The announcement of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has been met with a fair amount of excitement from fans. It seems like a rock solid idea, right? A party brawler in the same vein as Super Smash Bros., starring numerous Nicktoons new and old? It sounds like a slam dunk — but it needs to get the gameplay right.

In a new video from IGN, Thaddeus Crews of developer Ludosity talks us through the game's basic fighting mechanics. As you might expect, the game is all about ring-outs, much like Nintendo's popular fighter — it even uses the percentage system, where the more damage you take, the further you'll fly when knocked back. However, what's perhaps surprising is how technical this kids' fighting game seems to be.

You have basic light and strong attacks on the ground and in the air, and each character has a set of specials too. Interestingly, directional inputs has a rock-paper-scissors priority system, where up attacks beat down attacks, down beats mid, and mid beats up. These clashes cause certain interactions that give the advantaged player the edge.

There's also a strafing system which lets you keep your character facing in one direction, dashes with their own advantages and disadvantages, guarding that's punishable with knockback, and grabs, which can be used against opponents or even on projectiles. It's quite a lot to take in, especially when you consider this is a game starring Reptar and Nigel Thornberry.

Still, it sounds fairly impressive, and we're certainly intrigued to give it a shot. What do you think? Can this game measure up to Smash? Does it need to? Practice your kara-tay in the comments section below.

[source youtube.com]