It’s embarrassing to admit in retrospect, but I was really excited for the first Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. I’m a big fan of platform fighters (please come back soon MultiVerus baby, I miss you) and was practically raised by Nicktoons, so a game that gave you the chance to beat the gak out of Danny Phantom as SpongeBob SquarePants was the stuff of dreams.

Despite having the potential to have been the best crossover since the Jimmy Timmy Power Hour, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl completely missed the mark thanks to its initially voiceless characters, a laughably thin amount of content, and a look straight out of the PS2 bargain bin. There was some fun to be had with its fast-paced competitive gameplay, but that wasn’t enough to stop its player base and developers from ditching it mere months after launch.

That stained legacy made it hard to imagine All-Star Brawl ever getting a sequel, but I’m glad it did - Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is a marked improvement on the original in nearly every single way and a solid platform fighter in its own right. It has its own issues and is far from a perfect knockout, but it’s still a Sweet Victory for everyone (except the Aaahh!!! Real Monsters fans).

Although the big shiny ‘2’ in the title might present Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 as a direct sequel, so much has been changed from the first game that it feels like the two aren’t related at all. Not only has every single returning character on the roster been reworked from the ground up to the point that some of them feel like brand-new fighters, but the combat mechanics themselves have also been completely overhauled.

Gone is the needlessly complicated rock-paper-scissors system that made even basic attacks a pain in the first game, and in its place is a more traditional Super Smash Bros.-esque fighting style, complete with throws, air-dodges, and ultimate moves. I liked All-Star Brawl’s combat well enough despite its occasional clunkiness, but the choice to follow Smash’s blueprint a bit more closely was a smart one as NASB2 feels remarkably more satisfying, polished, and less awkward to play.

The only thing that feels like it’s been downgraded here is the movement, which is much slower and weightier this time around, making wavedashing a near-impossibility in moment-to-moment combat. It’s a fair trade-off for ensuring fighters don’t feel like plastic bags floating in the wind anymore, but it’s a shame that such a core part of the first game has been dialled back here.

That’s not to say that this is just a Smash clone, however, as All-Star Brawl 2 does have one big idea setting it apart from Nintendo’s masterpiece and the platform fighter genre as a whole - the slime meter. Similar to games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat (so not an entirely original concept), the slime meter fills up as you attack enemies, and can either be used to enhance special moves or saved for a more powerful ultimate attack.

The slime meter takes some getting used to but once you figure it out and start implementing it into your recoveries and projectiles to make them stronger, it feels like a natural addition to the combat and something that makes Nick Brawl stand out. I’m a little shocked that no other platform fighter has given it a try before since it works so well here, but I hope it catches on.

As great as the new combat mechanics are, perhaps the most important change made to All-Star Brawl 2 is that it actually has content, including a drastically improved arcade mode, unlockable bonuses like trophies, costumes, and artwork, a jukebox, a boss rush challenge, and more.

The biggest and best of these additions is the campaign mode, which is like a mix of Smash’s Subspace Emissary and, of all things, Hades. After picking a fighter, you have to make your way through a surprisingly challenging gauntlet of mind-controlled characters, fights against hordes of weaker enemies, platforming trials and boss battles all in one go. In typical roguelite fashion, dying means going back to the start, but with currencies you can spend on perks that boost your stats and improve your chances of victory the next time you go through.

Although the campaign does get a little tiresome towards the end and could do with having some of the horde battles and platforming sequences removed, it’s exactly the kind of single-player-focused content that the first game lacked, and a treat for fans thanks to all of the cameos, references, and Nickelodeon in-jokes.

With all these major improvements, it’s a shame that Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 fumbles the most important part of a platform fighter - the roster. Although most of the new fighters like Jimmy, Squidward, and El Tigre are great, the problem comes from some of the confusing cuts that have been made like Hugh, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Toph, and more. We still have April O’Neil, but only two of the turtles. What?!

Roster cuts can be a hazard in platform games like this, but I can’t understand why anyone thought we needed Grandma Gertie, Gerald, and yet another Avatar rep over all of the fan favourites that have been benched. It’s a real shame too, as all of the returning fighters feel better than ever thanks to the reworked movesets and I’d have loved to see what could be done with CatDog, Powdered Toast Man, and the other veterans.

As confusing as the roster here is, it’s a relatively small price to pay for everything else that Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 has done right to live up to the potential of a Nicktoons platform fighter. It has some issues, like its slowed-down movement and some annoying encounters in the arcade and campaign mode, but the massive facelift, improved combat mechanics, and reworked fighters make for a much stronger second round.

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Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2

Reviewed on PC.

Fighting Systems 3.5/5 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 71/100 Critics Rec: 62% Released November 3, 2023 ESRB E10+ For Everyone 10+ For Comic Mischief, Fantasy Violence Developer(s) Ludosity, Fair Play Labs Publisher(s) GameMill Entertainment
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SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
Multiplayer Online Multiplayer Franchise Nickelodeon Platform(s) PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Expand Collapse Pros & Cons
  • Completely reworked combat mechanics
  • Slime meter is a great addition
  • Actually has content this time
  • Uneven roster
  • Movement has been slowed down a little too much

For comparison's sake, I would have given the first Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl a 2.5/5, so the sequel has definitely made some strides for the series.

Score: 3.5/5. A PC code was provided by the publisher.

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