The upcoming brawler video game Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has officially announced that Ren Hoeck and Stimpson J. Cat from, well, The Ren & Stimpy Show are in the video game! Notably, the announcement of Ren and Stimpy lends further credence to leaked box art for the title, which is set to release for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch this fall, that had indicated that Ren and Stimpy would be in it alongside Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Korra from The Legend of Korra.
— Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (@NickBrawlGame) September 14, 2021
Interestingly, it has been revealed that Ren and Stimpy are not individual fighters. Instead, the duo will play as a single character in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, similar to CatDog. Ren will typically be riding on Stimpy’s shoulders and the devs used that fact to turn the duo into a heavy character. This simply means they’ll move more slowly, but they’ll be welcoming to newer players because their moves will be easier to land.
As you might expect if you have been following moves revealed for other characters, each of Ren and Stimpy's moves are inspired by scenes from the animated show. That includes, but is not limited to, "Log from Blammo!" Joining Ren and Stimpy will be the show's resident superhero, Powdered Toast Man.
"Ren & Stimpy are definitely on the classic side of the character spectrum," shared Joel Nyström, project manager at Ludosity, as part of the announcement. "I'm a 90's kid and I absolutely loved The Ren & Stimpy Show growing up. They were so refreshingly dirty and disturbed compared to everything else at the time. I loved and continue to love them to bits. It was one of the few Nickelodeon shows that aired in Sweden and I often watched it after school. Back then, if you missed it on TV you missed it forever, so I always made sure to catch it and I wasn't alone. I think everyone involved with the game wanted Ren & Stimpy so their inclusion was a no-brainer.
Ultimately. Stimpy is the on point man and has his trusty sidekick hitching a ride on his back, to which he uses the chihuahua for various attacks and maneuvers.
The chihuahua-and-cat duo’s knack for darkly comic hijinks — especially Ren’s tendency to aggressively vent his rage — make them a no-brainer to add to this Smash-like platform fighter.
Both grounded and air light attacks seem to mainly be comprised of swinging Ren and Stimpy licking the opponent. Heavies delve deeper into familiar scenes from the TV show, such as the "Memory Jogger," which sees Ren bring out the hammer and bonk his own head as to forget the relentless Happy Happy Joy Joy song.
Of course, a tool set for Ren and Stimpy just would not be complete without a Log from Blammo! It's big, it's heavy, it's wood, and it's also a projectile mapped to Ren and Stimpy's neutral special.
The two have a fairly varied move set, which is rounded out by what looks like a dive kick, a car dash attack, and even a fart.
Previously revealed fighters for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl include characters from the likes of SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hey Arnold!, Invader Zim, Danny Phantom, The Loud House, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Rugrats, and more. As noted above, leaked characters that have yet to be officially announced include Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Korra from The Legend of Korra. That could also just be the beginning. To pre-order the game, visit https://nickelodeonallstarbrawl.com.
Light Attack: Keep It Together, Lick N' Stomp, Wild Swing, Best of Friends, Aerial Lick N' Stomp, Aerial Wild Swing, Tongue Flail
Strong Attack: Watch Out!, Fore!, Back Off You Beast!, Aerial Watch Out!, Memory Jogger, Divebomb, Beep Beep!
Special Attack: Log from Blammo!, History Eraser, First Fart
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is, as of right now, set to release for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch in Fall 2021. It seems likely that even more fighters beyond the currently confirmed and leaked will join the roster prior to it officially releasing. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the upcoming Nickelodeon-branded game right here.
What do you think about the new Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl fighters? Are you wishing for any particular Nickelodeon characters to be announced for the title? Let me know in the comments!
Below is Ludosity's official dev post from the PlayStation blog announcing the news!:
Ren & Stimpy are coming to Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
The iconic Nicktoons duo will play as a single character in the Nickelodeon platform fighter.
Hello! My name is Joel Nyström, project manager at Ludosity and you will also hear from Fair Play Labs Game Designer Matías R. Singer in this blog, but you’re here to learn about Ren & Stimpy and to find out how they fit into Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, our upcoming platform fighter that is filled with both current and classic Nickelodeon characters.
Ren & Stimpy are definitely on the classic side of the character spectrum. I’m a 90’s kid and I absolutely loved The Ren & Stimpy Show growing up. They were so refreshingly dirty and disturbed compared to everything else at the time. I loved and continue to love them to bits. It was one of the few Nickelodeon shows that aired in Sweden and I often watched it after school. Back then, if you missed it on TV you missed it forever, so I always made sure to catch it and I wasn’t alone. I think everyone involved with the game wanted Ren & Stimpy so their inclusion was a no-brainer.
As anyone who has watched the show knows, they are separate characters with distinct personalities, but they are also inseparable which is why they play as a single, joint character in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. We really wanted them to be a duo. It allows for some very special moves and playstyles, so we thought it’d be interesting to explore.
Matías R Singer, Game Designer at Fair Play Labs, who is co-developing the game with us, was heavily involved in their design and says, “They have a knack for using each other as weapons, which really helps the slapstick comedy of the show come to life.”
Ren rides on Stimpy’s shoulders which makes them slower than other characters, but they often attack in multiple directions together. Ren deals lower initial damage and Stimpy deals higher, but delayed damage. Here’s an early sketch of Ren & Stimpy’s Crouch Strong attack as drawn in some of our early conceptualization.
They’re slow and heavy so you want to move in on your opponent, but they also have good range with a bouncing log projectile and a very fast Down Strong that is especially fun to use as a spike for a match ender, since it’ll ring-out you both. It was very important to us and Singer that we get log in the game. “The Log from the Blammo advertisement is so iconic we couldn’t conceive not including it as a Special move. The ‘Happy Happy Joy Joy’ song was likewise used as a reference for the Strong Up Air.”
He may look complicated considering he is two characters being controlled as one, but Singer, along with all the rest of us, wanted him to be welcoming to even novice players. “The wide range of their attacks makes it easier to land hits on opponents without having to reposition, which is very helpful for new players.”
Here is a breakdown of a few more of Ren & Stimpy’s moves from concept to in-game.
Ren & Stimpy’s Strong Dash is called, “Beep Beep!”
Ren & Stimpy’s Light Neutral is called, “Keep it together!” Here Ren smacks Stimpy once, but continuing to mash the button leads into a loop with Ren shaking Stimpy back and forth.
Ren & Stimpy’s Neutral Special is called, “Log from Blammo!” With this attack they throw Blammo’s iconic bouncing log.
Each of Ren & Stimpy’s moves is inspired by a particular scene of the show, but we’ll leave it up to the players to find all the references. I can’t wait for everyone to get their hands on the game later this year!
[Also available in German.]
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Based on what they’ve said in the announcement blog post and what they said to Kotaku about wanting to welcome new players,, it seems that Ludosity anticipated that a non-negligible portion of the audience would be Nickelodeon fans, rather than solely fighting game aficionados.
The reception to the game has been largely positive so far, and the developers have stated that Nickelodeon had largely left the gameplay design to the studio. This should be welcome news for players who are fans of competitive gaming, since Ludosity previously created Slap City, another well-regarded platform fighter.
The inclusion of the "Log from the Blammo" advertisement and the "Happy Happy Joy Joy" song seems to continue the theme of developers trying to capture the spirit of the animated shows these characters came from — particularly any memorable moments that have taken off as memes. The developers noted, in the announcement, that “each of Ren & Stimpy’s moves is inspired by a particular scene of the show, but we’ll leave it up to the players to find all the references.”
Originally published: September 14, 2021 at 18:58 BST.
Original source: ComicBook.com; Additional sources: Gaming Ideology, EventHubs, Kotaku, Polygon, Dot Esports,
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