The last few years have been good for fighting games, and the future looks bright too. While classic franchises like Guilty Gear and Super Smash Bros. have thrived in recent years, upcoming games like Street Fighter 6 and MultiVersus serve as reassuring signs that fighting game fans of all kinds have a lot to look forward too. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is one game born out of the rising tide of fighting games, and although it isn't at the height of its popularity anymore, it still stands out thanks to the IPs it has access to. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl launched with a strong roster of Nickelodeon characters from generations of TV shows, and since then, the roster has only gotten bigger.
Ludosity and Fair Play Labs stated their intention to make All-Star Brawl DLC early on, and they haven't disappointed. Garfield and Shredder have joined Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl in the last few months in free updates, and a new wave of DLC characters is on the horizon now. Over the course of 2022, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl will add My Life as a Teenage Robot's Jenny, Jimmy Neutron's Hugh Neutron, and Rocko from Rocko's Modern Life. It's great that these characters all come from shows without representation in the game so far, but more importantly, they showcase Ludosity and Fair Play Labs' eagerness to cater to fans.
Fan Influence on Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Fighters
When adding characters to Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, one would expect the developers to go for the most obvious, relevant characters possible. Historically, that hasn't happened. The Wild Thornberrys, for instance, gets representation through Nigel Thornberry, rather than the show's main protagonist Eliza. Similarly, Jimmy Neutron himself seems like the most logical character to represent the Jimmy Neutron show, but Ludosity and Fair Play Labs have brought his father Hugh into the fold instead. The reason for these choices, as well as arguable deep cuts like Rocko and Jenny, boils down to fan demand.
Both Nigel and Hugh are extremely strong choices for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl because longtime Nickelodeon fans love these characters in particular. They're not the stars of their respective shows, but they're eccentric, hilarious characters who have remained popular through nostalgia and memes. Similarly, My Life as a Teenage Robot and Rocko's Modern Life aren't major players in the Nickelodeon brand these days, but older Nickelodeon fans love these shows and deeply hoped that they'd both get representation in All-Star Brawl. Nigel, Hugh, Rocko, and Jenny all show that Ludosity and Fair Play Games are incredibly attentive to the Nickelodeon audience's demands for the game, meaning All-Star Brawl caters to fans in a major way.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl's Appeal to its Community
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl's willingness to prioritize fan hopes makes it very special in the game industry, especially when compared to obvious peers like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The Smash Ultimate DLC roster certainly featured some highly demanded characters like Kingdom Hearts' Sora, but it was also populated with several characters like Byleth and Min Min who joined Smash largely by virtue of being characters from recent Nintendo products, rather than as a result of overwhelming demand. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is something of a strange beast because of how eagerly it caters to fans, but that refreshing level of engagement has helped keep the game afloat.
The 2022 DLC calendar is filled for All-Star Brawl, but with any luck, 2023 and beyond will have more expansions to offer fans. Jenny, Hugh, and Rocko might cover a variety of Nickelodeon shows missing from All-Star Brawl, but there are still plenty of shows like Fairly OddParents without representation, as well as popular characters like Avatar: The Last Airbender's Prince Zuko who haven't made the cut yet. Ludosity and Fair Play Games have more than enough source material to work with and plenty of fan wishes left to grant, so All-Star Brawl likely isn't shutting its doors anytime soon.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
