The pros of Super Smash Bros. react to the fight between the stars of Nickelodeon

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Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is out today, and there is hope that it could be a big hit in the competitive fighting game community. It’s impossible to watch The Last Platform Fighter’s gameplay starring SpongeBob SquarePants, Nigel Thornberry, CatDog, and other Nicktoon stars without drawing deep parallels to the Super Smash Bros. series. from Nintendo.

The Melee community is still very active today, bringing CRT TVs to tournaments and playing Melee online through modified versions of the game. Despite Nintendo’s tendency to shut down some Smash-related community events, Melee’s fan base endured due to a deep love for the game.

But in addition to their long-term love affair with Melee, many players in the Smash community are excited about Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl: a new fighting game with competitive ambition, a returning netcode. back and no Nintendo involvement. IGN has spoken to several Smash pros about their excitement for this new fighter ahead of his release.

Another platform fighter joins the fray

Toph – the player, not the character – started participating in the melee scene over a decade ago. In addition to the competition, he is also known to comment, broadcast and podcast on the Smash competition. He says he’s excited about Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl because it’s exploring a type of game that still has a lot of room to develop.

“It looks like a new genre,” Toph says. “There aren’t really a lot of big platform fighters that people get to grips with. I think it’s cool to see another one.”

Platform fighters differ from traditional fighters in that the goal is to knock the opponent off the stage, rather than depleting all of their health. Besides Smash Bros., the most well-known platform fighters are Brawlhalla and Rivals of Aether, two independent hits that haven’t quite made it into the mainstream. Toph believes that including recognizable characters in this game could help him take it a step further.

“I think a lot of people care more about this stuff than they like to admit. People are excited about SpongeBob and Patrick, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Avatar: The Last Airbender. People love it. these franchises, ”he says.

In a video on our IGN in competition channel, Smash God Mango echoed the enthusiasm within the community.

“I’ve only seen good things from everyone in the Melee community, and even in the Ultimate community,” Mango said. “We all grew up with Nick so it’s so much that we love to face, we’re all so excited.”

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl screenshots

Will Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl be competitively viable?

Of course, these comments are just hype ahead of release. It remains to be seen how professional Smash players will respond to touching the game for the first time, but there are signs the Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl will be a hit with Smash fans.

Ludosity is the developer of All-Star Brawl. The studio has previously worked on Slap City, another platform fighter inspired by Smash Bros. The Smash community has hung on to Slap City, and Zain, one of the top melee players on the power leaderboard right now, says the developer’s choice has intrigued people.

“When I heard that the creators of this game made Slap City, I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be legitimate’, because I know a lot of my peers at Melee really loved their experience with Slap City. as a competitive point of sale, ”says Zain. “Listening to the developers talk about it, it’s obvious that they’ve played Smash at a competitive level and understand it. I’m really curious to see what kind of stuff is being shared with Melee and other Smash games, as well as the unique things it will offer. “

As for the changes, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl introduces a handful of new mechanics to the genre. Players can grab and throw their opponents in the air, they can flip in the air, and there is a rock-paper-scissor setup with up attacks, medium attacks, and down attacks that can modify the course of a battle. There is also no limit to how long you can protect. Of all these changes, grabbing is the one that gets the most attention.

“Grabbing is crazy in this game,” Toph says. “I hope the grip is not too strong.”

Zain also believes that grabbing has the potential to be a game-changer.

“I think a lot of people are scared of the prospect of what you can do [with grabs]. Are you going to be able to just chain your opponent in the air and combine them? It’s exciting for me because it’s completely different, ”Zain says. “It’s hard to say without really playing the game, I’m open to this kind of change.

And, of course, wavedashing is making a comeback. For those who don’t know, wavedashing is a movement technique in Smash Bros. Melee performed by dodging air diagonally across the ground. To the naked eye, it looks like a moving character is gliding across the stage at high speed. The technique was removed from the Smash sequels after Melee. After the wavedashing was shown in one of Nick All-Star Brawl’s gameplay showcases, the Smash community caught wind of a viral tweet and went mad.

HugS, a lead Samus player who has been active in the Melee community for over a decade, agrees the game could be a hit in the competitive community.

“The team behind are awesome and they give the characters vast movement options,” HugS said. “It’s hard to know how it’s going to play out now, but the fact that you have so much agency in how you play your character looks promising.”

Solid gameplay isn’t the only thing Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl needs to grab hold of. When we asked what would be important to the success of the game, online gambling was the most important answer.

“It’s hard to know how it’s going to play out now, but the fact that you have so much agency over how you play your character looks promising.

“

Online gambling is the key

Melee launched on GameCube 20 years ago, a console devoid of any online gaming. But since then the scrum players have taken matters into their own hands. Project Slippi is an on-going tool that allows Melee players to compete online with a restore netcode. The restore netcode is essential for smoothing online matches, especially in fighting games where every image counts.

The catering netcode and online gambling have become even more important over the past 18 months as in-person fighting game events have been virtually non-existent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Zain says the Slippi Project and its restore netcode helped keep the scene alive.

“With the Slippi project and the restore netcode, it really saved the scene. We had a bunch of tournaments that were really competitively viable,” Zain said. “It’s crazy to see Melee’s longevity, and how strong he is surviving a literal pandemic.”

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl will feature a restore netcode, a feature Super Smash Bros. lacks. Ultimate on Switch.

Toph says that a smooth online experience could help this game grow.

“Taking away those friction barriers so that you can walk into a game and feel like you’re playing a good game, it’s going to matter even more to people than they think,” Toph said. “I think a lot of people used to the Smash Ultimate netplay experience won’t be able to ditch this game, if that’s really the restore netcode that they kind of announced. That matters a lot.”

A difficult relationship with Nintendo

The Smash community and Nintendo have shared a rocky relationship for a long time. Nintendo has a habit of taking action against Smash competition. The divide grew even wider and more complicated last year, after a misconduct scandal hit the Smash community.

Now, the prospect of a proficient platform fighter without Nintendo’s involvement is sure to have some in the Melee community considering jumping ship for Nick All-Star Brawl. Additionally, the apparent goal of Ludosity is to foster a competitive community, which makes the new game even more engaging.

“I think the competitive Smash community has felt quite burnt out at times by Nintendo and its willingness to talk about competitive features,” Toph said. “It seems the developers of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl are very receptive to this sort of thing.”

HugS, who has strongly opposed some of Nintendo’s business decisions related to Smash, said the combination of recognizable characters and the community’s frustration with Nintendo could “make this the perfect storm for people to prioritize. a game that could actually rival Smash in the platform fight genre. ”He says the main problem is the apparent lack of voice acting in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl.

However, Toph also says that Smash players are so invested in their craft that there is nothing Nintendo can do to drive them away for good. While some players who feel burnt out may end up moving on, players we spoke with agree that Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl will not negatively impact Smash’s competitive popularity.

“We love Smash. We love the game. Whether you’re a scrum player or an Ultimate player, these are just great competitive games,” Toph said. “We may not agree with some of the decisions that Nintendo makes, but we see the games they offer and their business decisions as different entities. I think it’s possible to love Nintendo games. without necessarily agreeing with their competitive philosophy. ”

So it looks like there is room for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl alongside Melee and Ultimate in the hearts of Smash lovers.

“I think a lot of Melee players will be supporting the Nickelodeon game by participating in and playing it, alongside Melee,” Zain said.

Overall, the players we’ve spoken to feel good about Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, and it won’t be long before we start to see how the scene will move.

“When something like Nick All-Stars comes out, where he looks awesome in terms of gameplay, he has awesome characters, and he has better online than Nintendo has ever given his games, as well as a real developer support in the competitive scene, obviously it’s just a no-brainer to channel support in there, ”Zain says.“ I never had that intention with anything other than Melee, but I want to be the best in the world. world, even if it’s only for a little while. “

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is out now on Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, and PC.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer at IGN



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