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One divisive element of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is how hard it leans into competitive play, which has been perceived as coming at the detriment of content aimed at casual players such as items and a story mode. According to Ludosity CEO Joel Nyström, Nickelodeon specifically wanted the game to be able to attract a competitive audience, and chose Ludosity as a lead development team due to the positive reception of their first platform fighter, Slap City, from competitive Super Smash Bros. players. 2 years later in 2023, the game's gameplay designer and community manager Thaddeus Crews would respond to a tweet from YouTuber TierZoo complaining about a focus on complicated competitive techniques in non-Smash platform fighters, as well as some replies to the tweet complaining about 1v1-based platform fighter design as a whole, with a clarification on why Ludosity's platform fighters have been marketed so directly at competitive players, as well as why he feels other games in the subgenre are marketed as such:
"Seeing a common misconception in the replies, so let's clarify that:
When an indie platform fighter has a priority on strictly versus gameplay, that is not, and has never been, "pandering to competitive". It's often all that team can afford to do alongside an "acceptable" roster
So when you have the budget for a single, core system, and all your time/resources will necessarily be put into said system, the logical consequence is that will be developed to make utilizing it as rewarding as possible
However, this puts marketing in a catch 22. You can't realistically showcase your singular system without appearing competitively focused, and you can't divert from that impression without straying from the "game" part of the game
Like it or not, they gotta reap what's been sown."
When an indie platform fighter has a priority on strictly versus gameplay, that is not, and has never been, "pandering to competitive". It's often all that team can afford to do alongside an "acceptable" roster
So when you have the budget for a single, core system, and all your time/resources will necessarily be put into said system, the logical consequence is that will be developed to make utilizing it as rewarding as possible
However, this puts marketing in a catch 22. You can't realistically showcase your singular system without appearing competitively focused, and you can't divert from that impression without straying from the "game" part of the game
Like it or not, they gotta reap what's been sown."
Kotaku article with a mention how Nick wanted competitive appeal:
https://kotaku.com/nickelodeon-fighting-game-devs-have-high-hopes-competi-1847310415
Thaddeus Crews on the "choice" to prioritise competitive appeal:
https://twitter.com/Repiteo/status/1714706504140370251
https://kotaku.com/nickelodeon-fighting-game-devs-have-high-hopes-competi-1847310415
Thaddeus Crews on the "choice" to prioritise competitive appeal:
https://twitter.com/Repiteo/status/1714706504140370251
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Ren & Stimpy were made a duo fighter in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl to allow them to interact with one another, something that wouldn't be possible if they were two separate characters. Ludosity CEO Joel Nyström noted that it also allowed development time to be assigned to one extra fighter.
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Hugh has an unused model of a spear, referencing the popular caribou hunting chant scene from The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius episode "Jimmy on Ice". While it is fully textured and loaded into the game whenever Hugh is, it is not used.
The Cutting Room Floor article:
https://tcrf.net/Nickelodeon_All-Star_Brawl
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius - Caribou Hunting Chant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6ZY4CoYHes
https://tcrf.net/Nickelodeon_All-Star_Brawl
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius - Caribou Hunting Chant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6ZY4CoYHes
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Various models and textures of Ittle Dew from Slap City are inside the files of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, as she was used as a placeholder during development.
subdirectory_arrow_right Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Game)
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In launch versions of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, Garfield's stage Sweet Dreams was discovered before his official announcement in an unfinished form which takes place at day time, unlike the final version which takes place at night. Additionally, a thumbnail was discovered for an extremely early version of the stage that takes place at sunset and has an opaque lasagna tray. When Sweet Dreams returned to Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, under the name Food Dream, the daytime setting for the stage would be restored.
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In the final update of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, Patrick's command grabs gained a glitch that made them unable to penetrate through shields, negating their primary purpose. When asked about fixing Patrick's grabs after the launch of the game's sequel, gameplay and character designer Thaddeus Crews responded "I would if I could".
Thaddeus Crews tweet:
https://twitter.com/Repiteo/status/1723141185353425158
Video about Patrick and his glitch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RzfAmXgqzM
https://twitter.com/Repiteo/status/1723141185353425158
Video about Patrick and his glitch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RzfAmXgqzM
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In 2023, a set of extremely early Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl screenshots were shared through Discord by a developer, showing an aesthetic closer to Slap City and early versions of SpongeBob, Oblina, Leonardo, The Dump, Jellyfish Fields, and - most notably - Rooftop Rumble, based on Shredder's lair from the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show instead of the 80s TMNT (despite the 80s turtles having already been decided on this point). Also among the images was Hardcore Chores, Rocko's DLC stage, suggesting that a Rocko's Modern Life character may have been intended for base game.
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Lincoln Loud's neutral water gun move "The Splasher" had to be reworked during development; the original version of the move stunned opponents and could be cancelled into most actions in the game. This was a flawed move design however, as players could simply cancel the move into a waveland and then perform it again, making an infinite combo. If this move stayed in, Lincoln would have had to be banned from early competitive play, much as Michelangelo would end up being. In the final game, the water gun pushes opponents and cannot be cancelled.
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During development of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, Patrick's gravity accidentally ended up being set to 420 in certain unspecified circumstances. Thaddeus Crews stated that it was kept that way as a joke.
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Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl's movesets are modified through mathematical functions. Due to the monotony of assigning these values, certain modifiers' values are set to be pi solely as a joke. Thaddeus Crews, who added the instances of pi, stated in a Reddit post about the use of the number:
"There is no benefit to this. It may even be detrimental. You can't stop me"
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One of Ren's voice lines on Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, used for his and Stimpy's grounded down strong attack where he slams down Stimpy as if he were a hammer, is a reference to the streamer CONEY, who in his post-launch NASB gameplay referred to the move as "the STEEEEEEEEEEEMPY", with Ren's second original series voice actor Billy West replicating the cadence of CONEY's scream.
Move update glossary:
https://wiki.supercombo.gg/w/Nickelodeon_All-Star_Brawl/Glossary
Original video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m6WDub85lw?#t=50
https://wiki.supercombo.gg/w/Nickelodeon_All-Star_Brawl/Glossary
Original video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m6WDub85lw?#t=50
subdirectory_arrow_right Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Game)
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While most other characters in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 recieved revamped movesets, Jenny's moveset is nigh identical to her moveset from the first NASB aside from inputs that didn't exist in the NASB 1 moveset template. This is due to moveset and gameplay designer Thaddeus Crews considering Jenny's moveset to be one of his favorite kits from the first game.
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Competitive players of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl nickname Rocko's grounded neutral strong attack, "Scream!", "Joe Biden" after a mondegreen interpreting Rocko's scream of "You're fired!" (a reference to the episode Power Trip, where he gets promoted to the boss of the comic book shop he works at and becomes mad with power) as "Joe Biden!"
NASB community manager Thaddeus Crews responded to a now-deleted tweet about the mondegreen with "canon", and later posted a stock render of Rocko with the caption "Joe Biden".
NASB community manager Thaddeus Crews responded to a now-deleted tweet about the mondegreen with "canon", and later posted a stock render of Rocko with the caption "Joe Biden".
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Alongside Garfield, Rocksteady from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was originally going to be one of the two post-launch playable fighters in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl - notably without his partner-in-crime Bebop, much like Michelangelo and Leonardo's inclusion without Raphael and Donatello. He was ultimately replaced by Shredder, and all that remained of his inclusion at launch was a placeholder stock image and the codename "hunter".
Rocksteady would eventually become playable in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2.
Rocksteady would eventually become playable in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2.
The Cutting Room Floor:
https://tcrf.net/Nickelodeon_All-Star_Brawl/Revisional_Differences#Removed_Characters
Discord post from Thaddeus Crews confirming Rocksteady was replaced by Shredder:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AllStarBrawl/comments/tq323o/the_truth_finally_comes_out_on_rocksteady/
https://tcrf.net/Nickelodeon_All-Star_Brawl/Revisional_Differences#Removed_Characters
Discord post from Thaddeus Crews confirming Rocksteady was replaced by Shredder:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AllStarBrawl/comments/tq323o/the_truth_finally_comes_out_on_rocksteady/
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Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl does not feature characters from live-action Nickelodeon series. According to Ludosity CEO Joel Nyström, this was due to the developers being unable to envision movesets for live-action characters (i.e. "I'd assume they don't feature a giant, two-ton hammer suddenly produced from your back pocket") and that many of the series did not air in Sweden. When asked about live-action content in an interview, he stated
Despite this, a developer from Ludosity has claimed that a live-action character was considered in the form of Alex Mack from The Secret World of Alex Mack, portrayed by Larisa Oleynik, but this was shot down by Nickelodeon.
Although not explicitly stated, it could also be assumed that live-action characters were off the table for likeness costs, given that All-Star Brawl was initially unable to afford character voices, and that actors involved in Nickelodeon sitcoms have been known to frequently get into extreme scandals that end their careers.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl does, however, feature a stage based on the game show Double Dare, and multiple aesthetic references to the iconic Nickelodeon slime which debuted in You Can't Do That on Television!
"There are no live-action characters in our base lineup, and we are currently not looking at any for future characters either. You never know, but for now, we are focusing on cartoon characters. It fits in with the rest of the roster better, and we feel like we can go a little wilder in the moveset with them."
Despite this, a developer from Ludosity has claimed that a live-action character was considered in the form of Alex Mack from The Secret World of Alex Mack, portrayed by Larisa Oleynik, but this was shot down by Nickelodeon.
Although not explicitly stated, it could also be assumed that live-action characters were off the table for likeness costs, given that All-Star Brawl was initially unable to afford character voices, and that actors involved in Nickelodeon sitcoms have been known to frequently get into extreme scandals that end their careers.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl does, however, feature a stage based on the game show Double Dare, and multiple aesthetic references to the iconic Nickelodeon slime which debuted in You Can't Do That on Television!
Alex Mack statement originates from the official Ludosity Discord, not the NASB Discord.
https://www.gameinformer.com/interview/2021/09/15/nickelodeon-all-star-brawl-qa-with-ludosity-ceo-joel-nystrom
https://www.gamesradar.com/nickelodeon-all-star-brawl-is-bringing-a-roster-straight-out-of-your-childhood-memories/
https://www.gameinformer.com/interview/2021/09/15/nickelodeon-all-star-brawl-qa-with-ludosity-ceo-joel-nystrom
https://www.gamesradar.com/nickelodeon-all-star-brawl-is-bringing-a-roster-straight-out-of-your-childhood-memories/
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