Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is what happens when you strip Smash Bros. of its Nintendo's mascots and replace them with Nickelodeon's: think SpongeBob SquarePants, Ren & Stimpy, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Rugrats (not the babies themselves, mind you).
Upon the game's announcement in July, Rich called it a potential "Smash Bros. killer" and he makes a good point: any game that lets you punch SpongeBob is probably going to be a compelling one. Trailers and footage released so far show a game that makes no attempt to hide its inspiration, which is fine by us, since its primary inspiration isn't available on PC.
Here's everything we know about Nickelodeon All-Stars Brawl, including its full fighter roster, its (at the moment vague) release date, and some other bits and (Sponge)bobs.
What is Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl's release date?
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl currently has a release window of 'Fall 2021' for PC and consoles, though a recent Nintendo eShop leak specified an October 5 launch.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl character list
Pitting various distant Nickelodeon characters against one other will be one of the most satisfying features of All-Star Brawl—I mean, who amongst us hasn't wondered who would win in a battle between Zim and Stimpy, right? The character list is evolving and will expand even further after launch, with two mystery DLC fighters expected in the weeks after release. As you'd expect, each character has their own moveset.
Note that Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender hasn't been officially confirmed, but has been spotted in a leak. With that in mind, here's every confirmed character so far:
- Aang (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
- April O'Neil (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
- CatDog (CatDog)
- Danny Phantom (Danny Phantom)
- Helga (Hey Arnold!)
- Korra (The Legend of Korra)
- Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
- Lincoln Loud (The Loud House)
- Lucy Loud (The Loud House)
- Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
- Nigel Thornberry (The Wild Thornberrys)
- Oblina (Aahh!! Real Monsters)
- Patrick Star (SpongeBob SquarePants)
- Powdered Toast Man (Ren & Stimpy)
- Ren Höek (Ren & Stimpy)
- Reptar (Rugrats)
- Sandy Cheeks (SpongeBob SquarePants)
- SpongeBob SquarePants (SpongeBob SquarePants)
- Stimpy J. Cat (Ren & Stimpy)
- Zim (Invader Zim)
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl stage list
Right now only a handful of stages have been confirmed for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, but there will be 20 in the final game, all themed around the worlds each fighter inhabits. The list of confirmed stages is small at the moment, but it includes Jellyfish Fields from SpongeBob SquarePants and the Technodrome from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
- Flying Dutchman's Ship (SpongeBob Squarepants)
- Glove World (SpongeBob Squarepants)
- Jellyfish Fields (SpongeBob Squarepants)
- The Loud House (The Loud House)
- The Technodrome (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
This has been a leaky game though, and this (admittedly pretty blurry) leak posted on Reddit contains some hints on what stages are to come in the final game. They'll probably all be revealed properly before launch.
Here's the announcement trailer for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
...and here's a lengthier gameplay showcase
Will Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl have rollback netcode?
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl will support four players both locally and online, and yes: it'll have rollback netcode.
Rollback netcode is widely considered essential for modern online fighting games. Rollback netcode basically eliminates latency by predicting incoming frame inputs, and these predictions eliminate lag and are replaced by the "real" action in due time. Its inclusion in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl suggests the devs are taking the game seriously as an ongoing concern.
Is there footage of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl's fighters in action?
Indeed there is, check out all the showcases that have released so far:
Leonardo Showcase
Ren & Stimpy showcase
Patrick Star showcase
CatDog showcase
Sandy Cheeks showcase
SpongeBob SquarePants showcase
Will Garfield be in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl?
So far Garfield hasn't been confirmed for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, but plenty of people have been asking for it, and I'm pretty sure our executive editor Tyler has had a couple of dreams about it. In the meantime, there's always that Garfield karting game.
