Summary
While crossovers have been a thing in the entertainment industry for a good few decades now, they’ve really started to become a prominent part of the video game landscape in the last few years. FromFortnite’s skins toDead by Daylight’s horror characters, crossovers can now be seen across the video game industry, in a variety of different genres. But there’s one gaming genre that’s always dabbled in crossovers, and that’s fighting games, with titles likeNickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2being just the latest in a long line of crossover fighters.
From the early cases likeMarvel vs. Capcomto more modern examples likeMortal Kombat 1’s guest characters, crossovers have been a thing in the fighting game genre for quite some time now, and they’re only getting more popular. But while the firstNickelodeon All-Star Brawlreleased among some difficult competition, the upcoming sequel has a golden opportunity ahead of itself, with a release window that’s almost entirely free.
RELATED:Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 Seems to Be Forgetting About the Same Franchise as the First Game
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 Could Have a Free Win
ThefirstNickelodeon All-Star Brawlreleased at an interesting time for the crossover fighter sub-genre. Launching in October 2021,All-Star Brawlseemingly had the ideal release window. Coming three years after its main competition and inspiration,Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,Nickelodeon All-Star Brawlboth managed to ride off the success of that game and its subsequent DLC, while also positioning itself just far enough away from it to appear like a fresh new take on the genre. However, Warner Bros.' own crossover fighterMultiVersuswould be revealed just a few weeks afterAll-Star Brawl’s release, and withAll-Star Brawlbeing a tad disappointing, it was quickly overshadowed byMultiVersus' more promising features.
ButNickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2finds itself in a much better position. WhileMultiVersuswas a huge smash hit when it eventually launched in July 2022, its player-base began dropping off quite quickly, and while developer Player First Games tried to win its fan-base back with continuous updates, it wasn’t enough. Back in March of this year,MultiVersusannounced that it would be shutting down in June, and coming back online sometime in early 2024 with its full version, which givesNickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2a free pass.
Scheduled for a June 23, 2025 release,Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2currently has the potential to dominate the crossover fighter genre later this year. Of course,All-Star Brawl 2is releasing after an incredibly hectic month for game releases, but there isn’t really another fighting game like it coming out before the end of the year, and depending onwhenMultiVersusreturns, it could have a completely free run for a good few months. Still, that doesn’t mean thatNickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2can just rest on its laurels.
The firstNickelodeon All-Star Brawlhad its fair share of issues when it first launched back in 2021, and while some of these were fixed in post-launch updates, the game was far from perfect. From what fans have seen so far fromAll-Star Brawl 2, it does seem as though the developers have listened, and a lot of the first game’s main issues have seemingly already been addressed ahead of the sequel’s launch. Along with those fixes,All-Star Brawl 2is also adding a slew of new characters, stages, and even a fully-fledged story mode that aims to tie all of its crossover universes together in a slightly more cohesive way than the first game.Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2looks promising, and if it can live up to its expectations, then it could end up being a silent winner this year.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl2is set to release on November 3 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE:Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 Would Be Leaving Money on the Table Without One Magical Character
