Nickelodeon All Star Brawl 2 Review – Playstation 5

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is a platform fighter that has been eagerly anticipated by both fans of the genre and the lauded children’s channel alike. 

A mere two years after the original effort, this sequel addresses a laundry list of complaints levelled at the first, as well as going over and above in delivering a title bursting at the seams with hilarity and animated brawling action.

Featuring a roster of beloved characters that reads like a who’s who of popular Nickelodeon shows, obvious mainstays like SpongeBob SquarePants and multiple folks from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles make the return to pixellated pugilism, with a few new faces too.

That’s not to say there aren’t a whole host of classic cuts for older players like Rocko, the towering dinosaur Reptar from Rugrats, and even the world famous Monday-hating Garfield.

Each character has their own unique moveset and playstyle, making them feel entirely distinct from one another. The game’s developers, Fair Play Labs, have done an excellent job of balancing the characters, ensuring that no one character is overpowered this second time around.

 

 

Naturally, the gameplay structure continues to take its cue from the iconic Nintendo franchise of Smash Bros., but NASB 2 genuinely delivers a new, and more accessible spin on things, with a cast to immediately recognise and resonate with.

The graphics in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 are a standout feature, with cartoonish visuals that are a perfect fit for the Nickelodeon brand, with an attention to detail in the character models and attacks perfectly capturing each style is impressive. It’s an exercise that could easily have ended up a mish-mash of discordant characters, but somehow they work as a unified whole.

Outfits and customisation allow for uniqueness even amongst familiar fan favourites, whilst the roster is also set to increase over time with DLC – legends like Mr. Krabs and Rocksteady are already around the corner, provided you’ve got your season pass or are willing to shell out!

The impressive visuals continue with the game’s 26 stages, with each distinct battleground ripped from the shows featuring its own unique hazards and obstacles. Many make a return from the original All-Star Brawl, but the new ones are just as engaging.

 

 

It did bring a smile to my face to see the Technodrome from TMNT make a welcome return, complete with a spruced-up design. Each level is filled with Easter Eggs and little cameos, almost becoming a character themselves amidst the chaos. 

As a platform disappears halfway through El Tigre’s Miracle City Volcano stage, plunging everyone into lava-filled peril in front of a baying crowd, it’s another aspect of the game’s focussed yet free-wheeling nature that makes it so easy to want one more round…

The game’s soundtrack is also worth mentioning, with each character having their own unique theme that fits their personality and style. The sound effects are also well done and suitably cartoony, adding to the overall experience of the game, as is the voice acting. 

A massive oversight that was rectified after the fact in the original, as well as a huge part of what brings these characters to life are their catchphrases and taunts, so am glad to say that there’s no shortage of chattering from the cast of All Star Brawl 2. 

 

 

Not everyone has their original voice actor, but it’s great to have the anarchy on screen matched by a cacophony of familiar shouts and bleats.

The game also has a fully fleshed-out story mode – a great addition, offering players a chance to experience the game’s mechanics in a more structured environment, complete with the chance to express more of the characters’ unique nature over time with more great voice work from the cast. 

The rogue-like structure of this mode means each playthrough is different, adding to the game’s replayability, and having it be challenging, filled with unlockables and a raft of risk-reward difficulty settings, makes it a great place to cut one’s teeth in how to play as well as while away a fun afternoon swatting AI opponents off the screen. 

Characters are unlocked through progression, as well as both persistent and temporary perks that change the nature of each run – it’s very much rogue-like in nature, but without feeling punishing and maintaining a sense of forward momentum.

The game’s multiplayer modes are where the game truly shines, however with a variety of modes that cater to different playstyles. The game’s combat mechanics are deep and nuanced, allowing for a wide range of combos and strategies. 2 vs 2 as well as free-for-alls, local and online modes, ranked as well as casual – it was tough to find a game online in the initial days after launch, but the family was more than willing participants in trying to take on my dangerously competent Korra every evening…

 

 

One last thing that shouldn’t be overlooked – and tips All-Star Brawl 2 into the top tier from a gameplay perspective – is the Slime Meter. 

This allows players to build up a power gauge in the natural course of cartoon combat.

As the match goes on, playstyles evolve as a consequence, with the slime (the close connotation Nickelodeon has with green goo is clear) manifesting in different attack strings, stronger hits as well as building up to a unique super attack once filled to the brim.

Simple enough to be overlooked by casual gamers, to be a fundamental building block of higher-level play, the slime gauge is a perfect example of the layered and nuanced nature of All-Star Brawl 2 – like the best animated shows, it’s effective on multiple levels.

Overall, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is an excellent platform fighter that is far better than the majority of efforts in this competitive space.

The game’s roster of characters shines, the graphics are vibrant and cartoonish, and the combat mechanics are deep and nuanced. 

The game’s campaign mode is a fun, feature-rich addition to the game, and the multiplayer modes are where hours can be racked up without effort. 

It’s a game that can be recommended unreservedly, whether a fan of the genre or not, as well as whether you’ve seen the orange blimp’s output recently or not for decades…it’s pure unadulterated fun, and fair play to Fair Play in that they’ve made a banger of an All-Star Brawl sequel!