Nickelodeon All-Stars Brawl General Thread - All Star Brawl 2 Available Today!

[Capybara Gaming]

There is literally no evidence for or against stage theory. Just well... baseless theories. Literally any announcement related to stages could be perceived for or against stage theory.

1. There will be more stages than fighters "Well, they're counting the alternate competitive form stages"
2. There will be less stages than fighters "Well, TMNT is the sole exception to stage theory like last game"
3. Introducing the Expired Cow's homestage, Fred's mirror! "Yeah, well only the Expired Cow and the Expired Cow alone has a home stage"
4. Stage theory is not real "Well, Loch Loud must still be Lincoln's stage since the movie is about his arc!"
5. Stage theory is real "They just mean NASB 1!"
6. Introducing the new Ed Bighead stage where you fight atop flies and floating shards of shattered plates, please note that Ed Bighead is not playable "Well, it must be Bev or Rachel's stage!"

I can go on and on and on and on.

That being said, IMO, I'd rather not have stage theory be true - I like having miscellaneous stages like game shows, I generally find stages more interesting than fighters, and it'd be fun to have extra stages for one-rep shows like Rocko, Zim, and Teenage Robot.

I'd be fine with extra stages of shows with one fighter, so long as it doesn't come at the cost of returning veterans.

That said, to say stage theory has no basis is frankly ignorant and comes off as you wanting something to be one way when it isn't.

Every series we've seen thus far with the exception of TLH has an equivalent amount of stages to characters. It really is that simple. Until we see a series with more or less stages than fighters, that is an irrefutable fact, even if it does not bode well for the unseen veterans.

Ironically, this does bode better for series who's stages haven't been seen yet - I.E. CatDog and Oblina - as they may be wanting to save those reveals for when they actually end up being added. It also bodes well for a Loud House representative in general - most likely Lincoln returning - as his series has 2 stages but only a single confirmed character.

Now, if Mikey or Leo shows up and shares their stage in their showcase with another Turtles rep, then we have cause to believe Stage Theory is incorrect.

As of right now, Stage Theory - as with many theories - is more likely Occam's Razor than Shrodinger's Cat.

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

Now, if Mikey or Leo shows up and shares their stage in their showcase with another Turtles rep, then we have cause to believe Stage Theory is incorrect.

And even then, TMNT only had 3 stages for 4 characters last game. Yet we have yet to see a franchise with more stages than characters.

 

[Alicorn]

Ember's song still clings to me to this day even if its in fragments in my memories.

 

[Fields - Ultimate's Great]

TMNT reps sharing stages wouldn't be surprising, it's what they did last game. The Sewers and Rooftop fit for all the turtles.

 

[Quick Gaming (QG)]

I come bringing additional info, mainly regarding spotlights

First up, Danny and Ember’s haven’t been recorded yet apparently

Don’t have an image source for this part (basically I and many other people seen this stated just don’t have screenshots atm) but it has been stated that Rimpy and Nigel’s spotlights are done

As far as spotlights go, the ones that get finished and pushed out soonest are ones where the characters are most visually presentable

Also Rimpy apparently got a lot changed

Anyways woohoo Ember, Luna Loud was one of my most wanteds but Ember was more requested and scratches the same rocker itch so it’s cool

 

[AreJay25]

Ember is such an inspired pick for this game, and she looks pretty cool to boot. Seems like she has a lot of big hitboxes on her attacks which could be pretty annoying to deal with lol. Curious to see what else her meter mechanic affects outside of attack strength.

 

[Oshawott777]

Might as well post her theme, right?

Ember - Remember (HD + Lyrics) | Danny Phantom

My old channel got deleted so I'll try to reupload as much as I can

www.youtube.com

 

[Mamboo07]

And factor in TLH is Nick's second biggest cash cow (Third if counting Paw Patrol for Nick as a whole).

Bad reception or not from the polls. I just don't see Nick removing the protag of their second largest franchise.

Same.

Also, what's this all about Stage Theory?

I don't believe in that nonsense.

Edit: Forget it

 

[LimeTH]

Also, what's this all about Stage Theory?

I don't believe in that nonsense.

It's how it was in the first game and there's enough evidence and precedence to believe it's the case this time. What's nonsense about it?

 

[RileyXY1]

Here's the current stage counts by series;
SpongeBob: 4
TMNT: 3
Avatar: 3
TLH: 2
Danny Phantom: 2
Invader Zim: 1
Jimmy Neutron: 1
Ren and Stimpy: 1
Rugrats: 1
Garfield: 1
El Tigre: 1

With the sole exceptions of TLH and Avatar, every series' stage counts line up with how many characters we currently know about. Except that an ATLA newcomer (Azula) was leaked, and TLH does not have a leaked newcomer.

 

[Oshawott777]

Same.

Also, what's this all about Stage Theory?

I don't believe in that nonsense.

Edit: Forget it

People are saying that since we have two Loud House stages, for example, we're getting both Lincoln and Lucy. This goes back to the first game where people were able to deduce that we'd get 3 Avatar characters since we got 3 Avatar stages, one of them being Toph because of Omashu.

 

[RileyXY1]

People are saying that since we have two Loud House stages, for example, we're getting both Lincoln and Lucy. This goes back to the first game where people were able to deduce that we'd get 3 Avatar characters since we got 3 Avatar stages, one of them being Toph because of Omashu.

This was despite the fact that Toph had never even visited Omashu in the actual show, but its reveal did get people thinking that there was an additional Avatar rep on top of Aang and Korra, which was proven to be the case.

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

Granted, I'm sad that the Loud House stage itself is gone (by far one of the best-looking stages in the first game), but if anything has to replace it Loud Castle is a good choice.

 

[LimeTH]

Granted, I'm sad that the Loud House stage itself is gone (by far one of the best-looking stages in the first game), but if anything has to replace it Loud Castle is a good choice.

Agreed, that stage was a lot of fun. I hope there's enough casual stages like that one in NASB2.

 

[CapitaineCrash]

Granted, I'm sad that the Loud House stage itself is gone (by far one of the best-looking stages in the first game), but if anything has to replace it Loud Castle is a good choice.

Also one of the best music imo.

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

Make sure if you’re discussing leaked or unconfirmed content to use spoiler tags just in case. Thank you.

 

[Capybara Gaming]

This was despite the fact that Toph had never even visited Omashu in the actual show, but its reveal did get people thinking that there was an additional Avatar rep on top of Aang and Korra, which was proven to be the case.

Did you not read my previous post? You literally just rephrased what Oshawott said in slightly different wording. Stop.

 

[CapitaineCrash]

Someone on the Discord pointed out that Ember's trailer music might be the Jenny stage theme because it sounds a bit like Mlatr music and it wouldn't really fit that much the Danny Phantom stage. Not sure if that's the case but I wanted to share this idea.

 

[fogbadge]

She does look to have a neat moveset

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

Agreed, that stage was a lot of fun. I hope there's enough casual stages like that one in NASB2.

Not only that, but its a perfect translation of the show's art style into 3D, and its a stage where you feel like you're actually there (as opposed to "themed platform above a plateau" that lot of stages go for)

Also, we could be due for some missing veterans. Even with the 1-week delay, providing that we continue to get at least three showcases per week + a character reveal, we'll have 18 showcase slots and 6 reveal slots before the original release date. There's only 4 characters left to reveal (5 if Vlad is playable), and only 16 showcases left to cover all of the unrevealed newcomers and confirmed returning vets.

 

[RileyXY1]

Someone on the Discord pointed out that Ember's trailer music might be the Jenny stage theme because it sounds a bit like Mlatr music and it wouldn't really fit that much the Danny Phantom stage. Not sure if that's the case but I wanted to share this idea.

That would mean that we're probably getting a new MLAATR stage instead of bringing back Tremorton Joyride, as Tremorton Joyride was a bit unique when it came to its soundtrack, with each part of the track tied to a different transformation of the stage.

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

That would mean that we're probably getting a new MLAATR stage instead of bringing back Tremorton Joyride, as Tremorton Joyride was a bit unique when it came to its soundtrack, with each part of the track tied to a different transformation of the stage.

Losing Tremerton Joyride would be a shame, it was one of the most beautifully crafted stages int he game.

 

[RileyXY1]

Plus that didn't sound like Tremorton Joyride's music track from the first game.

 

[Ze Diglett]

There is literally no evidence for or against stage theory. Just well... baseless theories. Literally any announcement related to stages could be perceived for or against stage theory.

1. There will be more stages than fighters "Well, they're counting the alternate competitive form stages"
2. There will be less stages than fighters "Well, TMNT is the sole exception to stage theory like last game"
3. Introducing the Expired Cow's homestage, Fred's mirror! "Yeah, well only the Expired Cow and the Expired Cow alone has a home stage"
4. Stage theory is not real "Well, Loch Loud must still be Lincoln's stage since the movie is about his arc!"
5. Stage theory is real "They just mean NASB 1!"
6. Introducing the new Ed Bighead stage where you fight atop flies and floating shards of shattered plates, please note that Ed Bighead is not playable "Well, it must be Bev or Rachel's stage!"

I can go on and on and on and on.

That being said, IMO, I'd rather not have stage theory be true - I like having miscellaneous stages like game shows, I generally find stages more interesting than fighters, and it'd be fun to have extra stages for one-rep shows like Rocko, Zim, and Teenage Robot.

This post gets my like solely for mentioning The Expired Cow again. Brilliant callback, man, seriously.

Personally, I'm glad we're seemingly losing The Loud House stage. It wasn't quite Teeter-Totter Gulch bad, but it wasn't very playable even in the nicest of terms.

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

This post gets my like solely for mentioning The Expired Cow again. Brilliant callback, man, seriously.

Personally, I'd glad we're seemingly losing The Loud House stage. It wasn't quite Teeter-Totter Gulch bad, but it wasn't very playable even in the nicest of terms.

So boring platform above a plateau is more your style?

And actually unique obstacles is what makes Teeter Totter fun. Plus you and WWW have your competitive version of stages and plenty of basic competitive stuff replacing the stuff with soul (like Reptar Ruins). Let some of us have our fun for once.
The hell even made the Loud House """unplayable"""? I can at least understand people's complaints about Space Madness (since it ends up being more about keeping up with the stage than actually fighting), I cannot at all understand this.

 

[Capybara Gaming]

I actually agree with the music in Ember's trailer being for a Teenage Robot stage; the opening riffs sound very similar to the first few lines of the MLaaTR theme song; they probably thought a more rock-based theme would be appropriate than the likely more synth or atmospheric themes that will likely come with Danny Phantom stages.

...I'll admit I really hope the Ghost Zone theme does return.

 

[dlewis53]

As a huge Danny Phantom fan (to the point that it might be my favorite Nicktoon), I very much welcome Ember with open arms, particularly since she's a recurring villain that I've grown to like more as time passes.

The glimpses of her moveset that we see look neat, particularly how what I'm guessing is her Up Strong involves shooting her flame ponytail up and how she uses said ponytail as part of a back-throw; reminds me of how I imagined Shantae might be like if she were in Smash proper. And her having a cheer mechanic sounds neat and fits her character considering her plan in her debut episode.

Also, according to Fair Play on Twitter, one of her alts is going to be the pirate get-up she wore during the episode, "Pirate Radio". That's pretty neat!

Overall, Ember's looking pretty cool so far, though I'll wait for the showcase to see more.

 

[Opossum]

So boring platform above a plateau is more your style?

I mean...not only are they not boring, but yes, absolutely. Walk offs suck, and are, in general, at odds with the core mechanics of a platform fighter, in that they turn "knock the opponent off the stage hard enough to prevent them from coming back" into "projectile camp the opponent from just before the blast zone, wait for them to approach, and throw them into it for a cheap kill."

They absolutely suck to play on. In Smash they tend to only be tolerable when they're like, a brief part of a traveling stage that rarely shows up (Halberd, Delfino Plaza, and Wuhu Island being some examples).

And actually unique obstacles is what makes Teeter Totter fun. Plus you and WWW have your competitive version of stages and plenty of basic competitive stuff replacing the stuff with soul (like Reptar Ruins). Let some of us have our fun for once.
The hell even made the Loud House """unplayable"""? I can at least understand people's complaints about Space Madness (since it ends up being more about keeping up with the stage than actually fighting), I cannot at all understand this.

You say "unique obstacles," I say "getting a cheap zero percent kill because of a stray down tilt at the edge of the teeter totter because the blast zone is an inch below the stage you're fighting on."

And let's not equate "soul" with one preferred playstyle over another, thanks. There are already well designed casual stages in the first game: Traffic Jam, CatDog's House, and Flying Dutchman's Ship are three great examples. I'm even somewhat partial to Slime Time when it's not chugging frames; it does the "high lower blast zone" gimmick so much better than Teeter Totter Gulch.

People not liking a stage's gimmick ≠ preventing you from having fun.

 

[Ze Diglett]

So boring platform above a plateau is more your style?

And actually unique obstacles is what makes Teeter Totter fun. Plus you and WWW have your competitive version of stages and plenty of basic competitive stuff replacing the stuff with soul (like Reptar Ruins). Let some of us have our fun for once.
The hell even made the Loud House """unplayable"""? I can at least understand people's complaints about Space Madness (since it ends up being more about keeping up with the stage than actually fighting), I cannot at all understand this.

I mean, I'll take a "boring platform above a plateau" 9 times out of 10, and part of that is that I'm willing to appreciate unique platform layouts more than outright disruptive stage hazards. Even if they look the same to you, there's a big difference between a stage like this:

and a stage like this:

What "unique obstacles" made Teeter-Totter Gulch "fun?" Is having barely any safe place to stand fun to you? (Space Madness isn't any better off with its whopping no safe places to stand - I don't think anyone's missing that one.) Honestly, Reptar Ruins looks way better than TTG from a visual, gameplay, and thematic standpoint. I see no downside to losing a bad stage for a better one. While The Loud House doesn't have any intrusive hazards on it, any match on it dragged way too long due to how big it is, not to mention the ****-you corner in the bottom right that's way too cramped to move around in.

For what it's worth, I actually think this game's stages strike a really good balance from what we've seen of them so far. My favorite stages in NASB1, believe it or not, were not the "boring" comp ones, but the stages with unique platform layouts and no intrusive hazards. Stuff like The Dump, Western Air Temple, and CatDog's House were some of my faves to play friendlies on due to how their layouts enabled expressive play beyond what you'd normally see in a competitive setting without enabling circle camping like the big stages do or feeling like you're fighting the stage more than the other players. That's why I honestly feel NASB2's approach to stages is better not only for comp players, but for the casual crowd as well. You're yelling at me to "let us have our fun" when your fun is right there.

 

[Faso115]

As someone who watched Danny Phantom in another language, i somehow didn't expect Ember's voice to literally be Tara's harley voice. Then again, she played Ember way before she played harley.

Ya think voice acting improved in this game?

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

I mean, I'll take a "boring platform above a plateau" 9 times out of 10, and part of that is that I'm willing to appreciate unique platform layouts more than outright disruptive stage hazards. Even if they look the same to you, there's a big difference between a stage like this:

and a stage like this:

What "unique obstacles" made Teeter-Totter Gulch "fun?" Is having barely any safe place to stand fun to you? (Space Madness isn't any better off with its whopping no safe places to stand - I don't think anyone's missing that one.) Honestly, Reptar Ruins looks way better than TTG from a visual, gameplay, and thematic standpoint. I see no downside to losing a bad stage for a better one. While The Loud House doesn't have any intrusive hazards on it, any match on it dragged way too long due to how big it is, not to mention the ****-you corner in the bottom right that's way too cramped to move around in.

For what it's worth, I actually think this game's stages strike a really good balance from what we've seen of them so far. My favorite stages in NASB1, believe it or not, were not the "boring" comp ones, but the stages with unique platform layouts and no intrusive hazards. Stuff like The Dump, Western Air Temple, and CatDog's House were some of my faves to play friendlies on due to how their layouts enabled expressive play beyond what you'd normally see in a competitive setting without enabling circle camping like the big stages do or feeling like you're fighting the stage more than the other players. That's why I honestly feel NASB2's approach to stages is better not only for comp players, but for the casual crowd as well. You're yelling at me to "let us have our fun" when your fun is right there.

Both of your examples look extremely boring, to be honest. What bothers me is that they're taking away a lot of the actually interesting stages and replacing them with generic-ass flat with two platforms stages. 1 already had a good balance of both, we shouldn't have to sacrifice memorable stages for the sake of tournaments that 5% of the playebase is actually interested in. Seriously, you guys would think that vanilla ice cream is too spicy for you.

Seriously, nobody ever ******* about Onett, and that actually has hazards. Why should people be ******** about the House?

And look at both Danny Phantom stages we've seen. Both big, wide, flat platforms with nothing else. Completely wasted potential.

You say "unique obstacles," I say "getting a cheap zero percent kill because of a stray down tilt at the edge of the teeter totter because the blast zone is an inch below the stage you're fighting on."

Why do you even care? You're not forced to play on this stage, nor does it ever appear during serious matches. A lot of these exist as crazy stages to have fun on. isn't that in the spirit of Nickelodeon? Its one god damn walk-off in a game full of tournament fodder. Its not gonna kill you...

Also, hot take, but Reptar Ruins has to be one of the worst replacements thus far. Alongside the layout, the concept is way too deep of a cut to be the sole Rugrats stage, and yet its generic enough that you have to be told its a Rugrats stage. At least in 1, Reptar himself represented the Reptar side of things, while Teeter Totter represented the babies, and the regular world of Rugrats. A decent balance. This game throws it out the window. This has to be the poorest representation of Rugrats I've ever seen. Look, I have a lot of respect for the devs, but they do make their fair share of questionable decisions.


Moral of the story: "I don't like it" =/= It should be cut for everyone

Something I'll give WWW props on, though, was an idea he had a couple of months back. Every stage has both a casual and competitive variant. BOOM! Everyone wins! And that only adds, it doesn't take away. Harmonic Convergence has this, so I hope some of the other stages do, too!

Its' amazing that a couple of dumb programming bugs from over 20 years ago are still having frustrating repercussions to this very day.

 

[Guynamednelson]

Its' amazing that a couple of dumb programming bugs from over 20 years ago are still having frustrating repercussions to this very day.

Smash wouldn't exist in the first place if it wasn't for glitches in Street Fighter II leading to fighters becoming a popular genre.

 

[Ze Diglett]

Seriously, you guys would think that vanilla ice cream is too spicy for you.

I actually tried hot sauce-flavored ice cream a few weeks back. It tasted too much like vanilla.

Its' amazing that a couple of dumb programming bugs from over 20 years ago are still having frustrating repercussions to this very day.

I'm not sure why you're bringing wavedashing into this? (Which isn't even a bug, by the way, but I digress.) All I'm getting from your posts is that you hate comp players' guts and think Smash being anything more than a party game you play at a friend's house was a mistake.

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

Smash wouldn't exist in the first place if it wasn't for glitches in Street Fighter II leading to fighters becoming a popular genre.

Maybe we'd be better off...

 

[RileyXY1]

Also, hot take, but Reptar Ruins has to be one of the worst replacements thus far. Alongside the layout, the concept is way too deep of a cut to be the sole Rugrats stage, and yet its generic enough that you have to be told its a Rugrats stage. At least in 1, Reptar himself represented the Reptar side of things, while Teeter Totter represented the babies, and the regular world of Rugrats. A decent balance. This game throws it out the window.

It's like the devs hate Rugrats and everything about it except for Reptar.

 

[Guynamednelson]

Maybe we'd be better off...

well at least my mental health wouldn't be deteriorating by not being able to play a game featuring Nigel Thornberry in the specific way that I want to

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

well at least my mental health wouldn't be deteriorating by not being able to play a game featuring Nigel Thornberry in the specific way that I want to

...

Anyway, if Pariah Dark's Lair and Clockwork's tower have identical layouts, do you think it might be a transforming/traveling stage between iconic Ghost Zone locations?

 

[Janx_uwu]

Maybe we'd be better off...

Well, NASB likely wouldn't exist in its current form if not for competitive Smash. The game would've just been another write-off shovelware title, like the Kung Fu Panda or TMNT platfighters. The whole reason people started paying attention to the game was for Discord screenshots about wavedashing and rollback netcode, and the insane juxtaposition between what people thought was a shovelware licensed game and die-hard competitive elements that even current Smash lacks.

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

Problem is, said competitive elements chewed up this game's identity. I don't want it to become one of those games where its more fun to watch than it actually is to play.

wavedashing and rollback netcode

Were you there during prerelease? People were giving this game attention long before rollback and wavedashing were revealed for the game.

 

[Guynamednelson]

Well, NASB likely wouldn't exist in its current form if not for competitive Smash.

I meant Smash wouldn't exist, period. Because Sakurai made it after accidentally kicking a couple's butt in KoF95. Which he was most likely doing with SF2 glitches that were turned into legit mechanics in virtually every single fighter since.

Problem is, said competitive elements chewed up this game's identity.

And if it wasn't for them, it'd have none. The playercount on Steam would still be struggling to reach double digits for different reasons.