Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Review: Big Roster, Shallow Punches

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl wants to be the biggest Nickelodeon crossover in fighting game history, and it mostly delivers. The game gathers characters from SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Loud House, Aaahh!!!, Real Monsters, Avatar, The Wild Thornberrys, Hey Arnold!, Rugrats, and many more, and puts them all in one arena for a side-scrolling brawl. It is a platform fighter, not a traditional punch-and-kick bout, and that distinction shapes everything about how it plays.

Trailer, via GameMill Entertainment.

The Cast

The roster is the headline act. The game promises the largest collection of Nickelodeon characters ever assembled in a fighting game, and it backs that up. You get SpongeBob SquarePants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, along with The Loud House siblings, a whole host of monsters, aliens, and animals.

Each character has its own move set and attacks drawn directly from their identifiable personality. That means SpongeBob fights like SpongeBob, and the Turtles fight like the Turtles. The game does not just slap a costume on a standard fighter template. It builds mechanics around the source material.

How It Plays

The core loop is simple. You fight on a two-dimensional plane, running, jumping, double-jumping, or performing a mid-air dash in any of eight directions. Attacks come in three flavors: light, which are weak but quick and can be used to perform combos; strong, which are slower but do more damage and knock opponents back further; and special, which vary by character. You push up or down or run in combination with one of the three attack buttons to land them.

There is also grabbing and throwing, even in the air, and guarding without penalty, though you will be pushed back in doing so. The strafe function lets you hold a button to prevent your character from turning around while moving in different directions, letting you keep attacking while retreating. As characters take damage, the amount of knockback increases, making them easier to knock off the stage.

The arenas themselves are distinct. Each stage offers a different layout, with some having additional hazards that can cause damage to the characters.

Items and Modes

An update in June 2022 added 16 items to the game, which can be toggled in the match options. These 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 rollback netcode on supported platforms.

The game’s online functionality uses rollback netcode, which means matches feel smooth even over a connection. That matters in a genre where frame latency can ruin a match.

What Works

The sheer variety of characters is the draw. No other game puts SpongeBob SquarePants and the Turtles in the same arena. The game leans into the comedy of that pairing, and the humor lands well.

The platform fighter format also works in the game’s favor. It is easier to pick up than a traditional fighting game, since the controls are simpler. You are not managing a full combo system or a parry timing window. You are dodging, dashing, and hitting buttons, and that simplicity makes it accessible to players who might otherwise avoid the genre.

The arenas are well designed. They have hazards, and the layout changes from stage to stage.

What Falls Short

The game is not deep. There is no combo system, no parry timing, no frame data to master. The special attacks are fun to watch, but they are not the kind of moves you build a strategy around.

The online multiplayer is limited to four players. That is a small number for a genre that often supports larger groups. The rollback netcode helps, but it does not fix the fact that you are fighting in a small arena with a small group.

The item system is a nice addition, but it is not essential. The game works fine without it, and the items are more of a novelty than a meaningful addition to the core loop. They are fun to throw, but they do not change the fundamental shape of a match.

The Numbers

Notable Entries

The game draws on a wide range of properties, and some stand out more than others. Here is a look at how the source material is represented across the roster:

SpongeBob SquarePants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are the most recognizable properties, and the game treats them with care. The other shows are represented, but they are not the focus of the game’s marketing or design.

Final Word

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is a solid, if shallow, platform fighter. It is the largest collection of Nickelodeon characters ever assembled in a fighting game, and that is a genuine achievement. The game is accessible, funny, and well designed. It is not a deep game, and it will not appeal to serious fighting game enthusiasts. But for casual players who want to see SpongeBob SquarePants and the Turtles duke it out, it delivers exactly what it promises.

The game is a competent game with a great idea that does not fully deliver on its promise. It is a fun diversion, not a landmark.

crossover · fighting game · Nickelodeon · platform fighter · Shredder · SpongeBob