Highlights
- Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is already proving to be better than its predecessor, with improvements like voice acting, a larger roster, more unlockables, and a full campaign mode.
- MultiVersus, another Smash Bros. clone, gained popularity but faced issues with its monetization system and lack of game modes, leading to a decline in its player-base.
- The inclusion of a single-player story mode in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 sets a high bar for MultiVersus, potentially putting pressure on it to include its own campaign mode and match its rival's success.
Though a handful have cropped up over the last few decades, Super Smash Bros. clones have really started to hit their stride in recent years. A side-scrolling fighting game that collects a range of combatants from across various franchises, Super Smash Bros. clones have the potential to be some of the most enjoyable, intense party games out there, but they've rarely hit the mark - that is until recently. Releasing in 2021, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl proved that a Smash Bros. clone could actually stand pretty close to the real deal, and last year's MultiVersus added more evidence to the case. And with Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 right around the corner, it's time to prove that once and for all.
Just announced, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is already proving that it's learned all the right lessons from its 2021 predecessor. Voice acting right out of the gate, a larger roster, more unlockables, and more stages are all just a few of All-Star Brawl 2's biggest improvements. But by far the most exciting addition to the sequel is its full campaign mode, which could easily put it leagues ahead of MultiVersus, long before it even sees its full release.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2's Campaign Already Puts It Ahead of MultiVersus
When MultiVersus first released in July 2022, it became a bit of a gaming sensation. A Smash Bros. clone with genuinely great fighting mechanics, MultiVersus had some pretty excellent foundations to lean on. When paired with the sizable roster of iconic Warner Bros. characters and a free-to-play model, MultiVersus became an overnight smash-hit, with word about the game spreading like wildfire online. In many ways, MultiVersus was a much better game than Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, another game that tried its hardest to replicate Super Smash Bros.' success but fell short in some major ways.
But MultiVersus wasn't without its own issues. Being a free-to-play game in the year 2022, and coming from Warner Bros., MultiVersus naturally had its own Battle Pass system, along with its own set of in-game currencies that required players to drop quite a bit of cash if they wanted to unlock every character right away. This controversial monetization system gradually led to a big decline in MultiVersus' player-base, and the game has since ended its beta period, and is set to return in 2024. But before then, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 might beat it to the punch in a major way.
On top of its greedy monetization, MultiVersus received criticism for its lack of game modes, in particular its lack of any single-player content. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 looks to get ahead of that criticism long before it even enters players' minds. In its announcement trailer, All-Star Brawl 2 confirmed that it'll have a single-player story mode, one which sees characters from across the Nickelodeon multiverse come together to fight Danny Phantom's Vlad Plasmius. With it being one of the first things detailed for All-Star Brawl 2, it seems like this story mode will be a pretty major addition, and it might end up setting a pretty high bar for MultiVersus.
With Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 releasing in October of this year, it'll probably end up having quite a big head start on MultiVersus, and as such, its story mode revolving around multiverses could end up setting a precedent that fans expect Warner Bros.' fighting game to follow. The pressure will be on for MultiVersus to deliver with its own campaign mode, and if All-Star Brawl 2's own story mode ends up being good, there's an additional pressure for MultiVersus' to follow suit and even outdo its apparent rival.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is currently in development for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
