Nicktoons Unite!

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Nicktoons Unite!
North American GameCube cover art
Developer(s)	Blue Tongue Entertainment (PS2, GC) Climax Action (GBA, DS)
Publisher(s)	THQ
Director(s)	Kevin Chan
Designer(s)	Trevor Gamon Nick Hagger Drew Morrow
Programmer(s)	Alister Hatt
Artist(s)	Julian Lamont
Composer(s)	Stephan Schütze (PS2, GC) Matthew Simmonds (GBA, DS)
Series	Nicktoons Unite! SpongeBob SquarePants
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance
Release	PlayStation 2 NA: October 26, 2005 PAL: March 3, 2006 GBA & GameCube NA: October 27, 2005 PAL: March 3, 2006 Nintendo DS NA: January 10, 2006 PAL: March 3, 2006
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Nicktoons Unite! (also known as SpongeBob SquarePants and Friends: Unite! in PAL regions) is a 2005 video game featuring characters and levels from SpongeBob SquarePants, Danny Phantom, The Fairly OddParents, and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. In the game, the player can control four Nicktoons characters (SpongeBob SquarePants, Jimmy Neutron, Timmy Turner, and Danny Phantom) as they work together to stop an evil plan concocted by villains from each character's series. An Xbox version was planned, but was cancelled during development.

The game was released to generally mixed reviews and spawned three sequels: Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island, Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots, and SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom.

Gameplay[]

In the console version, the player can play with three computers and no other human players, or with a friend or two with the remaining computer(s). One can switch abilities, which have multiple uses. There are also things only a certain character can do. For example, SpongeBob is needed to use Bubble Bombs to blow up a pillar, Danny is needed to use Ghostly Wail on some glass, Timmy is needed to use Freeze Glove to freeze some water, or Jimmy has to shoot down some things with his Neutron Flare.

Goddard can be found in all four worlds (and oddly enough, inside himself) so he can upgrade the player's weapons and abilities.

The DS version is a full 3D platformer where the player controls one of the four characters at a time, which can be selected at any moment via the touchscreen, while the GBA version is a 2D platformer in which the player must alternate between the two characters given at the beginning of the level in order to progress. It uses pre-rendered 3D sprites based on the models of the DS version.

Plot[]

The gamer is first introduced to SpongeBob SquarePants, who realizes that Plankton has taken over Bikini Bottom. Then Goddard exits a portal, and displays a message to SpongeBob from Jimmy Neutron. Following Goddard through the portal, he meets Jimmy, Danny Phantom, and Timmy Turner. Jimmy coats SpongeBob with self-regenerating moisture to keep him healthy. Jimmy then explains that his latest invention, the Universe Portal Machine (a device to open portals to other dimensions) had been copied by Prof. Calamitous, who went on to use it to form a Syndicate with Plankton, Vlad Plasmius, and Denzel Crocker; they have already begun stealing energy from each of their worlds for their masterplan. Since Calamitous' lair cannot be found, they start with the other worlds first by stopping the Syndicate from siphoning any more energy.

The heroes arrive in Vlad's new castle by accident, where he reveals his ghost portal is siphoning energy from the Ghost Zone to further the Syndicate's plans, and as a precaution, Vlad has captured Danny's parents. Vlad then knocks them out and imprisons them in the Ghost Zone Prison. Befriending the Box Ghost, the heroes escape after knocking out Walker. Danny leads the heroes to the Fenton Works ghost portal, where he claims no relation to the Fentons and that they are Ghost Hunter experts. They meet Danny's friends, Sam and Tucker, who explain that some ghosts have possessed the citizens. Danny drives out the ghosts before the group cuts through the Amity Park Graveyard to Vlad's castle. Upon arrival, Jimmy realizes there are generators keeping the portal open. The gang destroys the generators, thus shutting off the portal. Confronting Vlad, Danny possesses his dad Jack, using the 'Ghost Gauntlets' to pummel Vlad. Vlad gloats the Syndicate is building something and they already have sufficient ghost energy to help power it before fleeing.

The heroes' next destination is Bikini Bottom (with Jimmy, Danny, and Timmy using Jimmy's air gum to breathe underwater). They meet Sandy, who explains that Plankton is using harvesters to capture jellyfish to extract power from their sting; he has also imprisoned Mr. Krabs. Sandy sends them to Jellyfish Fields to meet Patrick, but upon meeting him, he is sucked into a harvester. After destroying the harvesters, the group find themselves on the Flying Dutchman's ship; for he wants them (minus SpongeBob since he's annoying) to be his new crew. However, Danny persuades him to let them go in exchange for bringing back his old crew. Upon arriving at the Chum Bucket, they free Patrick and the jellyfish. On the roof, they face Plankton, using a robotic crab, and rescue Mr. Krabs. The heroes then learn that the Syndicate is extracting energy for a Doomsday Device, and Crocker is still supplying power to it.

In Dimmsdale, the heroes infiltrate Crocker's golden fortress, finding a rainbow of Fairy Magic ending there. After cutting off the fortress' supply of Fairy Magic, they arrive in Fairy World and Since Jimmy has been here before, he gives an incorrect explanation about it not being real. They encounter Jorgen von Strangle, who explains that Crocker is extracting the magic from the Big Wand to feed the Doomsday Machine. After freeing the fairies, they reach The Big Wand, where they defeat Crocker flying a massive exosuit fueled by Fairy Magic. SpongeBob and Danny deduce that the villains have retreated to Retroville in order to regroup after being defeated. Timmy, on the other hand, believes everything will be okay with the Big Wand giving fairies back their full magic, by wishing the bad guys into jail and the dismantling of the Doomsday machine. However, Wanda announces that Da Rules only allow changes to Dimmsdale's dimension, disappointing the heroes.

They return to Jimmy's lab, where they meet Cindy Vortex when suddenly Calamitous contacts them, revealing that the Doomsday Machine is almost finished. SpongeBob sees Goddard scratching himself and says he should take a bath, making Jimmy realize Calamitous planted a flea-bot in Goddard to spy on him. Realizing that the only way to stop Calamitous is to trace the flea-bot's signal, the heroes use Jimmy's shrink ray to shrink down and enter Goddard, and after defeating the flea-bot, Jimmy hacks the flea-bot's circuitry to locate Calamitous' lair. Upon arrival, the Syndicate declares that the current world of Retroville will be destroyed as a show of their power, and the machine will protect them from the destruction. Despite the heroes' damaging the machine, the villains continue the count down. SpongeBob miraculously unplugs the Doomsday Machine, and Calamitous laments that he had forgotten to finish the back-up power supply.

With Calamitous in prison, the heroes part ways. Jimmy gives the heroes each a Neutronic Recaller in case of a future incident. SpongeBob leaves first, most likely holding Plankton captive in his pocket. Danny gives Jimmy a second Fenton Thermos that he had made with Jimmy's matter copier (since Vlad is trapped in the original), which Jimmy thinks will help him figure out what "those phantasm images really were." Timmy thanks Jimmy for a Hyber-Cube, which is holding Crocker captive. Cindy waves Timmy off. After this, Jimmy shouts a familiar line: "Cindy, get out of my lab!"

Reception[]

All versions of the game received generally mixed reviews, being mostly criticized for the monotony of the gameplay. In an IGN review, Mark Bozen gave the DS version of the game 5/10 stars, stating the crossover concept had been done "far better in previous games."^[4] In a more positive review for the PlayStation 2 version, Gamezone opined that "while somewhat repetitious, the linear design and simple control schemes will draw players along and it is not hard to work through the levels."^[1] Review aggregator Metacritic gave the PlayStation 2 version of the game a score of 53 out of 100 based on 8 reviews.^[6]

References[]

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