While playing Nicktoons Unite! on the Playstation 2, I sat back and thought to myself... "What if they just made it a straight action/platformer instead of a dungeon crawler pretending to be one?" Lo and behold, Nicktoons Unite! for the DS does just that.
For those who skipped the console version, Nicktoons Unite! features a relatively thin plot. The major villains from the Jimmy Neutron, Spongebob Squarepants, Fairly Oddparents, and Danny Phantom universes pool their resources to finally take over everything. The respective heros team up to thwart aforementioned villains...and we've got a game.
The plot is barely compelling, but it serves as an excuse for you to delve deep into the fanservice. Over a handful of levels, you'll explore some small stages dedicated to each character's world. Each is relatively accurately rendered, although obviously lacking in comparison to the console versions.
Even though the overall design of the game is somewhat downgraded to work on the DS, Climax has done magic with the visuals. Textures and models are bright and vibrant, invoking the feel of the original cartoons. The main characters are all cel shaded, which I found myself enjoying--it made the relatively low-poly characters blend in well with their surroundings.
The four leads of Nicktoons Unite are complimentary in design. Although all of the characters with attacks can only shoot bullets of a sort, special abilities set them apart. Spongebob Squarepants utilizes a bubble for getting to higher platforms, Jimmy Neutron has a similar but more long-term flight solution in a jetpack, and Danny Phantom has the ability to turn into a ghost and go through walls. The fourth character, Timmy Turner, is rather unique in that he doesn't have any attacks. All of his abilities work around defense and stealth--whether it be the ability to hide, run twice as fast as any of the other characters, or stop time altogether, he comes in useful many times throughout the game.
It's just too bad the gameplay couldn't have been as interesting as the playable characters. Even though Nicktoons Unite features some great 3D platforming, the overall experience is mired down by useless combat throughout. Brain-dead enemies wander around, sometimes attacking...but it's never enough to really make the fights entertaining. It's the equivalent of shooting ducks in a barrel, which detracts from what could have been an otherwise great platformer.
Alas, two strikes in a row for Nicktoons Unite!. The first, of course, was the mediocre dungeon crawler formula on consoles. Second comes the DS version, which serves as an average game with some inventive ideas. I haven't played the Game Boy Advance version yet, but given the track record... let's just call it strike three and move on.
27th March 2006
