Gaming

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl then and now: A work in progress

It could be the perfect competitor for what it’s worth

Published

February 8, 2022

Gab Orlina

Back in October 2021, our childhood came calling with the release of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl for current and next-gen consoles. Safe to say, our favorite Nickelodeon stars want to step into the realm of fighting games that resemble something very familiar to everyone at this point. Of course, I even went out of my way to claim that this game is “Super Smash Bros. but with Spongebob and Patrick.”

Even early on, I wouldn’t be wrong about making that statement. From the gameplay, stage design, to battle strategies, it’s a Smash clone through and through. Yet, it supposedly finds ways to be a bit different than the very game it’s imitating. So, for this review, we’re doing things a bit differently to see whether this game truly is worth giving a shot.

Smashing your way to victory

In every basic aspect of platform fighting games, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is clearly much like Smash Bros. and I honestly don’t blame it for being that way. In terms of overall combat mechanics, it nails every basic command that seasoned Smash players know and love/hate. Of course, in both games, the aim of the game remains the same: fight to the death, last fighter standing wins… you know the drill.

6 KOs, though!

Although, there are things that All-Star Brawl does differently that makes it rather beginner-friendly on the onset. For starters, I felt there was less RNG built into this game with the lack of objects you can throw at each other. Instead, this game opts to include the objects as individual character projectiles, which you can defend against rather easily.

Who is the true master of karate?

Secondly, the stages you play in also offer a variety of easy-to-move-around battlefields to areas where you will surely fall off if you’re not careful. Also, there are stages with elements that can affect you and your enemies, but don’t instantly kill you in the most random way possible. With all of these, it allows new players to try and learn the ins and outs of the game without being a total rage-fest from start to finish.

Familiar faces to the 90s Nick kids

This is, in my opinion, the biggest selling point of the game: the characters themselves. Honestly, this game brought back so many memories of my childhood that fighting as either SpongeBob SquarePants or Danny Phantom brought a smile to my face. During its launch, the game had 20 playable characters from across 13 different Nickelodeon-owned franchises, which is a good number to start.

Original 20 characters from the game’s launch back in October

Each character has its own unique set of moves that reference their attitudes and behaviors in their own respective franchises. From Sandy Cheeks’ high-powered karate chop to Nigel Thornberry’s “mmm smashing, yes” techniques, the game represents these characters quite well. I mean, they even have that SpongeBob meme as a taunt, so that’s a win in my book!

Granted, of course, there are some characters from newer franchises added in there for a more diverse cast. After all, this is a kids game with the same premise as Smash Bros.; if kids grew up watching Nickelodeon instead of playing Nintendo games, this is one way to get them to play this game with their friends and family members.

Initial outlook after the hype

Overall, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl provides a rather similar take on platform fighting games like Smash Bros., but it tries to be its own thing. When you look past all the glaring similarities in game mechanics and stage design, this game presents a different experience solely riding on the cast of characters you have at your disposal. Sure, it’s not Mario vs. Pikachu, but you can recreate that SpongeBob vs. Patrick fight over and over again.

You can mix Timed and Stock battle rules together for quicker matches

I’m not exactly as high on it with other games because of the other title it’s competing against. I know it has a long way to go if it wants to compete against something like Super Smash Bros. two weeks into release. However, I still think that this is a good start for a game that wants to rival arguably the most popular platform fighting game of this generation.

Although, this was two weeks since release. I decided to play this game again after a few months, not knowing if anything had changed since then.

Four months later, how does it stack up?

To this game’s credit, four months later, it maintained everything I noted on since its release. In essence, it’s still a platform fighting game with Nickelodeon characters at center stage. This time around, there are things I’d like to call out after this game gained numerous patch notes and underwent several changes along the way.

Improved gameplay with all the patches

This game only allows a maximum of four players for all battle modes

If I’m being honest, early on, I felt that the games finished rather too easily or too quickly thanks in part to the gameplay mechanics. I noted several characters with attacks that seemed completely broken in terms of damage and hit boxes, that a timer simply didn’t matter. Also, some stages were not exactly easy to compete in, especially when literally anything can hit you (ehem, Powdered Toast Trouble).

With four months worth of patches, I genuinely felt the match times got a bit longer, the characters dealt balanced damage, but the maps still felt like a chore to move around. Of course, I felt this had to be done especially if there are characters that genuinely felt overpowered to use (SpongeBob and Ren and Stimpy, in my opinion).

Also, I want to touch on online play as well, considering I didn’t really do this within the first two weeks of launch. Honestly, I’m glad I started playing online now rather than before because of the gameplay improvements, plus I could actually queue with people this time.

But why keep the character count scarce all this time?

Although, one of the biggest gripes I had in the four months since I last played was the lack of new characters introduced. As of the time of writing, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl added a grand total of TWO new characters for free via DLC: Garfield and Shredder from TMNT. I understand that they worked on everyone else in between, but there were so many opportunities to include other characters into the roster.

Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; added to the game from the February update

On the top of my head, you can put Squidward Tentacles and Arnold in there, since they’re also iconic and rather popular Nickelodeon characters. Also, there are other storied franchises that deserve inclusion, with characters from The Fairly OddParents, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, The Angry Beavers, and Chalkzone, among others.

Initial selection of stages from the game’s launch; hope they could add more later on!

Sure, there will be future updates that might have these characters in the pipeline, but I honestly felt that they could have done so much in four months. If you want to rival Smash Bros., beef up the roster to add more madness to the brawl!

So, is it worth playing all this time?

I said it before, and I’ll say it again: Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is a rather unique take on a platform fighting game mostly because of the characters you play with. In terms of the gameplay formula, Super Smash Bros. really set the tone for every other publisher out there that wants to create something similar. In essence, All-Star Brawl became another one of its clones that I still think comes close compared to others.

After playing this game again after four months, I would still call it a work in progress — and that’s a good thing. In terms of what it lacks compared to its rival, I think there’s still so much room to grow and so much time to do so. Gameplay-wise, it’s still exciting and heart-pounding (and possibly controller-smashing, too).

I still urge you to give this game a try, especially if you don’t have a Nintendo Switch and something like Brawlhalla doesn’t suit you. Yes, it still has a lot of catching up to do, but this game still deserves some recognition for doing things a bit differently.

Related Topics:Nickelodeon Nickelodeon: All-Star Brawl

Gaming

Nintendo will make it cheaper to buy digital games than physical

Physical releases will have the same price.

Published

March 26, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The days of lining up for a newly released game are well and truly over. Though some games still experience shortages in brick-and-mortar stores, such as the widely successful Pokémon Pokopia, gamers can get their titles digitally. Now, Nintendo is making digital releases more enticing by offering a tempting discount on the eShop.

Starting in May, Nintendo will start charging different prices for the physical and digital releases of first-party games. While physical releases will still have the same prices going forward, digital releases via the eShop will enjoy a discount.

The discount, of course, will likely depend on the title itself. Nintendo has already given the upcoming Yoshi and the Mysterious Book as the first example. The new platformer will cost US$ 70 from retailers. However, it will cost only US$ 60 on the digital eShop.

The company says that the new pricing scheme “simply reflects the different costs associated with producing and distributing each format.” With the prices of chips skyrocketing, it’s no surprise that the physical release is more expensive than the digital one.

To be more technical about it, Nintendo has started skipping a physical game card for a while now. The physical release of Pokémon Pokopia, for example, has only a game-key card or a code to download the game. In this format, physical releases are just pretty cases you can display on your shelf.

Also, digital releases do carry the added risk of getting delisted on the whims of the developers, the publishers, or Nintendo itself. It is, however, still a cheaper option, especially in a world where getting any discount is a welcome thought.

SEE ALSO: Nintendo sues the United States

Gaming

Razer Blade 16 (2026) packs more cores, faster memory

Razer’s thinnest gaming laptop yet

Published

March 26, 2026

Rodneil Quiteles

Razer has officially unveiled the 2026 version of its Blade 16, doubling down on what it does best: squeezing high-end performance into an ultra-slim chassis.

This year’s refresh focuses on meaningful internal upgrades. That includes a new Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, faster LPDDR5X memory, and NVIDIA’s latest RTX 50 Series laptop GPUs — all while keeping the Blade 16 as the thinnest gaming laptop in Razer’s lineup.

Performance gets a serious bump

At the core of the new Blade 16 is the Intel Core Ultra 9 386H, featuring 16 cores and up to 4.9GHz boost clock. Razer claims a 33% increase in core count versus the previous generation, translating to stronger performance across gaming, content creation, and AI workloads.

There’s also an integrated NPU capable of up to 50 TOPS, enabling faster on-device AI tasks like image generation and live translation.

Memory gets a notable upgrade too. The Blade 16 now supports up to 64GB of LPDDR5X-9600MHz RAM, which Razer positions as the fastest available in a laptop today. The result: quicker responsiveness for heavy multitasking, creative apps, and AI-assisted workflows.

On the graphics side, NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 50 Series (Blackwell architecture) brings DLSS 4 and enhanced AI capabilities for both gaming and creator use cases.

Display and design stay premium

Razer isn’t fixing what isn’t broken. The Blade 16 retains its signature CNC-milled aluminum chassis, measuring just 14.9mm thick and weighing around 2.14kg.

The display remains a highlight. You get a 16-inch QHD+ OLED panel with a 240Hz refresh rate, now brighter and certified for VESA DisplayHDR TrueBlack 1000. It supports full DCI-P3 coverage, Calman calibration, and NVIDIA G-SYNC, making it just as suited for creators as it is for competitive gaming.

Battery life and efficiency improve

Despite the performance gains, Razer is also pushing efficiency. Thanks to Intel’s newer architecture and system-level optimizations, the Blade 16 can hit up to 13 hours of productivity use and up to 15 hours of video playback under ideal conditions.

That’s a notable improvement for a machine in this class, especially given its slim form factor.

Connectivity and audio step up

The 2026 Blade 16 gets a future-ready connectivity suite, including Thunderbolt 5, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6.0. There’s also a full set of ports, from USB-A to HDMI 2.1 and an SD card reader.

Audio gets an upgrade too. The six-speaker system now supports THX Spatial Audio+ with virtual 7.1.4 surround, aiming to deliver more immersive sound both on speakers and headphones.

Price and availability

The Razer Blade 16 configured with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 (16GB VRAM) and 32GB LPDDR5X-9600MHz RAM is priced at US$3,499.99 / €3,599.99 MSRP.

It is available now, exclusively via Razer.com and select RazerStores worldwide.

Still the Blade, just sharper

At a glance, the 2026 Blade 16 doesn’t reinvent the formula. But under the hood, it pushes performance, memory speed, and efficiency forward in ways that matter.

It’s still the same idea: a no-compromise gaming laptop that looks like it belongs in a minimalist workspace — just faster, smarter, and a bit more future-proof this time around.

Accessories

Razer sharpens its competitive edge with Viper V4 Pro and Gigantus V2 Pro

Ultra-light. Ultra-tuned.

Published

March 26, 2026

GadgetMatch

Razer expands its pro-grade lineup with a lightweight mouse and a highly customizable mouse mat built for different playstyles. The Razer Viper V4 Pro focuses on speed, precision, and responsiveness, while the Razer Gigantus V2 Pro brings tailored surface options that adapt to how players move.

Lighter, faster, and built for control

The Viper V4 Pro weighs approximately 49g in Black and 50g in White, making it around nine percent lighter than its predecessor. Razer achieves this through mechanical refinements like a thinner shell and a more compact PCB, without compromising durability. The structure still feels solid in hand, even with the aggressive weight reduction.

This balance matters in competitive play. A lighter mouse reduces fatigue and allows quicker adjustments, but stability keeps movements consistent. The Viper V4 Pro aims to deliver both.

Plug in, tweak, and play instantly

Razer also streamlines setup and tuning. The optimized hemispherical dongle maintains stable connectivity while providing quick status updates through LED indicators.

Players can adjust settings without installing software using Razer Synapse Web, enabling browser-based customization. Onboard controls allow quick DPI and polling rate changes mid-match, so adjustments happen without breaking focus.

A mouse mat that adapts to your play style

The Gigantus V2 Pro evolves Razer’s mouse mat lineup by introducing five distinct speed ratings paired with corresponding foam firmness. Instead of a one-size-fits-all surface, players can now choose based on how they aim and move.

Developed with esports pros like Nikola “NiKo” Kovač, Faker, and Zellsis, each variant reflects real competitive needs across different roles and playstyles.

The five surface options include:

Max Control for ultra-high friction and precise flicks
Control for consistent micro-adjustments
Balance for a mix of speed and stopping power
Speed for quicker swipes
Max Speed for the fastest possible movements

Each surface is paired with Razer’s GlideCore foam, tuned to match the friction profile. Softer variants provide more stopping power, while firmer ones prioritize speed and responsiveness.

Built for consistency across every match

Razer ensures the Gigantus V2 Pro works seamlessly with modern optical sensors. Lab testing guarantees consistent tracking, whether for fine adjustments or wide flicks.

The mat is also designed for competitive environments. It features stitched edges to prevent fraying, an anti-slip base for stability, and a rollable build that makes it easy to bring to tournaments.

A complete competitive setup

Together, the Viper V4 Pro and Gigantus V2 Pro form a cohesive setup that covers both input and surface. The mouse emphasizes low latency, precision tracking, and a shape validated by pros. The mouse mat complements it with clear, playstyle-based options.

Rather than focusing on a single standout feature, Razer builds a system. One that supports consistent performance, adapts to player preference, and helps turn practice into results when it matters most.