A surprising video game announcement has recently made a huge splash among gamers. The trailer for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl was revealed by IGN, showcasing a Super Smash Bros. type platform-fighter, but with Nickelodeon cartoon characters instead of Nintendo icons. The likes of Spongebob Squarepants, Danny Phantom, Invader Zim, and even Reptar are here to duke it out. For anyone who loves the Super Smash Bros. format or grew up with Nickelodeon, this is an exceptionally exciting game to look forward to. There are so many possibilities for a game such as this. 

Trailer Breakdown

The reveal trailer shows us quite a lot of what we can expect to see in the game, so let’s dive into every detail shown. 

The trailer starts with Michaelangelo sliding into a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rooftop stage accompanied by some fun, upbeat music. Starting with TMNT representation and showing it so prominently in the trailer is fascinating since, even though there are multiple TMNT Nicktoons and Nickelodeon has made multiple movies featuring the Turtles, the franchise was not created by Nickelodeon. It’s also worth noting that Michaelangelo’s character model is based off of the classic 1987 design, rather than either of the designs that Nickelodeon created. 

Lincoln Loud from The Loud House then enters the battlefield, brave enough to take on a Ninja Turtle. With The Loud House being one of the most recent entries into the library of Nicktoons, it seems they are hoping to grab the attention of both older and younger audiences. 

We quickly see some actual gameplay. The setting has moved to the Flying Dutchman’s ship of Spongebob Squarepants fame. Nickelodeon characters old and new battle it out here and in the previously mentioned TMNT stage. The gameplay is very similar to other platform-fighters like Super Smash Bros., Slap City, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, and Brawlhalla. Players can attack each other on the ground, in the air, from a distance, and at close range. It can clearly be played with two to four characters in a match. The level design is also similar to that of other games in the genre, as there’s a main base to each stage with smaller platforms to stand on in various locations. 

The next couple of character reveals are Powdered Toast Man from The Ren and Stimpy Show and Sandy Cheeks from Spongebob Squarepants. Sandy isn’t too much of a surprise, being a main character from Nickelodeon’s longest running series who also knows martial arts. Powdered Toast Man, though, is a particularly interesting choice. Not only is he hilarious and weird, but he’s not as much of a main or well-known character. His inclusion means that just about any character from a Nicktoon can join the roster, which leads to some exciting potential. 

We’re then taken to a junkyard stage. It’s not completely clear as to which show this is here to represent, but the best bet is Aaahh!!! Real Monsters since the monsters’ primary headquarters was in a junkyard in the series. 

More intense combat takes place and each hit looks super satisfying. Michelangelo and Lincoln Loud continue their fight at the ferris wheel from Glove World seen in Spongebob Squarepants. We’re immediately introduced to two more fighters: Patrick Star and Oblina. Patrick is an obvious choice, as he’s Spongebob’s best friend and has his own TV series now. Oblina is certainly a welcome choice, as Aaahh!!! Real Monsters can often be forgotten, unfortunately. It’s an outstanding classic cartoon and deserves representation. Hopefully we see the other two protagonists of the show, Krum and Ickis. 

Nigel Thornberry joins the fray, reenacting animal behaviors during combat. This is certainly a unique, yet fitting fighting style. He may not have been the main character in The Wild Thornberrys, but he is one of the most fondly-remembered. He dukes it out with Patrick and Oblina on perhaps the most interesting stage reveal yet: the Western Air Temple from Avatar: the Last Airbender. There are currently no characters from that franchise who have officially  been confirmed to be playable, but seeing this stage is definitely an indicator that we’ll see Aang or another fan-favorite. 

The three of them take their fight to a couple of other locations. First up is the TMNT rooftop stage seen earlier. There’s a Foot Soldier lurking on the water tower. He does not appear to be a playable character, so perhaps he is either just a decorative part of the environment or an interactable stage hazard of some kind. They then fight in a spooky graveyard. This one is a bit tougher to figure out where it’s from, but it is most likely the graveyard that Lucy Loud likes to hang out at in The Loud House. This is appropriate given that she’s revealed immediately after Nigel, Oblina, and Patrick fight in the Ninja Turtles’ sewer lair. 

Lucy looks like she’ll have a unique moveset that revolves around teleportation and stealth, causing her to greatly stand out from the rest of the roster. Next up is Nickelodeon’s biggest mascot, Spongebob with his karate gear and trusty jellyfishing net, Helga Pataki from Hey Arnold! armed with a slingshot, and Reptar the giant Godzilla-like dinosaur from Rugrats. They take part in a four-player match at the Technodrome from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the graveyard that was seen earlier, and Jellyfish Fields from Spongebob Squarepants. 

We’re then introduced to the rest of the characters the trailer offers: Invader Zim, Danny Phantom, and Leonardo of TMNT. GIR appears to be a part of Zim’s moveset, which should be especially exciting for fans of the adorable robot. This is followed up by one of the best things in the trailer: the promise that “Many More Surprises” are on the way. Even though there’s a great roster and fun gameplay to look forward to, there are some key Nicktoons missing. It will be exhilarating to see what other content gets revealed for the game in the coming months. 

Most of the remaining footage is high-paced, action-packed gameplay all blended together in a montage. A few more stages are showcased during this quick montage including the spaceship from Invader Zim, The Ghost Zone from Danny Phantom, The Ren and Stimpy Show‘s kitchen counter, and The Loud House from the show of the same name. It’s worth noting that the goal seems to be launching opponents off the edge of the stage like Super Smash Bros. rather than using a point system or health bars. The trailer’s epic conclusion has the revealed characters running into battle similar to the start of the airport fight in Captain America: the Winter Soldier. As the fighters clash in the middle of the battlefield, there’s an explosion of slime and pizza. It’s the perfect point for this outstanding trailer to end on. 

This is a huge trailer with tons of gameplay footage and plenty of character and stage reveals. It even gives us a time frame to look forward to: Fall 2021. A couple of reasons to look forward to this game over other games based on licensed IPs are that it’s been confirmed to use rollback netcode and allows for wavedashing (so it’ll feel similar to competitive fighting games) and it’s developed by the same team behind the critically acclaimed Slap City. It’s hard not to be excited for this game after seeing this trailer, as it tells us a lot of information without giving away too much, and even shows how the game is going to be played. 

Confirmed Playable Characters

• Michaelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
• Lincoln Loud (The Loud House)
• Powdered Toast Man (The Ren and Stimpy Show)
• Sandy Cheeks (Spongebob Squarepants)
• Patrick Star (Spongebob Squarepants)
• Oblina (Aaahh!!! Real Monsters)
• Nigel Thornberry (The Wild Thornberrys)
• Lucy Loud (The Loud House)
• Spongebob Squarepants (Spongebob Squarepants)
• Helga Pitaki (Hey Arnold!)
• Reptar (The Rugrats)
• Zim (Invader Zim)
• Danny Phantom (Danny Phantom)
• Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
• April O’Neil (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
• CatDog (CatDog)
• Ren and Stimpy (Ren and Stimpy)
• Aang (Avatar: the Last Airbender)
• Zuko (Avatar: the Last Airbender)
• Korra (The Legend of Korra)

Confirmed Stages

• Rooftop Rumble (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
• The Flying Dutchman’s Ship (Spongebob Squarepants)
• The Dump (Aaahh!!! Real Monsters)
• Glove World (Spongebob Squarepants)
• Western Air Temple (Avatar: the Last Airbender)
• Harmonic Convergence (The Legend of Korra)
• Royal Woods Cemetery (The Loud House)
• Sewers Slam (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
• Technodrome Takedown (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
• Jellyfish Fields (Spongebob Squarepants)
• Irken Armada Invasion (Invader Zim) 
• Ghost Zone (Danny Phantom)
• Powdered Toast Trouble (The Ren and Stimpy Show)
• The Loud House (The Loud House) 
• Wild Waterfall (The Wild Thornberrys)
• Traffic Jam (Hey Arnold!)
• CatDog’s House (CatDog)
• Omashu (Avatar: the Last Airbender)
• Space Madness (Ren and Stimpy)
• Showdown at Teeter-Totter Gulch (Rugrats)

Predictions For Characters Yet To Be Confirmed

• Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
• Raphael (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) 
• Tommy Pickles (Rugrats)
• Angelica Pickles (Rugrats)
• Chucky Finster (Rugrats)
• Doug/Quailman (Doug)
• Otto Rocket (Rocket Power)
• Twister (Rocket Power)
• Reggie Rocket (Rocket Power)
• Jimmy Neutron (The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius)
• Timmy Turner (The Fairly Odd Parents)
• Daggett (The Angry Beavers)
• Norbert (The Angry Beavers)
• Rudy Tabuti (ChalkZone)
• Snap (ChalkZone)
• Jenny (My Life as a Teenage Robot)
• Arnold (Hey Arnold!)
• Krum (Aaahh!!! Real Monsters)
• Ickis (Aaahh!!! Real Monsters)
• Eliza Thornberry (The Wild Thornberrys)
• Donnie Thornberry (The Wild Thornberrys)

Predictions For Stages Yet To Be Confirmed

• Fairy World (The Fairly Odd Parents)
• The Krusty Krab (Spongebob Squarepants)
• Backyard (Rugrats)
• The Candy Bar (The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius) 
• Retroland (The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius)
• The Pier (Rocket Power) 
• The ChalkZone (ChalkZone)

I’ll be updating this article with new information as it gets revealed in the coming months, so keep an eye here for any news related to Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl.