"A Lackluster Follow-Up In Need Of A Competitive Edge": Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 Review

09.11.2023 - 23:31 / screenrant.com / Of A

is a sequel from developer Fair Play Labs and publisher Gamemill Entertainment. Coming two years after the release of the first, the game features even more Nick Toon characters as they embark on a long journey to stop Vlad Plasmius.

When players aren’t engaging in online matches or utilizing one of the various other modes of the game, they can begin the roguelike campaign, which begins with a fan favorite, SpongeBob. Vlad Plasmius is attempting to take control of characters from every universe and must be stopped, so SpongeBob must battle his way to the end, gaining allies along the way.

sstarting roster brings players twenty-five different playable characters from the Nickelodeon universe. Some of the more notable franchises featured include,,, and. Despite the fact many of these are simply fan favorites, there has also been a recent resurgence in a few of these fanbases due to recently released or upcoming content, such as the film or Netflix’s live-action series.

So, while it’s understandable that these specific franchises are featured, there are still several notable faces missing, including some of whom were featured in the previous game. The original featured Sandy Cheeks, Toph, Lincoln Loud, Shredder, CatDog, and Helga. All of these are missing from this new lineup and while several character packs are coming in the future that may feature those missing, they absolutely should still have been present in the initial lineup.

There are even some blatantly confusing roster choices, like the addition of characters Raphael and Donatello, who were missing from the first game. Instead of having all four (as requested by fans), we’ve just lost Mikey and Leonardo to make room for their brothers. A better move would’ve been to include the entire first roster, revamped, and then the addition of the new characters featured in this roster. Though twenty-five fighters may seem like a lot for a starting roster, and it is to an extent, when looking at something like , we saw a starting roster of over 70 different fighters that encompassed all previous fighters in the franchise as well as new fighters just in the base game.

The inclusion of a handful of missing characters from the first game is something that should’ve been an expectation going into the base game and if these characters do make an eventual return as part of a future character pack, that is even more disappointing as those should be focused on bringing something entirely new to the table.

There are currently several character DLC packs slated for release periodically over the next year, with the first batch containing Mr. Krabs, Rocksteady, Zuko, and Iroh. Though these are great additions to the roster, not all of these make sense as DLC