izigame.me

Let me start off by saying that Steam's "Would you recommend this game to others Y/N?" system is a bit too black and white for what I want to say here. While I do think the game could be considered "good" in a sense it is clear that this game is dead on arrival. Also, I have not played the original so this review will be in a vacuum from that. Also I had no expectations going in. Did anyone actually unironically expect this game to be good? I don't think so.

1. You thought we finna simp for this roster???

Probably the biggest part. As the title for this section suggests the roster isn't very good. There were cuts from the last game which I am fine with the IDEA of, but who they chose to cut and who to keep is baffling. Why isn't Sandy here? Why don't we have all 4 turtles, but ****ing April is still in? You cut Lincoln, the protagonist of the Loud House and kept Lucy? The newcomers are also a very mixed bag. You do have good picks like Jimmy Neutron, Squidward, and the Angry Beavers, but they also traded Leo and Mikey for Raph and Donnie. Azula is a strange choice considering that there were like 2-4 Avatar characters that should have taken priority. Ember? I mean... Vlad was right there. Bosses also being playable characters is not a foreign idea, especially with Vlad's smaller size compared to the other bosses and moveset potential. Gerald and Grandma Gertie? Aren't there better characters for Hey Arnold like... I dunno... Arnold himself? "But he's a pacifist!" So are Iron Giant (Multiversus) and Isabelle (SSBU) yet they still showed up to throw hands in their respective games. Oh and your telling me that dlc characters have been shown? Well lets see... Zuko and Mr. Krabs good, good,... Uncle Iroh and Rocksteady!? Who came up with this roster, an AI program? Now I for one like the addition of an oddball character but there are just to many strange picks here. There were more important and more fan favorite characters that just are not here. All so that they can make a couple of unfunny roster jokes. Which is literally the whole reason that Garfield is here. "Oh but they own the rights to him now!" I do not care. Garfield is not a nicktoon. At least TMNT had a couple of shows made specifically for the network before their inclusion. Garfield was never funny, neither are the millennials who meme him.
tl;dr: The roster kinda sucks which is a shame considering the roster is the biggest draw for a crossover game.


2. Is this game a beehive? Because It's full of bugs!

Holy cow, There are enough bugs here to rival a Bethesda game. Not on the level of something like F76 or starfield, but wew. I have had my game soft lock just by trying to change my character in the campaign. Dialog boxes in the campaign will get confused and display the wrong character while someone is talking. I have had, after an offline singles mach, my character indefinitely fall in the results screen void while the camera was zoomed out to an almost hilarious degree. Sartana's ai just giving up 3/4ths the way in her fight. Among other things.

3. The sin of greed knows no bounds.

Selling this for 50$ is a move that only someone like Mr. Krabs could make. This game is barely worth 29.99 let alone the actual price tag. I pray every night for the poor suckers that bought the 80$ version of this. Also,DAY 1 DLC! Uh question. Weren't those costumes in the costume dlc supposed to be rewards for completing arcade mode with the characters? And you're now selling them to me for 20$? The fuck??? Hell, some of the characters' costumes aren't even worth any price tag. Mainly Spongebob's, April's, Reptar's and the Beavers'. Also 20$!? WTF? I could get an entire indie game or two with that money! And a season pass day 1 as well? Screw me with a rusty sippy cup. I just know some executive crap is behind this mess.


4. Who wrote this shit?

One of the biggest draws for this came compared to the original is the voice acting. It's... a mixed bag. A lot of the characters have weird line delivery. Some don't even sound like they're trying (I'm looking at you Aang, Jimmy, and Korra). Squidward's voice actor sounded like he was struggling to do the role so much that at one point I thought they used an ai voice for him. There is still a good amount of actors who sound like they're trying though. The writing also sucks. Even if all the voice actors were at the top of their game, the dialog sucks. Characters, most of the time, will not acknowledge another character's presence If they are not from the same show. Like, you'd think that Jimmy would have a nice chat with Nora about science, but no. The only exceptions to this are Bosses, Clockwork, and a one time per character interaction with Gary where the majority of the cast will be surprised that a snail meow'd. The dialogue that is written for these interactions however feel awkward and disjointed. Characters feel like they can see the other guy's lips moving but have to make a guess at what their saying. Clockwork says "TMI" at one point, which for a wise, otherworldly figure such as himslf is out of character.


5. The golden question.

After all that complaining, there is but one thing to ask. A question that some gamers say is the defining factor in a game. That question is: Is the game fun?. Yes. Yes it is. The gameplay loop is solid. The characters are fun to play, not to mention are generally on point with a few notible exceptions, one example of which being Garfield. Such a fat, lazy character should not be rushdown. Perhaps a more defensive playstyle would be more fitting for the character? It is fun to use Jimmy's air down strong to bounce around like in the movie. It's fun to switch between Daggett and Norbert and having the non active brother assist you. It's fun to see a heavy character that doesn't completely suck (Plankton) This is why it's so hard for me to decide whether or not I would or wouldn't recommend. Because there IS something here. I just don't think that most people will see it.

Extra Points

-The advertising for this game is abysmal. The only reason I remembered that this was coming out was because an L.S. Mark video of this game showed up in my youtube feed
-Where Multiversus felt like it was made by people that would rather be making a moba, this game feels like it was made by people who would rather be developing the actual super smash bros melee itself than this. Case and point half of Gertie's moveset is literally just a ripoff of Captain Falchon's and wave-dashing is an intended mechanic.
-Whoever composed the music deserves a raise. Particularly noteworthy tracks include the loudhouse graveyard stage music, the tremorton stage music, and the minigame music.
-Graphically the game looks pretty alright all things considered.
-The campaign mode being rougelike is an intresting way to do a crossover platform fighter story mode and a good alternative for one that does not have the budget for an actual Subspace Emisary-esqe campaign.
-The online is...ok? I've had a few matches where I was able to play normally and I have had it break and freeze on me multiple times. My internet sucks, but it doesn't suck that bad for the latter to happen.

Final Verdict

6/10
Overall this game is the textbook definition of a mixed bag. I think the concept of a Nickelodeon platform fighter could work, but I don't think the people who are calling the shots on this project are what it needs to work. Again, the roster picks are weird, the bugs are plentiful, the writing and the delivery on the voice acting sucks, the online is unstable at times and the experience itself is overpriced. And again the game does have its merits. The majority of this review being negative is mostly because it's easier to say the things you DON'T like about something than it is to say the things you DO like. I just hope we get a good Nick platform fighter one day.