Nicktoons Unite!

Danny Phantom, SpongeBob Squarepants, Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner - what do they all have in common? They’re all cartoons on Nickelodeon, of course, which means that they’ve been featured on every game system available.  Now, the powers that be have decided that if one character is good, then four must be even better. So enters Nicktoons Unite! for the DS.

Actually, it’s a pretty good premise to put together four such different characters, as each has his own unique personality and powers, which, if implemented well, can keep a game from becoming boring due to a lack of variety in levels. Unfortunately, this game does not utilize these characters to their full potential. While they do have different abilities (SpongeBob uses a bubble to float upwards and can shoot bubbles; Jimmy Neutron has a jetpack that flies, plus a shrink ray; Danny phases through walls and shoots some sort of power bursts; and Timmy can magically become a bush to hide from enemies, and also have his fairy godparents appear), these don’t really change the general gameplay any.

This is a standard platformer, which doesn’t offer much in the way of anything different or exciting. Each character spends most of his time running around the streets, looking for places to hop onto to get to higher areas for special pickups. There are a few enemies around to shoot, but for the most part, time in the game is spent looking around for ways to get these guys up high to either collect things, or get over into other areas. This is sometimes problematic, as the camera control is a little awkward, and it’s hard to jump around just right. Looking up is also hard.

The characters can be switched at any level at any time by simply dragging them to the center of the screen. This is a good use of the DS, and is a nice feature. However, as stated above, while they do have unique abilities, these don’t really affect the gameplay in any real fashion.

The game looks very nice, and the graphics are easily the best feature of the game. The worlds are beautifully drawn, and the characters are crisp and look just like the matching cartoons. Movement is fluid, except for the occasional bad camera control. The sound is unmemorable, and doesn’t add or detract from the game.

With countless lives, easy to beat enemies and minimal platform challenges, this is a game that is easy for kids to play. The familiar characters are also attractive to kids. The game’s direction can be confusing at times, though, but this is just mildly annoying, as it won’t halt progress for very long. A decent enough game for a few hours of fun for the kids, but there are other, better games for the DS out there for young players.

Gameplay: 6.0
There’s just not much going on. The platforming becomes boring quickly, and the pickups aren’t much fun, either. The multiple lives make the game easy to play, but there’s just not much action happening.

Graphics: 8.0
The graphics are wonderfully drawn and animated, and are easily the best feature of the game.

Sound: 5.0
The sound is wholly average.

Difficulty: Easy
A fairly easy game to beat.

Concept: 6.0
There is nothing new here, and the execution isn’t anything special, either.

Overall: 6.5
This is yet another game tied to a popular kids show, and unfortunately it belongs to the vast majority of so-so products based on a famous license. Parents may want to look at it because of the ease of play and familiar characters, but other kid games for the DS are a better choice.