Super Smash Bros. pros react to Nickelodeon all-star brawl

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Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is out today, and there is hope that it will be a huge hit in the competitive fighting game community. It’s impossible to look at the gameplay of the new platformer starring characters like SpongeBob, Nigel Thornberry, CatDog, and other Nicktoon stars without drawing deep parallels to Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series.

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

But in addition to his long love affair with Melee, many players in the Smash community are excited about the idea of ​​Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl: a new fighting game with competitive ambition, reversible network code, and no involvement from Nintendo. IGN spoke with several Smash professionals about their enthusiasm for this new fighter prior to its release.

Another platform fighter joins the fight

Toph, the player, not the character, began competing in the Melee scene more than a decade ago. In addition to competing, he is also known for commenting on, streaming, and podcasting on competitive Smash. He says he’s excited for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl because he’s exploring a type of game that still has a lot of room to grow.

“It feels like a new genre,” says Toph. “There really aren’t that many great platformers that people have mastered. I think it’s cool to see someone else.”

Platform fighters differ from traditional fighters in that the objective is to knock the opponent off the stage, rather than depleting all of their health. Aside from Smash Bros., the best-known platformers are Brawlhalla and Rivals of Aether, two independent hits that have failed to break through into the mainstream. Toph believes that including recognizable characters in this game could help him go a long way.

“I think a lot of people care more about those things than they like to admit. People are excited about SpongeBob and Patrick, the Ninja Turtles and Avatar: The Last Airbender. People love those franchises,” he says.

In a video about our IGN Compete channel, Smash God Mango echoed the excitement within the community.

“I’ve only seen positives from everyone in the Melee community, and even the Ultimate community,” Mango said. “We all grew up with Nick, so there are so many things we like to crash, we are all excited about another world.”

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Screenshots

Will Nickelodeon’s All-Star Brawl Be Competitively Viable?

Of course, these comments are just a pre-launch hype. It remains to be seen how pro Smash players will react to touching the game for the first time, but there are signs that Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl will be a hit with Smash fans.

Ludosity is the developer of All-Star Brawl. The studio previously worked on Slap City, another Smash Bros.-inspired platformer. The Smash community latched onto Slap City, and Zain, one of the best Melee players in power rankings at the moment, says the choice developer has people intrigued.

“When I heard that the creators of this game made Slap City, I thought, ‘oh, this is going to be legit,’ because I know a lot of my teammates in Melee really loved their experience with Slap City as a competitive outlet.” Zain says. “Listening to the developers talking about it, it’s obvious that they’ve played Smash at a competitive level and they understand it. I’m very curious to see what kinds of things are shared with Melee and other Smash games, as well as the unique things that it will offer. “.

As for the changes, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is introducing a handful of new mechanics to the genre. Players can grab and launch their opponents in the air, they can turn around while in the air, and there is a rock-paper-scissors setup with up attacks, medium attacks, and down attacks that can change the flow of a battle. There is also no limit to how long you can protect yourself. Of all these changes, hoarding receives the most attention.

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

Zain also believes holding has the potential to be a game changer.

“I think a lot of people get scared at the prospect of what you can do [with grabs]. Can you just chain your opponent in midair and combine it? It’s exciting for me because it’s completely different, “says Zain.” It’s hard to say without playing the game, I’m open to that kind of change. ”

And of course, wavedashing makes its big comeback. For those who don’t know, wavedashing is a movement technique in Smash Bros. Melee that is performed by dodging the air diagonally towards the ground. At first glance, it appears that a character with waves is gliding across the stage at high speed. The technique was removed from the aftermath of Smash after Melee. After wavedashing was shown at one of Nick All-Star Brawl’s game showcases, the Smash community caught wind of a viral tweet and went wild.

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

“The team behind this is great and is giving the characters extensive movement options,” HugS said. “It’s hard to know how it will play out now, but the fact that you have so much agency over how you play your character seems promising.”

Solid gameplay isn’t the only thing Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl needs to get up to speed. When we asked what else would be important to the success of the game, online gaming was the most important answer.

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

“

Online gambling is the key

Melee launched on the GameCube 20 years ago, a console that lacks online games. But since then, Melee players have taken matters into their own hands. Project Slippi is a work-in-progress tool that allows Melee players to compete online with rollback network code. Reversing the network code is key to facilitating online play, especially in fighting games where every frame counts.

Backlink network code and online gambling have become even more important in the last 18 months, as in-person fighting game events have been basically non-existent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Zain says Project Slippi and its rolled back netcode helped keep the scene alive.

“With Project Slippi and the rollback netcode, it really saved the scene. We had a lot of tournaments that were really viable from a competitive point of view,” Zain said. “It’s crazy how longevity Melee is and how strong it is to survive a literal pandemic.”

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl will feature a backlink code, a feature that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lacks on Switch.

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

“Removing those friction barriers of being able to get into a game and feeling like you’re playing a good game will matter to people even more than they realize,” says Toph. “I think a lot of people used to the Smash Ultimate netplay experience will not be able to leave this game, if it really is the backhaul code that they have announced. It is very important.”

An unstable relationship with Nintendo

The Smash community and Nintendo have shared a difficult relationship for a long time. Nintendo has a history of cracking down on competitive Smash. The division grew even wider and more complicated last year after a misconduct scandal hit the Smash community.

Now, the prospect of a competent platformer without Nintendo’s involvement is sure to have some members of the Melee community contemplating jumping off the ship to Nick All-Star Brawl. Additionally, Ludosity’s apparent goal is to foster a competitive community that makes the new game even more engaging.

“I think the competitive Smash community has felt quite burned out at times by Nintendo and their willingness to talk about competitive features,” says Toph. “It seems like the developers at Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl are very receptive to that kind of thing.”

HugS, who has been very strong in rejecting some of Nintendo’s business decisions related to Smash, says 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 rival Smash in the platformer fighting genre. ” He says the main problem is the apparent lack of voice acting on Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl.

However, Toph also says that Smash players are so interested in their craft that there is nothing Nintendo can do to permanently alienate them. While some players feeling burned out may end up moving on, the players we spoke to agree that Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl will not have a negative impact on Smash’s competitive popularity.

“We love Smash. We love the game. Whether you’re a Melee player or an Ultimate player, they are fantastic, fantastic competitive games,” says Toph. “We may not agree with some of the decisions Nintendo makes, but we view the games they publish and their business decisions as different entities. I think it is possible to love Nintendo games without necessarily agreeing with their competitive philosophy.”

So there seems to be room for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl to fit alongside Melee and Ultimate in the hearts of Smash lovers.

“I think a lot of Melee players will support the Nickelodeon game by competing in it and streaming it, along with Melee,” says Zain.

In general, the players we spoke to feel good about Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, and it won’t be long until we start to see how the scene will unfold.

“When something like Nick All-Stars comes out, where he looks amazing in terms of gameplay, he has incredible characters and has better results online than Nintendo has ever given their games, as well as real support from the developers in the game. competitive scene, it’s obviously just a no-brainer to channel support there, “says Zain. “I never had this intention with anything other than Melee, but I want to become the best in the world at it, even if it’s just for a moment.”

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

Logan Plant is a freelance writer at IGN.



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