Just two years after the release of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, the Nicktoons have been thrust together once again in the name of licensed platform fighting, of all things, in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2. The original was a solid outing with deep mechanics, but was held back by a lack of polish outside of gameplay, and although history isn’t exactly repeating itself with the sequel, it certainly rhymes.

Anyone familiar with the first game will immediately notice something different about the fighters, they all feel a lot heavier. Rather than zipping around at lightning speed, each and every character has been slowed down considerably, giving more weight to each movement, but also a bizarre floatiness in the air with serious momentum on the ground.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

It would be unfair to call the controls ‘slippery’, but the ultra-tight feel has definitely been lost somewhat. As we said, this does mean that attacks have notably more weight and impact to them, so there's something of a trade-off at play. Characters do have more abilities, though, now able to dodge left, right, or on the spot out of a shield, and a new ultimate attack that fills the screen and deals massive damage and knockback to any foe caught within its blast.

If all that sounds a little familiar, then you’ve probably played a game in the Super Smash Bros. series. The original Nickelodeon Brawl wasn’t shy about its inspirations, but it still managed to have its own identity and distinctions from Nintendo’s colossal crossover fighter. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, on the other hand, says ‘To hell with it’ and decides to mimic as much as it can.

That’s not to say there aren’t things that make it stand out; the new Slime Meter can give you more powerful attacks, save you from being unceremoniously yeeted from the battlefield, and enact that ultimate attack we mentioned that we promise doesn’t Smash and absolutely isn’t Final. It’s a neat addition that will raise the skill ceiling, but the fighters’ movesets have been altered so as to bring that skill cap down a bit.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Many of the madcap moves that the likes of Nigel Thornberry and Ren and Stimpy employed have been replaced by a more standard fare of clobbering techniques. This undeniably makes the game more straightforward and less confusing when picking up a new character for the first time, but it’s lost some of its originality and edge in the process. It’s still fun and responsive and no doubt makes balancing easier, but some of the chaotic magic is gone.

Where Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 does improve things is in its single-player offering. The new campaign mode has you trekking through a roguelite-esque series of levels in order to stop the evil Vlad Plasmius from controlling the minds of everyone in the universe, or something. The plot’s fairly thin, but there are some frankly delightful character interactions that can occur as a result. We particularly loved an exchange between the now (sadly) NPC Powdered Toast Man and a besotted Ren and Stimpy. There are at least a few long-time Nickelodeon fans on the writing team, and it shows.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

The gameplay of this new mode is a slightly less exciting affair. It’s not bad by any means, but it wears thin disappointingly quickly after the sixth bout of fighting minor bot characters as they spawn repeatedly and sometimes don't even throw themselves to their own doom. Boss fights are a pleasant change of pace, but there aren’t as many of them as we’d like, so you’ll be fighting the Flying Dutchman an awful lot.

But there’s an enormous elephant in the room separate from the one used in Nigel Thornberry’s ultimate. The game runs at 30fps on Switch. For a platform fighter, this is bordering on a death knell. But the visuals have had a big step at least, haven’t they? No, they haven’t.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 looks rough and runs rougher. The static camera and limited models on screen should make optimisation a breeze compared to something like an open-world RPG, but that apparently wasn’t enough. Docked, the game is fuzzy at best, with no shadows and basic lighting. Characters look flat and lacking in detail, and when playing handheld you can experience all of the above, but at an even lower resolution. Loading screens for a single fight can take in excess of 30 seconds, and frame drops on certain stages are frequent and expected, even with only two fighters at a time.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

The menu music doesn’t always loop properly, there’s no way to select custom controller bindings in certain modes, and as for the ultimate moves, they’re fun in theory, but seem to be missing certain sounds, lessening their impact considerably. The initiator’s one-liners often get cut off early, and NPC fighters from the campaign have zero animation when caught in the blast, making them slide around like confused chess pieces.

These issues reek of a game that is still in development, rather than a finished product. It’s a crying shame, as just like with its predecessor, there’s a really solid game under here, possibly even more matured (if a little less distinct), but it’s buried under so much chaff that it spoils everything and frustrates more than it entertains.

Conclusion

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 has the potential to be a strong platform fighter, but on Switch it’s wrapped up in a frankly incredible amount of poor performance and presentation. Fighters feel weightier, and the new campaign adds context and charm to the package, but it'll take a miracle patch to save it from being a choppy, blurry, flat-looking barrel of disappointment on Nintendo's console.

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Nickelodeon All Star Brawl 2
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Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2

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