There’s a lot to be excited about when it comes to MultiVersus, but also a lot to be wary of, and since the beta is about to launch, it’s worth checking out why. Both MultiVersus and last year’s IP-infused fighting game, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, feel like they’re competing with Super Smash Bros., but they’re actually competing with each other. In that regard, MultiVersus is a low-cost contender that’s up against an amateur YouTuber, but we’ll have to see if it can go all the way.
None of these games will be better than Smash. Nintendo’s fighter has one of the most highly focused directors in the industry, a thriving competitive scene and two decades of experience behind it. You can’t beat that on your first try. It’s like launching a new sports game and taking on FIFA. We’ve all seen how that went with eFootball, and that wasn’t even a completely new game, but a rebrand of an existing one. There’s a huge gap in the market for being second best, and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl smelled that opportunity. MultiVersus may hold the landing, but may also fall at the final hurdle.
First, MultiVersus is a better game. I know that as a professional video game critic I could be more eloquent on the matter, but that’s all. Nick Brawl wasn’t good. It had some pretty slack stages, no real modes other than an incredibly sparse arcade offering and basic online multiplayer, and the famous lack of voice acting. It wasn’t just the lack of voices, it felt so totally devoid of personality. The actual combat wasn’t that great, and it had to be the best to save a game that was falling apart. I’m sure there were a lot of factors in the development process, but the end result is a game that just wasn’t very good. That’s as eloquent as I’m going to get.
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MultiVersus’ teamwork gimmick makes it more appealing, while it also had more to do in the closed beta. All the characters burst with personality and came with the regular voice actors, such as Tara Strong for Harley Quinn, Maisie Williams for Arya Stark, Matthew Lillard for Shaggy and Kevin Conroy for Batman.
You should also bear in mind that Nick Brawl was on sale for £40, while MultiVersus is free to play. MultiVersus does have some earnings, but in the closed beta it felt pretty avoidable as long as you were happy focusing on a few of your favorite characters rather than the entire roster. That may change for the better or for the worse over time, but at least people will be able to play. No one would pay £40 for Nick Brawl, and less than a year later that has dropped to £5 in some online stores.
There’s also the fact that Nickelodeon’s IP address is so much more restrictive. I grew up watching Nickelodeon and I still didn’t know who half of the lineup was. There is no one on the planet asking who Batman and Bugs Bunny are. Even the lesser-known characters come from Adventure Time and Game of Thrones – two of the biggest media properties in the world. That’s before you get into the fact that MultiVersus could add Neo, Gizmo, and Harry Potter to the mix – that is, if the source hasn’t been poisoned on the latter yet.
That’s the best part of MultiVersus, but it can also be the worst. I’ve written about my love for Reindog, the OC character in the game, but one is the limit. Whispering that there might be more doesn’t feel like a good match. Neither a late Space Jam pairing with LeBron James, nor the introduction of anime characters, all of which just feel like Warner Bros. could dilute its own brand and spread itself too thin instead of relying on the most special stars it has available. MultiVersus is already the best non-Smash Smash game, but it remains to be seen if that will be enough to keep the landing.
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