Additional characters, crossplay, and voice acting confirmed for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl!

During a stream by famous Super Smash Bros. player HungryBox, the art director for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, Diego Hernández, hopped on and spoke about a number of features that he and the rest of the Ludosity team are planning on adding.

First of all is that they are working on the final free DLC character. For those who don't know, the game was intended to release with 22 playable characters, but had to drop two of them to get the game out on time. As a compromise, they decided to release them later on for free.

Garfield is one of the two characters. The other one is suspected to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' iconic foe, the Shredder, due to a few interesting files found when players datamined the game.

They also revealed that a couple more characters - as well as stages - are being worked on. When HungryBox asked if the new characters would "grant all of our wishes" or are "gonna blast our minds", Diego simply responded "maybe," which seems to imply that two of the characters being worked on may be Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner. Regardless, we'll mostly likely find out who they are as development on them gets closer to completion.

Crossplay is also in development, which will allow players to play against others who own the game, but on a different platform. (Thus, a PC player can play against Nintendo Switch, XBox One, XBox Series X/S, and PlayStation 4/5 users) Diego mentions that he and the team were planning on including this on launch, but felt they needed to test it out more before they included it.

Finally, Diego mentioned that they are adding a "highly requested feature," which was all but outright said to be voice acting. A very common complaint amongst reviewers was that all of the characters are completely silent in the game. While a reason was never given, it's often suspected by fans that voices never happened because of budget constraints, but it seems that the game's success has finally cleared that problem.

While a date for all of these has not been said, crossplay is expected to be released sometime in Q1 of 2022.

The name of Sonic's next adventure is Sonic Frontiers!

Following the reveal of the trailer from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie in the Game Awards, SEGA released a trailer for the next upcoming Sonic game, Sonic Frontiers!

Dr. Eggman has discovered some ancient technology on the mysterious Starfall Islands. Wanting to use it for his own nefarious purposes, Eggman installs an AI named SAGE to hack into it so that he can use it. However, there's more to this technology than Eggman realizes, and something quickly goes awry. Sonic the Hedgehog soon arrives on the island, and now he has to deal with the unforeseen consequences of Eggman's actions, as well as save his friends who are also on the island.

Sonic Frontiers is also described by SEGA to be an "Open-Zone", which probably translates to "Open-World" akin to the ever-popular comparison, "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild." An open-world Sonic title has never been done before, so this attempt could be interesting. Takashi Iizuka, current head of Sonic Team, has said that he is hoping that this game will be the start of the future for the Sonic series going forward.

Besides Sonic and Eggman, Tails is also set to appear, judging by a tweet from Tail's current voice actor, Colleen O'Shaughnessey. Additionally, it seems Amy Rose is also in the game. This was accidentally confirmed in the XBox version of the trailer, where if you turn the subtitles on, it reveals that the mysterious voice calling out to Sonic is her.

Also of note, the writer for the game's plot is Ian Flynn. For those who don't know, Ian previously worked on the Archie Sonic comics, as well as the current IDW Sonic comic. Previously, the writer for the Sonic the Hedgehog games was Ken Pontac and Warren Graff, starting with 2010's Sonic Colors. While some fans considered their writing a breath of fresh air following the plots of Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 and 2008's Sonic Unleashed, their writing style began to come under criticism by 2013's Sonic Lost World, coming to a head in 2017's Sonic Forces.

Sonic Frontiers is expected to be released in the holiday season by 2022 for PlayStation 4/5, XBox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC through Steam.

The trailer for the Sonic the Hedgehog Movie 2 revealed!

On the official Twitter account for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie series, they posted a tweet on December 7th telling fans to turn notifications on for #SonicMovie2. Likewise, Colleen O'Shaughnessey would confirm she would be returning to voice Tails, Sonic's two-tailed fox sidekick, in the movie, saying that she's "Taking my old pal Tails for another adventure." On December 8th, the Sonic Movie account would revealed the official movie poster for the upcoming film.

Finally, on December 9th during the Game Awards, Ben Shwartz - the voice actor for Sonic in the movie - and Jim Carrey - who plays Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik - would reveal the trailer.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 takes place one year after the previous film. After his fight with Dr. Robotnik, Sonic has been living with Tom (played by James Marsden) and Maddie Wachowski (played by Tika Sumpter) in Green Hills. Lately, Sonic has been wanting to become a hero, and has been sneaking out to perform heroic deeds. Tom and Maddie decide to go on vacation and leave Sonic in Green Hills so that he can have some time alone.

Just as soon as they leave however, who else should show up but Dr. Robotnik, who has managed to escape his banishment to the Mushroom Planet Sonic sent him to in the last film.

Robotnik has also brought a new ally with him: Knuckles the Echidna (voiced by Idris Elba). Robotnik is searching for the Master Emerald, which has the power to both build and destroy civilizations.

Sonic isn't alone on this new journey, as he soon meets Tails, a young fox who's eager to help Sonic out in this quest Now the two of them have to find the Master Emerald first before Robotnik and Knuckles do!

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is planned to be released on April 8th, 2022.

This wasn't the only Sonic news revealed, as a trailer for Sonic's latest adventure, Sonic Frontiers, would also be revealed. You can read more about it here.

Garfield Joins Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl!

IGN has revealed the newest fighter joining Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl: Garfield from... well, the Garfield series!

Initially published locally as Jon in 1976 and then nationwide as Garfield in 1978, Garfield started out as a Newspaper strip created by a man named Jim Davis. The comic often focuses on humorous interactions between the three main protagonists, Garfield, Jon, and Odie. Other re-occurring characters include the veterinarian Liz, Garfield's on-again-off-again girlfriend Arlene, and the self-proclaimed "world's cutest kitten" Nermal.

Garfield would make his first animated debut in The Fantastic Funnies, where he was voiced by Scott Beach. From 1982 to 1991, Garfield would receive twelve animated primetime specials, where he would be voiced by Lorenzo Music, Garfield's most well-known voice actor. Garfield would also receive a cartoon series, starting with Garfield and Friends in 1994, to The Garfield Show in 2016. In 2019, Viacom would acquire the Garfield License, and in 2020, a new cartoon starring the lasagna-loving cat was said to be in the works for Nickelodeon.

Garfield blocking one of SpongeBob's attacks.

In Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, Garfield attacks range from conventional to unconventional. From swiping at his foes with his claws, to throwing a pie, to eating a plate of Lasagna. (Yes, really.)

One of his - presumably special - moves involves him throwing his teddy bear, Pooky, forwards. Presumably pressing the special button again, Garfield then holds his arms out as Pooky comes flying back to his owner, damaging and flinging opponents away. More info on Garfield and his moves is expected to be revealed later.

Garfield crosses paths with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the first second third time.

Garfield will be arriving on December 9th for free on the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation versions of the game. Nintendo Switch owners will have to wait a bit longer to play as Garfield, though.

A new fan-made "Mother 4" project announced!

Ever heard of a fan game titled Mother 4? It entered development back in 2008 and was planning to be released back in Winter 2014. As most EarthBound/Mother fans know, the game ended up getting delayed, and is still being worked on. In 2017, it was announced that they would be removing all of the EarthBound content, as well as change its name to "Oddity" in an attempt to avoid a potential C&D from Nintendo. Much later in October of this month, a few disgruntled fans who were helping to make the game would anonymously leak a couple of the game's assets, as well as a few playable demos, while also revealing that there was a lot of production trouble behind the scenes.

Well, a new game is now stepping up to the fray, and if you couldn't guess, it's also has the title of "Mother 4." Being in development for at least 2 years, this new Mother 4 fan project follows a group of teenagers as they journey across a "rose-tinted America."

Our heroes! From left-to-right, Maggie, Aaron, Troy, and Trisme.

The story, as described on the official site, has three young men discover an unwelcome guest hiding deep in the woods, turning America on its head. Our protagonist, Aaron, must tour the United States to deal with the aftermath of that meeting, as well as uncover the mystery behind the "Rift Shells," ancient artifacts of awesome PSI power and dubious origin. Along the way, Aaron will be meet the overconfident mechanic Maggie, the reserved yet proficient Troy, the dense but kind hearted magician Trisme, along with many other loyal allies and oddball foes.

Gameplay is similar to previous installments. You make your heroes run around and explore various areas and locations, where you can interact with various characters or find helpful items. Sometimes there will be enemies lurking about. If you run into them, you enter a battle against them. If you sneak up on them from behind, you'll gain the advantage over them, though if you allow them to attack you from behind, the they'll gain the advantage.

Battles are similar to how they are in EarthBound with the series iconic rolling HP bars, which slowly tick down as you take damage, which can allow you to take fatal blows and either keep attacking the enemies, or quickly heal your characters before their HP hits zero. The game also has Mother 3's comboing system, which allows you to deal extra damage to enemies if you press a button in time to the battle music.

The developers of the game also have an official website set up, along with a FAQ which should answer any question you may have. (For starters, they aren't worried about a possible Cease-&-Desist from Nintendo) They also have a YouTube account, as well as a Twitter account. (Check out this cool concept art for our fearless heroes! ... and Jared.)

Are you looking forward to Mother 4? You can bet this writer is, and hoping that things will go well for the dev team. Regardless, tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Alternate costumes arrive in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl!

As revealed a couple of days ago on the the official Twitter page, alternate costumes have finally arrived in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl as part of a free update!

Leonardo and Michelangelo's alternate costume has them in a black-n-white color scheme, making them resemble the 1984 Leo and Mikey from the original Mirage comic book. Meanwhile, April's costume is based on the "Channel 6 Newsvan" toy.

These range from SpongeBob wearing the #1 Soda Drinking Hat, Purple Reptar, and Leonardo and Michelangelo sporting black-n-white colors to resemble the 1984 turtles from the original Mirage comics!

Zim sporting his iconic "human disguise." Sadly, GIR doesn't wear his "dog disguise" when Zim is wearing this.

The bad news is that each character only gets one. According to Thaddeus - one of the producers for the game -  they had planned to add simple recolors for all of the characters. (SpongeBob, for instance, would've been recolored to have Patrick's, Squidward's, and Mr. Krabs's color scheme) However, for whatever reason, Nickelodeon said no to the idea, wanting the characters to only have "canon alts" instead (In other words, the developers could only use outfits the characters have worn in their shows, or in merchandising.) While it is great to have at least something to help one character stand out from another in mirror matches, a few characters suffer from minimal differences that are hard to spot at a glance.

Survey needs you to spot the difference between Korra's original outfit (left) and her alternate costume (right).

You can check out the video here!

Which alternate costume is your favorite? Tell us in the comments below!

A new Brawler will be announced on the 7th of December for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl.

As stated on the official Twitter account, a new fighter will be announced at IGN on December 7th.

It's currently unknown who it will be, but there is some speculation, thanks to a datamine that happened during the game's release. If you don't wish to be spoiled, then stop reading now.

You good? Here we go.

Deep in the game's code, fans have discovered a few unused files. Two of the files appear to reveal two of the characters that were being worked on: Shredder from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, and Garfield from... well, Garfield. Not only that, fans have also found a partially finished stage that clearly belongs to Garfield, as well as another stage based on the Nickelodeon gameshow, "Double Dare."

Based on this, it seems that Garfield may be the next fighter who will join the brawl. Of course, it could turn out to be someone else, or heck, even Shredder, but as it stands, Garfield seems the most likely.

Who are you hoping will join the battle? Find out the 7th of December!