Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots (Wii) Review

Some great ideas should stay just where they are, in people's heads. At least until someone capable enough to translate said creative strands of thought into something truly worthwhile that is. Sadly, though, in THQ's latest licensed game we find that the proposal of various popular Nickelodeon characters being shoved into one product has not been as developed as we might have liked. The game has players controlling two characters at a time throughout a short-lived platform adventure filled with poor camera work that leads to repeatedly untimely deaths and great frustration when the whole perception of mid-level depth is ruined, leaving players confused as to what is and is not simply background scenery (some can indeed be jumped 'into', but nothing really indicates when this is and is not possible, again leading to stupid deaths occurring). On top of that, whilst the ability to character-switch on the fly might sound promising from a puzzle stance, it simply is not thanks to all characters practically being clones of each other. And puzzles? Hah, if only there were such things...

In addition, any thought of ceasing the dastardly plans of the nefarious Dr. Calamitous are stricken from your mind due to the annoying voice clips that repeat again and again...and again through every level. Switching characters helps marginally, but even then their set of voice clips will begin to grate soon enough. Instead you will try to whiz through the game's five levels (yes, thankfully very short!), but probably find yourself getting extremely tired at the fact that each level itself last FAR too long. The monotony of running through a stage that looks very bland throughout, dying every five seconds due to no fault of your own, regenerating within a short distance of death thanks to the no-punishments system employed (no lives either, making this even more of a breeze) and listening to the voice quips repeatedly for about twenty minutes at a time could drive a person insane. Thankfully the majority of readers will not be putting themselves through such torture...and anyone considering picking this up for their younger ones should please think twice.