''Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl'' is a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...

developed by Swedish developer Ludosity and Costa Rican developer Fair Play Labs, and published by GameMill Entertainment. It is the first

console game A console game is a type of video game consisting of images and often sounds generated by a video game console, which are displayed on a television or similar audio-video system, and that can be manipulated by a player. This manipulation usually ...

in the ''

Nickelodeon Super Brawl ''Nickelodeon Super Brawl'', or simply ''Nickelodeon Brawl'' is a series of crossover fighting video games that began on Nick.com. The games feature characters from various Nickelodeon shows (mainly the animated Nicktoons). According to the tea ...

'' series of

browser game A browser game or a "flash game" is a video game that is played via the internet using a web browser. They are mostly free-to-play and can be single-player or multiplayer. Some browser games are also available as mobile apps, PC games, or on ...

s and

mobile game A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to ...

s. Featuring characters from various

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

shows, the game was released on October 5, 2021, for

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5,

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 202 ...

, and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

Gameplay

''Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl'' is a

platform fighter Platform fighter is a video game subgenre of fighting games that cover games that emphasize fighting on stages with free 2D movement, similar to a platform game. Gameplay Matches take place on a 2D plane, usually on a stage with platforms float ...

, with players battling on different stages and attempting to knock their opponents outside the boundaries of the arena. Movement takes place on a two-dimensional plane, with characters able to move around by running, jumping, double-jumping, or performing a mid-air dash in any of eight directions. Characters have three different types of attacks: light attacks, which are weak but quick and can be used to perform combos; strong attacks, which are slower but do more damage and knock opponents back further; and special attacks, the properties of which vary by character. Different attacks can be performed by pushing up or down or running in combination with one of the three attack buttons. Players can also grab and throw opponents or enemy projectiles, even in the air, and guard against attacks without penalty, though they will be pushed back in doing so. Unique to the game is the "strafe" function, where players can hold a button to prevent their character from turning around while moving in different directions; this can be used to continue attacking an opponent while actively retreating from them. As characters take damage, the amount of knockback caused by opponents' attacks will increase, making them easier to knock off the stage. Each stage offers a different layout, with some also having additional hazards that can cause damage to the characters. An update in June 2022 added 16 items to the game, which can be toggled in the match options. These items will spawn intermittently on the battlefield and can be grabbed and thrown to inflict damage on opponents in different ways. The game supports local and online multiplayer for up to four players, with the game's online functionality utilizing

rollback netcode Netcode is a blanket term most commonly used by gamers relating to networking in online games, often referring to synchronization issues between clients and servers. Players often infer "bad netcodes" when they experience lag or when their inputs ...

on supported platforms. The game also features a single-player arcade mode and a "Sports" mode, based on the "Slap Ball" game type from the developer's previous fighting game ''Slap City''. In Sports mode, players must knock a ball into an opponent's goal, with different types of balls having different properties, such as

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

balls being unable to be grabbed. Players are able to unlock images displayed in an in-game gallery, music for the game's sound test, and online profile icons.

Playable characters

The game currently features 25 playable characters from 17 Nickelodeon franchises, consisting of 20 characters in the base roster, two additional characters added via free updates, and three paid

downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...

characters. Each character also has their own stage usually based on their series of origin. ;''

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters ''Aaahh!!! Real Monsters'' is an American animated television series developed by Klasky Csupo for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on three young monsters—Ickis, Oblina, and Krumm—who attend a school for monsters under a city dump and learn to ...

'' * Oblina ;''

Avatar: The Last Airbender ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (abbreviated as ''ATLA''), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Aang'' in some regions or simply ''Avatar'', is an American anime-influenced animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and ...

'' *

Aang Avatar Aang ( zh, c=安昂, p=Ān Áng) is the title character and protagonist of Nickelodeon's animated television series ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko), voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen. Aang ...

Toph Toph Beifong ( zh, c=北方拓芙, p=Běifāng Tuòfú) is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and its sequel ''The Legend of Korra'', voiced by Jessie Flower in the original series a ...

;''

CatDog ''CatDog'' is an American animated television series created by Peter Hannan for Nickelodeon. The series follows the life of yellow conjoined brothers of different species, with one half of the resultant animal being a cat and the other a dog. ...

'' *

;'' Danny Phantom'' * Danny Phantom ;''

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his human ...

'' *

;''

Hey Arnold! ''Hey Arnold!'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Craig Bartlett. It originally aired on Nickelodeon from October 7, 1996, to June 8, 2004. The show centers on fourth grader Arnold Shortman, who lives with his grandpar ...

'' * Helga ;''

Invader Zim ''Invader Zim'' is an American animated science fiction dark comedy television series created by comic book writer and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on an extraterrestrial named Zim (voiced by Richard Steven Ho ...

'' * Zim ;''

Jimmy Neutron James Isaac Neutron is the titular and main character from the film '' Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'' and its spin-off Nickelodeon computer animated television series ''The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius''. Created by show runner John ...

'' *

Hugh Neutron This is a list of characters in the United States, American film ''Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'', the animated television series spin-off'' The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius'' and other media. Main characters Cast table Jimmy Neutro ...

;''

The Legend of Korra ''The Legend of Korra'' (abbreviated as TLOK), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra'' or simply ''Korra'', is an American Anime-influenced animation, anime-influenced Animated series, animated television series created by Michael Dante ...

'' *

Korra Avatar Korra is the title lead character in Nickelodeon's animated television series ''The Legend of Korra'' (a sequel to '' Avatar: The Last Airbender''), in which she is depicted as the current incarnation of Raava's Avatar—the spiritual em ...

;''

The Loud House ''The Loud House'' is an American animated television series created by Chris Savino that premiered on Nickelodeon on May 2, 2016. The series revolves around the chaotic everyday life of a boy named Lincoln Loud, who is the middle child and only s ...

'' *

Lincoln Loud ''The Loud House'' is an American sitcomedy multimedia franchise based on creator Chris Savino's own experiences with his large family, primarily based on the television series ''The Loud House'' (2016–present), its Spin-off (media), spin-off se ...

* Lucy Loud ;''

My Life as a Teenage Robot ''My Life as a Teenage Robot'' is an American animated superhero comedy television series created by Rob Renzetti for Nickelodeon. It was produced by Frederator Studios and Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Set in the fictional town of Tremorton, t ...

'' *

Jenny Jenny may refer to: * Jenny (given name), a popular feminine name and list of real and fictional people * Jenny (surname), a family name Animals * Jenny (donkey), a female donkey * Jenny (gorilla), the oldest gorilla in captivity at the time of ...

;''

The Ren & Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (also known as ''Ren & Stimpy'') is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Originally produced by Spümcø for Nickelodeon, the series aired from August 11, 1991, to Decemb ...

'' *

Ren and Stimpy ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (also known as ''Ren & Stimpy'') is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Originally produced by Spümcø for Nickelodeon, the series aired from August 11, 1991, to Dece ...

* Powdered Toast Man ;''

Rocko's Modern Life ''Rocko's Modern Life'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an anthropomorphic Australian immigrant wallaby named Rocko and his friends: the eccentric stee ...

'' *

Rocko Rocko Rama is the main protagonist of the animated television series '' Rocko's Modern Life'', the Netflix special Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling, and the comic book series of the same name. Carlos Alazraqui provided the voice of the anthropo ...

;''

Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently— Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, a ...

'' *

Reptar Reptar is a fictional character from the American animated television series ''Rugrats''. It is a green '' T. rex'' (and sometimes appears in red-violet and lilac) with rounded, blue spike-like appendages on his back, which intentionally causes ...

;''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character a ...

'' * SpongeBob *

Patrick Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

* Sandy ;''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...

'' *

Leonardo Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate ...

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

April O'Neil April O'Neil is a fictional character from the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' comics. She is the first human ally of the Ninja Turtles. Her main love interest in the series is Casey Jones. April made her first appearance in the Mirage comi ...

* Shredder ;''

The Wild Thornberrys ''The Wild Thornberrys'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Steve Pepoon, David Silverman, and Stephen Sustarsic for Nickelodeon. The series portrays an American family of wildlife documentary ...

'' *

Nigel Thornberry ''The Wild Thornberrys'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Steve Pepoon, David Silverman, and Stephen Sustarsic for Nickelodeon. The series portrays an American family of wildlife documentary fi ...

Notes

Development

Following the success of Swedish independent studio Ludosity's fighting game ''Slap City'',

approached the game's developers and laid out their plans for a platform fighter. ''Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl'' entered production by early 2020, being developed by Ludosity with assistance from Costa Rican studio Fair Play Labs. The game was designed with competitive play in mind from its inception, with Ludosity seeking to simplify the controls for newer players without sacrificing the gameplay depth sought by competitive players. The character roster was decided collaboratively between GameMill and Ludosity; according to Ludosity, only a few of their character choices were rejected by Nickelodeon due to global licensing issues. Prior to its announcement, the existence of ''Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl'' was leaked by GameFly on July 10, 2021. The game was officially announced three days later on July 13, via a trailer on ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

''. It is the first

in the long-running ''

'' series, with previous entries having been online

s and

s. Like ''

Nickelodeon Kart Racers ''Nickelodeon Kart Racers'' is a 2018 racing video game developed by Bamtang Games and published by GameMill Entertainment in North America and Maximum Games in Europe. The game features Nickelodeon characters in a crossover, including ''SpongeBo ...

'' and '' Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix'', the previous two Nickelodeon games published by GameMill Entertainment, ''Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl'' did not launch with voice acting for any of the playable characters. Ludosity CEO Joel Nyström stated that "as we continue to build the ''Nick All-Star Brawl'' franchise, we will be reviewing all options, which may include adding VO down the road."

Maximum Games Maximum Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Walnut Creek, California. Originally founded in 2009 as a publisher of family-oriented titles for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii, the company shifted to publishing games of all g ...

distributed physical copies of the game in most of Europe, while French publisher Just For Games distributed physical copies in France due to the publisher's partnership with GameMill Entertainment. Within the game's first week of release, players created several extensive mods for the PC version, including implementing gameplay changes, alternate costumes, and voice acting for all characters. In November 2021, the official ''Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl''

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account confirmed that alternate costumes would be added to the game via a free update. Ludosity confirmed that two additional playable characters would be added to the game via free post-launch updates; the first of these characters,

, was released on December 9, 2021, while the second, Shredder, was released on February 3, 2022, alongside a stage based on '' Double Dare''. In December 2021, art director Diego Hernández Cruz confirmed that

cross-platform play In video games with online gaming functionality, also called cross-compatible play, cross-platform play, crossplay, or cross-play describes the ability of players using different video game hardware to play with each other simultaneously. It is c ...

was scheduled to be added to the game via an update in Q1 2022, with voice acting planned for a later update. On May 13, 2022, Ludosity announced the first wave of paid downloadable content characters: Jenny Wakeman, released simultaneously with the announcement, and

and

, who were released on August 5, 2022, and October 7, 2022, respectively. An update in June 2022 added English voice acting for all characters, along with items that can be enabled during gameplay.

Reception

Critical reception

''Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl'' received "mixed or average" reviews, according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. Reviewers praised the gameplay but criticized the game's presentation and lack of content. ''

Push Square Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and oth ...

'' called the game "the best '' Super Smash Bros.'' clone we have ever played", but criticized the lack of modes offered and lamented that the lack of voice acting made the game feel "a bit cheap overall". ''

'' felt that the mechanical differences and good online play made the game a great alternative to similar fighting games like ''

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is a 2018 crossover fighting video game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series, succeed ...

'', though noted it was far less polished or fully-featured than such other games. ''

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. History ' ...

'' believed that the game provided a solid framework for a future franchise, and hoped GameMill would invest more time and money into a sequel.

Accolades

The game was nominated for Best Fighting Game at

The Game Awards 2021 The Game Awards 2021 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2021. The event was hosted by Geoff Keighley, creator and producer of The Game Awards, and was held to an invited audience at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on De ...

, but lost to ''

Guilty Gear Strive is a fighting video game developed and published by Arc System Works. It is the seventh mainline installment of the ''Guilty Gear'' series, and the 25th overall. The game was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows in June 2021, a ...

''.

References

External links

* {{navboxes, list1= {{Nicktoons video games {{Aaahh!!! Real Monsters {{Avatar {{Danny Phantom {{Garfield {{Hey Arnold {{Invader Zim {{The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius {{The Loud House {{The Ren & Stimpy Show {{Rocko's Modern Life {{Rugrats {{SpongeBob SquarePants video games {{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video games {{The Wild Thornberrys 2021 video games Aaahh!!! Real Monsters video games The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius video games Avatar: The Last Airbender games Crossover fighting games Danny Phantom video games Fighting games GameMill Entertainment games Invader Zim video games Ludosity games Multiplayer and single-player video games Nicktoons video games Nintendo Switch games Platform fighters PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 5 games The Ren & Stimpy Show video games Rocko's Modern Life video games Rugrats and All Grown Up! video games SpongeBob SquarePants video games Video games based on animated television series Video games based on Garfield Video games based on Hey Arnold! Video games based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Video games developed in Costa Rica Video games developed in Sweden Video games with AI-versus-AI modes The Wild Thornberrys video games Windows games Xbox One games Xbox Series X and Series S games Video games with downloadable content Maximum Games games