Software:Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots

Short description: 2007 action-adventure video game

Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots
PAL cover art for Nintendo Wii
Developer(s)	Blue Tongue Entertainment (Wii, PS2) Natsume Co., Ltd. (DS) Firemint (GBA)
Publisher(s)	THQ
Director(s)	Robert Blackadder
Designer(s)	Phil Anderson Trevor Gamon
Programmer(s)	Alister Hatt
Artist(s)	Julian Lamont Tom Zuber
Composer(s)	Mick Gordon
Series	Nicktoons Unite! SpongeBob SquarePants
Platform(s)	Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Wii
Release	NA: October 23, 2007 EU: November 9, 2007 AU: November 17, 2007 JP: December 20, 2007 (Wii and DS versions only)
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots (known as SpongeBob to Nakamatachi: Toybot no Kougeki in Japan, and SpongeBob and Friends: Attack of the Toybots in PAL regions) is a 2007 action-adventure video game published by THQ, and it was released on Wii, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, and PlayStation 2. The game is a sequel to the 2005 game Nicktoons Unite! and the 2006 game Nicktoons. It was developed by Blue Tongue Entertainment for the Wii and PlayStation 2 versions, Natsume Co., Ltd. for the Nintendo DS version and Firemint for the Game Boy Advance version.

The game features a dozen playable characters from various Nicktoons properties of the time, including The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, SpongeBob SquarePants, Invader Zim, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Rocko's Modern Life, The Ren and Stimpy Show, Catscratch, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera and Tak and the Power of Juju.

Gameplay

Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots gameplay includes playing as two Nicktoons in some levels and piloting an operational mech suit (created by Jimmy Neutron) in others. Players journey through Bikini Bottom, Amity Park, the Ghost Zone (GBA version only), Fairy World, Pupununu Village (handheld version only), Retroville (handheld version only), and Calamitous' Lair (console version only), as well as the Toybot Factory, which is divided into multiple segments.

Plot

The game opens with Jimmy Neutron's nemesis, Professor Calamitous, being a contestant on a reality show called "The Biggest Genius". Calamitous states that by feeding fairies Krabby Patties, they can emit a magical gas that, combined with the ghost energy, can be used as a form of fuel for his army of "Toybots," evil toy duplicates of abducted and scanned heroes. During the opening credits, SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star deliver a truckload of several million Krabby Patties to a Krabby Patty processing and toybot factory. Upon arriving at the factory, a robot sucks up all the Krabby Patties, and Patrick, unintentionally, in the process. SpongeBob chases after the robot, and eventually finds his way into the factory.

After finding his way through the factory, SpongeBob finds Patrick vacuum-packed like a toy. After freeing Patrick, they meet Tak of the Pupununu People, who claims to have been abducted and scanned. They later find Timmy Turner, Stimpy, Rocko, GIR, Jenny/XJ-9 and Jimmy Neutron, who were also abducted. They then meet ChadBot, Calamitous' robot assistant, and ask him to contact Danny Phantom. ChadBot agrees to betray his master and help, and tells them to find more "master models", which are the action figures that Calamitous created from scanning the abducted heroes, for his collection. After collecting more master models, ChadBot allows Jimmy to contact Danny, who says that Calamitous' toy army took over his house to use the Ghost Portal's energy. Jimmy tells Danny and Sam to meet him and the other heroes at Amity Park's EvilToyCo outlet. When they arrive, they see that Jimmy has built mech-suits that will let them fight the larger robots. The group then defeats the Saucer Men robots that Calamitous has been using to abduct the heroes from their worlds, and head to Fairy World. Patrick frees Jorgen Von Strangle from a glass prison to destroy the Fairy Harvester, and they get back into their mech-suits to visit the Professor's lair.

The heroes then unexpectedly enter The Biggest Genius' filming set, where ChadBot is revealed to be the winner. The host tells Calamitous that ChadBot doing Calamitous’ work for him, and building a collection of master models is what led to him winning. ChadBot credits SpongeBob, Danny, and their friends for his rise to success, and the game ends with ChadBot cutting Calamitous' mustache off with an electric shaver.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings 65% (GBA) Metacritic 54/100 (DS) 60/100 (Wii) Review scores Publication Score GameZone 7.2/10 (DS) 6.9/10 (PS2) IGN 7/10 (DS) 6/10 (Wii)

Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots received "mixed or average reviews". Meghan Sullivan of IGN gave the Wii version of the game a score of 6 out of 10, stating that "Nicktoons: Attack of The Toybots is by no means a stellar game, but if you're a parent looking to entertain your kid for a few hours while you go out, then this might do the trick. Otherwise pass on this and wait for something better." Jack DeVries of IGN gave the Nintendo DS version of the game a score of 7 out of 10, concluding that "This is the best Nicktoons game yet. I know, that isn’t saying much since Unite and Battle for Volcano Island kind of sucked. And really, this isn't a stellar title. It gets pretty repetitive and it's not very long. But for fans of Nickelodeon cartoons, it's got enough characters and unlockables to be pretty appealing. The minor voicework is just enough to be neat, and with multiplayer and so many characters, it's actually a game that could be played multiple times. I just wish Rocko was a playable character." The Wii version of the game received a score of 60 out of 100 from Metacritic based on 4 reviews, while the Nintendo DS version of the game received a Metacritic score of 54 out of 100 based on 4 reviews.

Sequel

The game was followed by SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2 and Wii on October 20, 2008.