Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has been out for a couple of months now, allowing players to fight as some of the studio's most iconic animated characters. It seems Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl's first new DLC fighter is the titular Garfield, Nickelodeon dipping into its extended properties.
Just a few days ago, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl was teasing a new character would be announced shortly, quickly spurring discussion over who the first new fighter to the game would be. Ludiosity, the game's developer, did not offer much information regarding the character's identity other than where fans can tune in to check out their formal announcement. This development comes days after Ludiosity brought several new costumes to Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, giving each character an additional skin to brawl out with. These range from Spongebob Squarepants' soda-drinking hat, to the comic book palette swaps for Leonardo and Michelangelo.
Originally announced by IGN, the lasagna-obsessed, wise-cracking cat Garfield is coming to Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. The announcement trailer starts by recounting Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl's cast when at the halfway point, Garfield arrives, looking as smug as ever. Keeping in tradition to the character, most of Garfield's moves revolve around food, whether it's throwing a pie, throwing someone upward with the acceleration of his mouth-opening to eat lasagna, or thwacking someone with a chicken leg. Garfield is coming to Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl as free DLC on December 9 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with the Switch release coming December 21.
Intermixed in the gameplay footage are also shots of what is presumably the new stage that is coming with Garfield. If Garfield's love for food wasn't evident, it's pretty clear with the design of the stage, players fighting on a central platform that is a pan of lasagna, with floating pizzas serving as additional footholds.
Nickelodeon's parent company, Viacom, purchased the rights to Garfield a few years ago, with plans to develop a new animated series for the iconic character. Garfield's inclusion brings Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl's roster up to 21 characters, with many characters remaining that fans would like to see.
It is an interesting decision by Ludiosity to open its DLC fighter additions with Garfield, whose legacy is probably more impactful than his current relevance. Nickelodeon has an expansive library of characters that would make excellent fighters like the titular Jimmy Neutron, Timmy Turner from The Fairly OddParents, and Jenny Wakeman from My Life as a Teenage Robot.
While they are perhaps less recognizable than Garfield, their importance and popularity within Nickelodeon would make them seem like better choices than Garfield. The last video game appearance by Garfield was Garfield GO, a mobile game that allowed players to earn discounts at popular restaurants.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.