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Have you ever tried to convince a group of friends at a party that Super Smash Bros. is actually better with items turned off? I am not proud of how many times that has happened in the past. Super Smash Bros. is an incredible game to play with friends and family alike, being easily the most approachable fighting game, allowing players to quickly get started even if they have no experience. But if you like to err on the more competitive side of things, items always get turned off and depending on who you're with, explaining that decision may be difficult.
I'm the competitive Smash loser. I might win the games, but I’m still a loser. I'm the guy that's ruining the parties. In fairness, I make myself play with a Joy-Con to limit my skill, but I still manage to feel like a dick. So you would think that upon realising that Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl doesn't even have items to disable, I'd be happy. Well, it certainly saved an awkward discussion with my fellow TheGamer staff members, but it just ended up making me feel like something was missing.
No, I'm not suddenly nostalgic for making an arse of myself at a party, don't worry about that. I am the competitive Smash loser, but I was the casual Smash fan once. Playing Adventure mode over and over again, having no idea what a wavedash was, running after Pokeball items whenever they appeared - I've been there, and I wouldn't trade those memories for anything, even if it's not how I want to play anymore. But Nick Brawl (this is a much better name, let's be honest) doesn't even have that option for younger and more casual players - you know, the target demographic?
I have come to realise that Nickelodeon has more live-action shows than animated characters in 2021, and that is reflected in the roster of Nick Brawl - so, sure, you could argue that many of the people with nostalgia for these characters are at the very least nearing adulthood at this point, but SpongeBob Squarepants is a draw for all ages, just like Mario and Pikachu. Mario and Pikachu are catering for both kinds of Smash players, meanwhile SpongeBob is, incredibly, catering to the mOrE hArDcOrE players alone.
Rewind the clock, and we'll remember that Nick Brawl first came into our awareness because of Smash fans feverishly talking about how the game includes high-level tech, like wavedashing, in addition to rollback netcode, which makes your average online experience far better than what Smash tends to offer. These are really cool features - for the competitive scene. I didn't know those announcements meant that this was the target audience for Nick Brawl, and arguably, it never should have been.
Nick Brawl is a bare-bones package, one that will be familiar to fighting game fans. Not much in the way of single-player content to work through other than an Arcade mode, but several online options are available. It all reminds me of Street Fighter 5, a game that only got away with such a limited offering by acknowledging that hardcore players probably wouldn't do much with single-player content anyway. Nick Brawl is in a very different position, one which should see it cater to all kinds of playstyles, just as Smash does. But it doesn't. Instead, it's clearly angled towards the typical tournament attendees, even including a competitive mode that limits the stages to more simple layouts, and 1v1 battles. Again, great for those competitive fans, but having this included when it lacks so much else? Weird.
Nick Brawl is a clearly flawed game in dozens of ways, frankly, and it could use a fair few patches in the near future to make it easier to recommend, but this focus on a potential (and unlikely) competitive fanbase seems like a mistake. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sold millions of copies, but a majority of those are going to kids chasing Pokeballs, and they won't want to chase down a wavedashing airbender instead.