- Voice Acting & Items Milestone: Update 1.13 served as the most transformative patch in the original game’s history, finally introducing full character voiceovers and a comprehensive items system that redefined the casual experience.
- Competitive Meta Shift: The default stock count was officially increased from 3 to 4, and the movement meta was dampened by a 2-frame warmup added to airdashes, slowing down the frantic “neutral” game.
- Sandy Cheeks Overhaul: Sandy received significant mechanical changes to her Light Mid attacks, transitioning them to manual activations with increased damage and altered launch angles to allow for more precise follow-ups.
In the landscape of platform fighters, few updates have been as “noisy”—literally—as the June 06, 2022, release for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (NASB). Looking back from 2026, where the franchise has matured through its 2023 sequel and subsequent seasonal expansions, Update 1.13 remains the definitive turning point for the original title. It was the moment Ludosity and Fair Play Labs bridged the gap between a mechanically sound indie fighter and a fully realized Nickelodeon tribute by adding the two most requested features: voice acting and items.
While modern titles like WWE 2K26 focus on high-fidelity AI simulations, NASB 1.13 was about character soul. Hearing Tom Kenny’s SpongeBob or Bill Fagerbakke’s Patrick for the first time transformed the “silent” gameplay into the chaotic cartoon spectacle fans had envisioned since the game’s reveal. This legacy reporting provides a technical breakdown of those 2022 changes and how they solidified the meta before the transition to the sequel.
General Feature Additions: Voice and Chaos
The 1.13 update was primarily marketed as the “Voice Acting and Items” patch. Beyond the cosmetic appeal, these features fundamentally changed the “vibe” of the game’s competitive and casual spheres.
- Full Brawler Voiceovers: All characters were updated with grunts, quips, and iconic lines performed by their original (or sound-alike) voice actors.
- Items System: A wide array of Nickelodeon-themed items began spawning on stages. This addition was pivotal for the game’s longevity on services like Xbox Game Pass, making it more accessible to a broader “party game” audience.
Universal Balance & Mechanics Adjustments
From a technical standpoint, 1.13 addressed several “engine-level” complaints. Much like the technical refinement seen in the Call of Duty Black Ops 1 Update 1.005 for legacy platforms, Ludosity aimed to polish the rough edges of their first-generation combat system.
Airdash and Stock Changes
The most controversial competitive change was the 2-frame warmup added to airdashing. Previously, airdashing was near-instant, leading to a “twitch-based” neutral game that favored high-APM (actions per minute) players. By adding a 2-frame delay (unless the player touches the ground), the developers forced more intentional movement. To compensate for the slightly slower pace, the default competitive stock count was raised from 3 to 4, ensuring match lengths remained consistent with other major platform fighters.
Stage Collision Overhauls
The update saw a universal cleaning of damaging hitboxes on stages, making them “transient” rather than persistent. Specific stages like Harmonic Convergence and Rooftop Rumble were flattened or had corner slants removed to prevent “janky” collisions that often led to early stocks in high-level play.
Character-Specific Frame Data Breakdown
Sandy Cheeks was the primary beneficiary of the 1.13 balance pass. Her “Light Mid” combo was restructured to give the player more agency over the second hit.
Other notable changes included Jenny (XJ-9), who gained the ability to hold and retract her umbrella with the second stick, providing much-needed vertical mobility options. According to the official Steam Patch Notes, Shredder and Garfield also received adjustments to their DI (Directional Influence) angles on multi-hit aerials to prevent “infinite” loops that had plagued the early 2022 meta.
Legacy Comparison: NASB 1 vs. NASB 2
As we evaluate this patch in 2026, it is clear that 1.13 was a “soft reboot” for the franchise. The inclusion of voice acting and items became the baseline for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (2023). However, many competitive purists still prefer the “weightless” and hyper-fast movement of the original NASB 1.13, which feels significantly different from the sequel’s “Slime Meter” system.
For those revisiting the title on modern hardware (fully playable on Steam Deck and current-gen consoles), the 1.13 update represents the game in its most complete, stable state before the experimental DLC characters further complicated the balance. Whether you are labbing combos with Sandy or enjoying the nostalgic banter of the Loud House cast, this patch remains the definitive version of the game that started the Nickelodeon fighting revolution.
