Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 – not the ultimate fighter (Picture: GameMill Entertainment)

Another crossover fighter takes a swing at Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s throne, but Nickelodeon’s improvements might be too little too late.

Two years ago, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl proved itself a missed opportunity. It had the bones of a competent platform fighter but it lacked everything else, from voice acting to engaging unlocks and any gameplay modes beyond the basic fundamentals. By the time subsequent updates had fleshed out the experience the beta for Multiversus had stolen the limelight, through its looney roster and accessible free-to-play model.

The story of Multiversus’ shutdown (until 2024) may have left a sour taste, blocking players from accessing content they had paid for through microtransactions, but there’s a sense history could repeat itself with Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2. Everything about the sequel is generally an improvement – including the richer gameplay mechanics, great mode variety, and superior roster – but the upgrades don’t feel substantial enough to elevate it beyond its rivals.

If you missed the first round, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl sticks rigidly to the Super Smash Bros. template. In battles for up to four players, you damage opponents to build up their percentage that makes it easier to knock them off the stage, or beyond the screen’s edges, for a knockout. At launch, All-Star Brawl was relatively stripped back as a fighting experience, but later updates threw in items and other additions to dial up the freneticism.

In the sequel, the core mechanics are bolstered with additional flexibility. Along with your basic strong and special attacks, small but impactful manoeuvres like aerial dodging and dodge rolling are now part of every character’s skillset. The biggest new addition is a slime meter, through which you can soup up your special attacks, perform attack cancels or, with a fully charged meter, activate a super ability specific to each character.

These are a direct copy of the Final Smash abilities from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with brief zany cut scenes halting the action to wind up a colossal blow. As in that title, however, they’re welcome as a flashy showpiece for each character’s personality. SpongeBob, for example, hops into a boat with Mrs. Puff to steamroll enemies, while nature documentary host Nigel Thornberry observes through binoculars as an elephant drops onto your foes below.

The roster is generally more eclectic and mechanically diverse in comparison to the original. The Angry Beavers operate as two characters in one, with attacks occasionally looping in the other like an assist fighter. Grandma Gertie from Hey Arnold! is an inspired addition for comedy value alone, playing like a speedy kung-fu fighter who simultaneously spins yarn and serves a literal sweeping attack with a brush.

Coupled with fun weighty options like Mecha Plankton and projectile whizz-kid Jimmy Neutron, the roster offers far more strategic variety, and personality, to make experimenting in the training dojo an enticing proposition.

There’s greater, if still limited, choice in the modes too. Along with your standard arcade sprints and online options, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 offers an actual campaign. It’s a platform fighter spun through the lens of a roguelike, as you battle through multiple runs, tackle mini-games, and accumulate buffs – including applying status effects and shooting projectiles at random intervals – across a grid with branching pathways to different levels.

When you run out of lives, you return to a hub world where you can use earned currency to unlock permanent upgrades, like extra jumps or health regeneration between matches, to make your next run easier. It’s all tied together with a thinly sketched story, as you try to reach and stop Danny Phantom villain Vlad Plasmius from conquering the world of Nickelodeon.

The Turtles are based on their 80s cartoon incarnation (Picture: GameMill Entertainment)

It’s a great idea undercut by its execution. The problem is the lack of variety, as you work through the same standard 1v1 matches, enemy horde encounters, and three tepid mini-games – one of which is a worse version of Break The Targets from Super Smash Bros. Melee. There are some unique standout boss fights not seen elsewhere, bringing in characters like Shredder and the Flying Dutchman, but it doesn’t take long before the loop becomes a repetitive slog.

It would be less noticeable with better rewards but, like the original, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is devoid of compelling progression. An extras menu houses character-specific trophies and a screenshot gallery, but both are so bland and uninformative it’s hard to imagine anyone caring enough to pursue them. Goofy character skins are perhaps the main incentive, but it isn’t substantial enough to encourage repeat runs through the various modes.

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As such, the longevity is in the online suite, which is still the biggest selling point in the sequel. There’s nothing you wouldn’t expect, with options for ranked matches, lobbies, and quick play for chaotic free-for-alls, but it’s slick and smooth from the matches we played shortly after release. The main boon is the addition of cross-play, which should allow for quicker match-ups in the months beyond the initial launch window.

With the return of Multiversus seemingly around the corner, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 feels like it will become another short-lived diversion. Despite its improvements as a layered and pleasingly bonkers fighter, the overall package at launch is still disappointingly thin for the price of entry. It’s a step up, but it’s not quite smashing.

Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Price: £39.99
Publisher: GameMill Entertainment
Developer: Fair Play Labs
Release Date: 7th November 2023
Age Rating: 7

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Another crossover fighter takes a swing at Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s throne, but Nickelodeon’s improvements might be too little too late.