However, the game decided to give a more accurate picture of what Nickelodeon had to offer, especially during the 90s and early 2000s. As of now, DLC is being planned, with the famous comic strip character Garfield and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ own Shredder being added to the roster for free as part of separate updates. Once the DLC officially begins, the developers should begin by adding the titular character from Rocko’s Modern Life.
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Rocko’s Modern Life and Old Nicktoons
Rocko’s Modern Life is one of Nickelodeon’s oldest shows. As far as cartoons go, the only ones to precede it are Rugrats, Doug, The Ren and Stimpy Show, and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters. Three of the four aforementioned shows have gotten representation in Nick All-Stars as of now, with Doug being the outlier. The fact that the oldest Nicktoons have gotten a lot of love from the game is a meaningful creative decision.
While Rugrats was Nick’s flagship series until SpongeBob came along, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters was quickly overshadowed by its fellow Klasky Cuspo shows, including Rugrats. As for Ren and Stimpy, while it is one of the most influential cartoons of the 90s, the endless controversies surrounding it, especially the ones related to its creator, made it hard for Nickelodeon to give the show the attention it deserves.
Rocko’s Modern Life is in a similar boat. While not nearly as infamous as Ren and Stimpy, nor is it as traditionally “underrated” as Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, it is still one of the oldest Nicktoons. Rocko’s Modern Life developed a cult following among both nostalgic fans that grew up with it, and people that were adults but enjoyed it during its original airing.
Rocko’s Modern Life was notorious for having edgy and adult-friendly jokes and themes, despite being ostensibly a kid’s program. It embodied the term “family-friendly” at a near literal level due to its uncanny ability to appeal to both children and adults, which was fairly new in the realm of television animation. Some of its episodes were censored in their home video releases. In some cases, they were even banned.
Rocko’s Modern Life does not have the same visibility problem as the aforementioned Doug and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters. It got a special in the late 2010s alongside other popular Nicktoons, Hey Arnold! and Invader Zim. Both of these series have decent representation in Nickelodeon All-Stars Brawl. This means that Rocko’s Modern Life is not a niche show with a cult following based on nostalgia, but one of Nickeldeon’s strongest and most enduring cartoons. It may not have the commercial value of SpongeBob or the critical acclaim of Avatar, but it stands on its own for being proudly cartoony, genuinely edgy for its time, in addition of benefitting from nostalgia.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is missing other key series, most notably The Fairly Odd Parents and Jimmy Neutron, who were excluded due to copyright reasons. There are no such issues with Rocko’s Modern Life as far as the public knows. Starting the official DLC with a Rocko’s Modern Life character, whether it is Rocko himself or someone else, would continue Nick All-Stars’ trend of representing classic Nicktoons and include one of the studio’s strongest cartoons of the 90s.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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