. With fans wondering if this is going to be another Smash clone, Ludosity is proving that- NO. THIS IS PATRICK.

Top Image: GameMill Entertainment