Nicktoons Racing (Game Boy Color)

Nicktoons Racing
A portable version of an otherwise decent racing game that ended up getting wrecked on the way to the finish line.
Genre(s): Racing Platform(s): Gameboy Color Release Date: 2000 Developer(s): Pipe Dream Publisher(s): ValuSoft, THQ Country: United States Series: Nicktoons

Nicktoons Racing is a Nickelodeon crossover racing video game. The game was first developed by Pipe Dream and Software Creations, released for the Game Boy Color. It features characters from Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, The Angry Beavers, CatDog, The Wild Thornberrys, and SpongeBob SquarePants.

Why It Got Disqualified

1. This game lacks Patrick, Ickis, Helga, Darwin, Angelica, Stimpy, and the Mystery Rider from the original game, which is quite unacceptable even for a Game Boy Color game.
2. The infamous mistake where the Angry Beavers' names are swapped. Norbert is the yellow beaver and Daggett is the brown beaver, but this game has it listed the other way around. This hints the developers did not watch the show.
3. Awful soundtrack that is either extremely bland or ear bleeding. The music only has one note or chord playing at a time, and the same dull music plays on every race. The title screen music is also just a lazy rehash of the Rugrats theme song.
4. There are no items to use at all in the game, although a few speed boosts can be found.
5. Turning is incredibly sharp, just a little too much can make the player turn and crash into a wall.
6. The Bikini Bottom map is arguably the laziest map in the game, as SpongeBob's, Patrick's, and Squidward's houses are copy pasted all over the track.
   • Coincidentally, an episode called "Squidville" would air a year later, featuring a park named Tentacle Acres that features multiple houses that resemble Squidward's.
7. There is no story at all in this game unlike the other versions.
8. Poor graphics that are very undetailed and had very washed out color palette, not to mention that the sprite work is also pretty bad since the racers are poorly designed in this port too.
9. Extremely boring gameplay that is also repetitive, similar to how bad the gameplay of Doraemon Kart 2 (another terrible racing game on GBC) is.
10. Horrible controls that are very unresponsive and clunky, to the point of making the game unplayable at times.
11. False advertising:
    • The cover shows the Angry Beavers driving one kart (like in the other variations) but in the game they are two separate characters.
    • The cover art also states it's only for Gameboy Color yet other and better versions exist for other platforms.
12. If five opponent racers was already small enough in the other variations, there's only three opponent racers in this game.
13. The game is played in bird's eye view rather than 3D, although this can be forgiven due to the Gameboy Color's limitations.

The Only Redeeming Quality

1. In all fairness, the Gameboy Color has weaker technology so it can't replicate 3D as easy as the Advance can, but doesn't make the Gameboy Color version any more pointless.

Trivia

• This is one of two mascot racers released for the Game Boy Color, the other was Toy Story Racer. Mario Kart wouldn't make its handheld debut until Mario Kart: Super Circuit.

Comments

Loading comments...