The Real Reason Pro Smash Bros. Players Are Embarrassed By The New Nickelodeon Game
It's hard to imagine anyone's 2021 video game bingo card having a square reading "Smash Bros., but, like, Nickelodeon characters instead" on it — but here we are. Yesterday's reveal trailer for "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl" had gamers excited, but scratching their heads. Where had they seen the upcoming game's brand of bombastic melee action before? The obvious answer is, of course, the "Super Smash Bros." series of Nintendo-centric fighting games. However, the incredible resemblance isn't the main thing that has "Smash Bros." pros embarrassed by the new game.
As reported by Dexerto, the developers behind "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl” have confirmed that Nick's "Smash" clone will support rollback netcode on certain platforms. Basically, that means that its online multiplayer matches will minimize lag and shoddy connectivity — a claim that "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" cannot make.
The online multiplayer component of "Smash Bros. Ultimate" has been plagued by issues since its launch, leaving many players disillusioned by what they consider a set of broken or unpolished features. Now, a few vocal professional "Smash" players have taken to Twitter to vent their frustrations over the fact that "All-Star Brawl" is set to have better online functionality than Nintendo's AAA fighting game.
Plenty of video games have online multiplayer issues, which can range from hacker problems to an inability to maintain a well-functioning server (looking at you, "Warzone"). On the other hand, it's pretty rare for a game as big and beloved as "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" to go almost three years without any significant improvements to its online component. Dexerto reports that "Ultimate" creator Masahiro Sakurai even showed interest in the idea of improving connectivity — but ultimately did little about it.
Smash Bros. pros think they're in the Darkest Timeline
Suffice it to say, the possibility of "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl" one-upping "Smash Bros. Ultimate" has the internet losing its collective mind — and "Smash Bros." pros are at the heart of the insanity.
On Twitter, Canadian "Smash Bros." pro Michael "Riddles" Kim wrote, "I think the fact that an indie nickelodeon based fighting game has rollback and [that] one with worldwide famous video game icons and is a [AAA] title doesn't is pretty damn embarrassing." In a follow-up tweet, he added, "One day we'll stop taking L's," followed by a sad face emoji.
In the same thread, L4st, Team Liquid's community tech coordinator, theorized that "All-Star Brawl" might support rollback on all platforms but the Switch — meaning the online component of "Smash Bros. Ultimate" might be as lackluster as it is because "Switch just doesn't have the architecture to support it."
Meanwhile, pro "Smash" player Ramin "Mr. R" Delshad tweeted, "The nickelodeon platform fighter having rollback netcode has to be one of the most depressing things as a Nintendo or Smash fan." He joked, "LOL what a timeline we're in."
While it is a bit shocking that a huge IP like Nintendo's "Super Smash Bros." is being upstaged by Nick's "Smash" clone, only time will tell how the game's online multiplayer functionality truly holds up when it drops this fall.