The future of crossover platform fighters, and what they can learn from past mistakes

In the past decade, platforms like PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have seen a renaissance in console gaming. With that comes crossover fighters- titles which are developed for multiple consoles with cross compatibility. While these games may seem successful with their multi-platform approach, there is one downfall to players: lag. Cross platform fighting games struggle because of this persistent issue. What can be done to combat this problem? This paper will explore how top game developers successfully addressed network latency while maintaining gameplay fluidity by implementing an adaptive ping system..

The “nickelodeon all-star brawl roster” is a fighting game that features characters from Nickelodeon’s shows. The game has been in development for years and it was released on October 16th, 2017. This article will discuss the mistakes made during the development of the game, and how future crossover platform fighters can learn from them.

Marvel vs. Capcom shown that crossovers can be popular in games as well as in comedies and cartoons. The platform fighting genre was primarily invented with Super Smash Bros., which pushed crossovers to new heights. For the first time, gamers may control characters from multiple video game brands in the same game and battle each other – a childhood fantasy come true for many. 

New character additions for later entries, such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, have become big events in the gaming world, often overshadowing other important gaming news. Other firms are attempting to catch up, with the debut of Nickelodeon All-Stars Brawl and the recently announced MultiVersus indicating that more crossover games are on the way. Many of these games, however, were unable to capture the same lightning in a bottle. Can MultiVersus and other possible crossover games achieve the kind of success that so many others have?

Other crossover fighting games have failed for a variety of reasons. For one thing, most other crossover games’ lineups could never compare to Nintendo’s. The roster for the first game was only 12 characters, but by the time we got to Ultimate, it had grown to over 70. 

Image courtesy of Nintendo

Sony has some of the most well-known gaming franchises, so it was only natural for the company to attempt to replicate Smash’s popularity with PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Despite this, PlayStation All-Stars lacked a diverse cast of personalities. We received Fat Princess and Raiden instead of PlayStation icons like Crash Bandicoot and Solid Snake in All-Stars. Snake and even Cloud Strife, ironically, would appear in Smash rather than All-Stars.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl seemed to be gearing up to be a serious competitive successor to Super Smash Bros. As the release date approached, excitement for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl grew, and many gamers speculated that it might be the next game to replace Ultimate. Unfortunately, All-Star Brawl ran into difficulty when it became evident that the game lacked the polish of Smash. The game’s aesthetics were never one of its strongest selling points, but after debut, the game’s overall low cost became more obvious.

The single-player mode in All-Star Brawl is lacking in material. There is nothing further to do with the game once you finish everyone’s Arcade. The absence of character voices was a major flaw that the creators were quick to solve even before the game was launched. It didn’t help that the last DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Sora from Kingdom Hearts, was unveiled on the same day as All-Star Brawl, utterly stealing the focus. After a month, the All-Star Brawl has mostly lost its relevance.

GameMill Entertainment provided this image.

Most notably, none of these previous crossovers included someone as prominent as Masahiro Sakurai. Sakurai’s presence as Smash Bros. director provided the series a face that fans can relate to. His endearing on-screen presence and sincere devotion to his followers have made him one of gaming’s most adored designers. PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl each lacked their own Sakurai. To be fair to those titles, Sakurai is one of the few video game creators whose name is familiar to the general public.

With more crossover games on the way, it’s hoped that some of them will learn from their errors. For starters, with these sorts of games, publishers cannot afford to take shortcuts. They can’t just hand over a little budget to the developer and expect people to enjoy it merely because of what it promises. Single-player modes aren’t going to be skipped in any of these prospective crossover titles. Anyone can pick up and play Smash Bros. Ultimate’s huge, hours-long single-player mode. Online and multiplayer modes are still crucial, but if you don’t have anything else to do when you simply want to play by yourself, you’ll eventually abandon the game. 

The net code for online multiplayer modes should also be excellent. No one wants to play a jerky online battle, and having a nice online experience should be a top focus for any crossover fighting game. While not every fighting game can compete with Nintendo’s roster, all crossover games should include a sizable roster with a diverse range of characters. Sony should not have published PlayStation All-Stars without Crash Bandicoot, yet they did, to the game’s disadvantage. It’s also crucial for a crossover fighting game to have someone like Sakurai as its ambassador. People loved Smash because there was someone like Sakurai talking about it, not because of the characters or gameplay.

Image courtesy of Nintendo

With MultiVersus, Warner Bros. is tossing its hat into the crossover ring, avoiding the traps that others have fallen into in the past. Warner even stretched its biceps by saying that MultiVersus would include voice work from Kevin Conroy and Tara Strong, two well-known voice performers. Warner Bros. is making it clear that the game will not be half-baked, with features missing from Nickelodeon All-Stars. The MultiVersus unveiling trailer also featured director Tony Huynh as the film’s own Sakurai-like public face. The game will even be free to play at launch, encouraging more people to give it a try. The roster is the most apparent drawback of MultiVersus, however this may be remedied with upgrades.

MultiVersus could well be the actual Smash successor that fans have been waiting for. It’s also conceivable that a significant upgrade for Nickelodeon All-Stars may include long-awaited features like voice acting and a robust single-player option. With such possible changes, Nickelodeon All-Stars Brawl may be the Smash killer that fans have been waiting for.

Companies are eager to attempt to fill up the Smash-shape hole in gamers’ hearts so that they can make all that yummy Smash money now that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been done and the franchise’s future is undetermined. If we’re about to enter a new era of crossover games, let’s hope that these studios have learnt from their errors and will genuinely make this period a golden age of platform fighters.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment provided this image.

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The “nickelodeon fighting game” is a crossover platform fighter that was released in 2009. The game had great success, but it also made some mistakes. Nickelodeon has been able to learn from these mistakes and create a new successful game.

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