Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has an unconventional design mentality that contributed to the game's divisive reception. This was the result of the development team having very little time and resources to brainstorm due to tight deadlines, and the core gameplay implementer on the team early in development not wanting to retread their prior work on Slap City (a more conventional platform fighting game closer to the design mentality of Super Smash Bros. Melee). Community manager and game designer Thaddeus Crews noted that the absence of moves such as forward tilts, side specials, and back airs restricted what could be done with designing movesets. While he was initially upset by this, he came to accept the game's nature as it developed a small loyal fanbase, some of whom continued making unofficial patches for the game that Crews endorsed as the team was no longer allowed to continue updating the game in early 2023.