What The Critics Are Saying About Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
Fans of "Super Smash Bros." and the late 90s/early 2000s era of Nickelodeon cartoons can rejoice, as "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl" has finally been released. Now that the game has been out in the wild for a bit, critic reviews have begun rolling in.
The cartoon-filled fighting game takes heavy inspiration from Nintendo's "Super Smash Bros." franchise, creating a chaotic fighting game in which the goal is for players to send each other flying off a stage. Instead of a collection of gaming's greatest heroes, "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl" stars a collection of iconic cartoon characters from Nickelodeon's catalog. The roster features SpongeBob Squarepants, Invader Zim, and multiple "Avatar" characters.
While "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl" has seemed to position itself as a competitor to "Super Smash Bros," it's faced with quite a battle when it comes to beating Nintendo at its own game. Do critics think that it has a shot to take the crown, or is it trying to punch above its weight?
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has solid gameplay, but not much else
IGN gave "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl" a 7/10, with critic Mitchell Saltzman praising the game's solid foundation of fast-paced and fun gameplay. However, Saltzman felt that players will need to overlook some massive flaws in the game, like a lack of voice acting or music from the iconic Nickelodeon franchises. PCMag's Jordan Minor likewise missed the voices of these beloved characters and bemoaned the lack of crossplay functionality.
Push Square also gave it a 7/10, with critic Stuart Gipp criticizing "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl" for missing so much of the cartoon's personality, feeling ultimately underwhelmed by the experience. Gipp wrote, "Unfortunately, these issues make the product feel cheap, which does the quality of the actual fighting a tremendous disservice. Again, it's the best 'Smash' clone we've ever played – we just wish Nickelodeon had shown some confidence in it."
The Washington Post published an un-scored review by Jhaan Elker, who felt like the nostalgia of "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl" wore off quickly. Elker remarked that the game's spare sound design made it feel "soulless," but that the actual fighting mechanics and special moves for the characters were nicely implemented. Ultimately, Elker felt that the game the game missed some important aspects of "Super Smash Bros.," which treats every property it includes with the utmost respect and care.
The consensus seemed to be that the actual fighting in "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl" is great, but the game is barebones and lacking in almost every other aspect — especially if you really love the featured characters.