The original Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl was a straight-up Super Smash Bros. clone. It never tried to hide that fact, and was well received because of it. There were a few elements that didn’t make the cut – notably weapons and a campaign mode – but the moment-to-moment combat was of a high calibre. In this Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 review, we’ll discuss how GameMill managed to rectify that, whilst still offering arguably the best Super Smash Bros. clone available today.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 adds a number of features that were considered ‘missing’ from the first title. Weapons are the most obvious, yet still they fail to have the same impact as in any of the Super Smash Bros. titles. The stage variety has been amped up significantly, and so too have the characters. There’s now 25 in total, all of whom are unlocked immediately (except in the Campaign mode – more on this later).
The variety of the characters is not just through the use of more Nickelodeon shows – which the game does – but also in how they play. Every character – including those returning from the first game – feels very different to every other character. There’s far fewer Super Smash Bros. archetypes in the pack. Instead, each character has a distinct learning curve. A complexity that goes beyond many of the genre’s staples, and puts the likes of Multiversus to shame. It’s almost as if the success of the first title gave the developers of the sequel more confidence to push out on their own and try new things. And that confidence was well placed, as Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is one of the best Super Smash Bros. clones out there.
In addition to the character revamps comes the all-new single-player mode. The familiar Arcade mode returns, but alongside it comes the Campaign mode. This addition for the sequel is well placed, and acts as the game’s story mode. Players must begin as Spongebob, and work to unlock additional Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 characters for subsequent runs. You need to be wary however, as you only have one life. Losing means restarting your run from the beginning (though with accrued currencies retained).
The Campaign mode progresses very similarly to that of Super Smash Bros. Melee‘s Adventure Mode. You’ll move through a series of stages that vary between fights, mini-games and endurance challenges. You’ll also unlock or purchase modifiers that can significantly impact every fight. From applying buffs/debuffs with powerful attacks, to beginning matches as a giant, to adding a chance to freeze an opponent with a projectile attack, these modifiers provide a newfound level of depth. So much so, it’s a shame that they’re not replicated in any of the game’s multiplayer modes.
But the Campaign and multiplayer modes aren’t all there is. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 compliments the basic selection with a variety of additional gameplay modes. Of course, most of them are only slight renovations of the core gameplay loop, but when the combat is this solid there’s little reason to deviate. In fact, the only real issue found during the course of this Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 review is that, for some unknown reason, the developer decided to remove d-pad input. Instead, only the analogue stick is available for movement. A bizarre decision given that d-pad control was available in the original, but a minor flaw to throw at an otherwise fantastic take on the popular brawling genre.
You must be logged in to post a comment.