Not since the heyday of Project M has a game united the Smash community, bringing the stars of Melee and more modern titles together, but that could all be about to change with the impending release of Nickelodeon All Stars Brawl (NASB). The game, based around Nickelodeon staples like Spongebob, Ren and Stimpy and Catdog, is set to release next month, and it’s fair to say it has some very big names from Smash excited to play.

For those who don’t know, NASB is being developed by Ludosity, the company behind cult platform fighter Slap City, and shares many mechanics with Super Smash Bros Melee. This led to a fair few top Melee players stating they would be checking it out on release, including but not limited to a couple of GOAT contenders in the shape of Mango and Armada.

Seeing the kid ruling the stage as Spongebob would be the sort of crossover content fans can only dream of, and the return of Armada could be even more hype. Fans should be aware he has only committed to streaming NASB, but who knows what effect the game could have on one of the most competitive humans in esports history, especially if it allows him to compete online initially and get the taste of blood back in his metaphorical mouth.

Crew battle for the ages?

Perhaps the most exciting part of the new release will be the potential for cross-game crew battles, at least from a Smash point of view, with players from the Smash 4/Ultimate side of things going head to head with their Melee peers.

Crew battle was possible in Project M as big names from both games competed in that title, but the underground nature of that game, combined with Nintendo’s archaic approach to the community, meant that we never really saw it reach its full potential.

With NASB being an official title, and no indication that publishers GameMill are as backward or controlling as Nintendo are toward the Smash scene, there is finally a chance this could happen, and fans are going to be hyped. There are a lot of bridges left to cross before we get to that point, but if all goes well we could one day see MKLeo vs Mango in the Spongebob ditto, and we think it’s safe to say that’s a future everyone wants to live in.