When Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl launched on the Switch in October 2021, the comparisons to a certain Nintendo platform fighter were natural and inevitable. Heck, we spent our review trying — and admittedly failing — to avoid the obvious similarity to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Indeed, when a game comes out that brings characters from multiple franchises together to fight on a platform-based arena and knock opponents out of the boundaries, it’s almost begging for certain comparisons to be made. After all, Super Smash Bros. essentially birthed the sub-genre.
It seems one dev isn’t too pleased with a particular comparison, and we can understand why. Since the beginning both enthusiastic fans and detractors have been cavalier with their hyperbole, and in a short Twitter thread, All-Star Brawl character designer and programmer Thaddeus Crews stated that he’d rather people not use the term “Smash-killer” anymore, saying that the comparison has a proven track record of instigating conflict.
In a separate post, Thaddeus quoted YouTuber ‘IntroSpective’, who stated that jokes made toward All-Star Brawl on his channel will end after the creators got in touch. Thaddeus clarified that the interaction between the two held no animosity:
We have to say, we get it. We’ve watched the video in question, and while IntroSpective’s comparison is seemingly intended not to be taken seriously, it’s clearly meant as a slight on Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. The Nickelodeon game is a very solid piece of work but much, much smaller in scale to Nintendo’s behemoth in terms of developer resources. For the devs who work hard to bring such a game to life, we understand why the constant comparisons — lighthearted or otherwise — might prove an issue.
What do you make of Thaddeus’s comments on Twitter? Do you agree with his statement, or you do think any comparison between the two IP is relevant? Let us know in the comments below.
