About Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Being a Budget Game

I realize I haven't said anything about Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl on this blog until now. But I've been very excited about the game since it was announced. I've only played a handful of Super Smash Bros. clones but this one stands out from the pack for two reasons. It was developed by the same team that made the PC cult hit Slap City (another Smash clone) and it has a roster of much loved Nick Toons. Still, those two wins haven't stopped people from pointing out that Nick All-Star Brawl looks like it was made with a limited budget.

All-Star Brawl has very cartoonish visuals, which given that these are all cartoon characters, makes perfect sense. I think the game looks perfectly fine as is. I wasn't expecting Smash Ultimate style visuals or beyond for this game but some have pointed out that the graphics do have a plastic, cheapish look to them. There are also no voices for the characters, which I gotta admit does kinda sting. PC gamers will probably mode voice overs in but those of us that are playing on consoles may prenatally be outta luck.

More than likely, Nick All-Star didn't get the biggest budget or even a huge budget and if that is the case, to that I say, so what? 

You know, there was this other game that started out with a small budget. It was released in 1999. Maybe you've heard of it. It was called Super Smash Bros.

We all know how huge Smash is, but this was not always the case. Heck before Nintendo characters were in the game and it was called Smash, it featured some generic, no name polygonal fighters. The cast was eventually replaced with Nintendo icons we all know and love and the fighting mechanics were super solid, ensuring we'd come back for more. Even so, the budget for the first Smash was not big. The game's initial roster was 8 characters with 4 unlockable characters and only nine stages. For 1999, those were still some tiny numbers for stages and fighters when compared to other fighting games that were out at the time. Fast forward to 2021, and four Smash games later and the Smash series is a huge cash cow with a budget the first game could only dream of.

Nick All-Star Brawl launched with over 20 fighters and stages and is already being embraced by Smash fans as well as those of Nick Toons. Sure, it may be a game with a small budget but we all gotta start somewhere. Nick All-Star Brawl could really blown up in a similar vein to Smash.