Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl might be seen as questionable to rank so highly, let alone a game I would consider to be one of my favorite games of all time. There's many things that people have criticized about it, the initial lack of voice acting for the playable roster and items before an update (Which I personally believe is a silly thing to complain about), unbalanced gameplay at the launch (Once again, a bit silly considering even fighting games with higher budgets also don't hit the mark with balancing right away. Just look at day one Smash Ultimate) and less than stellar visuals in some aspects particularly characters (Which while more understandable is ignorant to the fact this is on a way less lenient budget than other fighters).
Despite these criticisms, I still hold a very soft spot for this game. Out of every other platform fighter, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has the roster that appeals to me the most. Though this is largely due to SpongeBob's inclusion. While other platform fighters might have a character or two that I like such as Smash Ultimate's King K. Rool. No other roster has as many characters I personally feel attachment to. On the topic of characters, balance is also much better than it was before, though it still has some issues. To be fair however, any fighting game no matter how big will have its fair share of balance issues.
An underrated part of this game has to be its soundtrack, most of the songs in this game both capture the vibes of the characters and shows they are from but also have their own identity. For example, Jellyfish Fields, which is SpongeBob's home stage, is a massive tribute to Jellyfish Jam, even including some of the song's sound effects such as dolphin noises and popping bubbles.
However, even with these in mind. Some may argue that the gameplay is lacking, some even claiming it's nothing more than a copy of Super Smash Bros. Melee which is honestly a stubborn and foolish thing to claim. The gameplay is the most fun I've ever had in a platform fighter let alone a video game, whoever decided to put air dashes in a platform fighter in a genius. The movement system with air dashes, wavedashing, dash attack cancelling and more are so fun to control and give you a lot of options. Another argument I've seen is that characters feel too similar to each other, and while I understand this feeling back on launch, this is nowhere near accurate to current day. Characters feel much more unique from each other and are all a blast to play for different reasons.
The game's community is also a shining aspect of this game, and it is part of why I've played it for so long. It is one of the nicest and funniest communities I've personally ever been in. If you are ever interested in checking this game's competitive scene out, please check out the Nick Brawl Grinders Discord.
In conclusion, while NASB might not be the "best" fighting game out there. What I do love about it elevates it to being my favorite fighting games of all time. And I highly encourage anyone out there previously brushed it off to give this game another shot.
Despite these criticisms, I still hold a very soft spot for this game. Out of every other platform fighter, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has the roster that appeals to me the most. Though this is largely due to SpongeBob's inclusion. While other platform fighters might have a character or two that I like such as Smash Ultimate's King K. Rool. No other roster has as many characters I personally feel attachment to. On the topic of characters, balance is also much better than it was before, though it still has some issues. To be fair however, any fighting game no matter how big will have its fair share of balance issues.
An underrated part of this game has to be its soundtrack, most of the songs in this game both capture the vibes of the characters and shows they are from but also have their own identity. For example, Jellyfish Fields, which is SpongeBob's home stage, is a massive tribute to Jellyfish Jam, even including some of the song's sound effects such as dolphin noises and popping bubbles.
However, even with these in mind. Some may argue that the gameplay is lacking, some even claiming it's nothing more than a copy of Super Smash Bros. Melee which is honestly a stubborn and foolish thing to claim. The gameplay is the most fun I've ever had in a platform fighter let alone a video game, whoever decided to put air dashes in a platform fighter in a genius. The movement system with air dashes, wavedashing, dash attack cancelling and more are so fun to control and give you a lot of options. Another argument I've seen is that characters feel too similar to each other, and while I understand this feeling back on launch, this is nowhere near accurate to current day. Characters feel much more unique from each other and are all a blast to play for different reasons.
The game's community is also a shining aspect of this game, and it is part of why I've played it for so long. It is one of the nicest and funniest communities I've personally ever been in. If you are ever interested in checking this game's competitive scene out, please check out the Nick Brawl Grinders Discord.
In conclusion, while NASB might not be the "best" fighting game out there. What I do love about it elevates it to being my favorite fighting games of all time. And I highly encourage anyone out there previously brushed it off to give this game another shot.