Nicktoons: Android Invasion
Story
Description
"Battle robotic clones to save the planet! Invader Zim has a sinister plot to overtake the Earth in this action-pack-side-scroller, you'll do battle with SpongeBob, Danny Phantom or El Tigre. Harness their special powers and your math skills to battle the forces of evil!"
Plot
The game starts with a mysterious phone booth ringing in Bikini Bottom, catching SpongeBob's attention. As he picks up the phone, he's suddenly trapped inside the phone booth before it sink underground, where he finds himself trapped inside an alien base. SpongeBob is then cloned by a cloning machine, creating multiple androids of his likeness. While being cloned, GIR is suddenly seen playing with a pig before accidentally knocking down the cloning machine and the phone booth, liberating SpongeBob at the same time.
Now free, SpongeBob then explored through the pod based on his own world while fighting android clones of his friends. He then found and rescued Patrick Star and Sandy Cheeks, both also trapped in phone booths and cloned by cloning machines. After saving his friends, SpongeBob suddenly meets with Zim through a screen. Zim then reveals himself to be the mastermind behind the cloning machine and plans to use his android army to take over the Earth.
After this, SpongeBob found himself in a vehicle before driving through a tunnel runner, all while avoiding lawn gnomes in his path. He then arrives at the Mircales City Pod, where he meets and liberates the hero of this world, Manny Rivera, also known as El-Tigre. After saving Manny's best friend, Frida, and grandfather, Jorge Rivera. SpongeBob and El-Tigre found themselves in another tunnel runner, where they arrived at the Amity Park Pod. The duo liberates Danny Phantom, who joins them before saving Danny's friends, Sam and Tucker.
After going through another tunnel runner, the trio arrives at the Retroville Pod, where they save Jimmy Neutron's friends, Carl and Cindy, before eventually saving Jimmy himself. Jimmy then reveals that he has been studying the phone booth he's been trapped in and plans to bring it back to his lab in case of an eventual attack by the android army before returning home. After driving through a tunnel runner, the group arrives at the Dimnsdale Pod, where they save Timmy Turner and his fairies, who all return to their home. After that, Jimmy hijacks one of Zim's screens and warns the group that Zim is about to launch an attack with his android army, and they must go to his Central Command to stop him.
After one finale tunnel runner, the trio arrives at Zim's Central Command and is met with a gigantic mech, piloted by Zim himself. After defeating it, Zim taunts the group, saying they only saw a fraction of his clone army. However, GIR suddenly revealed that the android army could be destroyed by simply pressing the self-destruct button sitting near the heroes. After SpongeBob presses it, the army is destroyed, causing both Zim and GIR to run away, with Zim promising that he'll come back with a new plan. After that, Jimmy Neutron congratulates the trio and tells them that he sent modified phone booths to bring them back home.
Gameplay
The game is a side-scroller featuring three playable characters, SpongeBob, Danny Phantom, and El Tigre. Each characters have different abilities, SpongeBob can hang-glide with his underwear, El-Tigre can climb poles, and Danny can double jump. As the Leapfrog Didj console is aimed at educational games, the subject the game focuses on is math. The player can use a junction box where they need to solve math problems in order to activate a platform, turning off an electrical barrier, or destroying a cloning machine.
Characters
Playable characters
Non-playable characters
- Zim
- GIR
- Patrick Star
- Sandy Cheeks
- Frida
- Grandpapi Rivera
- Sam
- Tucker
- Jimmy Neutron
- Carl
- Cindy
- Timmy Turner
- Wanda
- Cosmo
Enemies
- Android SpongeBob
- Android Patrick
- Android Sandy
- Android El Tigre
- Android Frida
- Android Grandpapi
- Android Danny
- Android Sam
- Android Tucker
- Android Jimmy
- Android Carl
- Android Cindy
- Android Timmy
- Android Wanda
- Android Cosmo
- Robot Lawn Gnomes
Bosses
- Zim
Levels
- Bikini Bottom Pod
- Miracle City Pod
- Amity Park Pod
- Retroville Pod
- Dimnsdale Pod
- Zim's Central Command
Development
Prerelease
- The game source code, along with three Nintendo DS prototypes, were released on the Internet Archive and Hidden Palace respectively.[1][2][3][4]
- The game was codenamed "Lightning Nicktoons/LNT" ("Lightning" being also the Leapfrog Didj codename).
- The game also went through several names during it's development such as "Nicktoons: Escape from Zim's Lair of Doom" and "Nicktoons: Clone Invasion."
- Tak from Tak and the Power of Juju was initially planned to be in the game.
- The source code reveal that mutliple parts of the game went through multiple iterations during its development.
- There were initially nine pods instead of five in the final game.
- The backgrounds for the levels went throguh different versions, one them showcased how the Nicktoons worlds would look like under Zim's control (such as a more technological and twisted version of Conch Street)
- Initially, the game would've ended with Zim waving a white flag after his army got destroyed, instead of fleeing with GIR.
- Multiple visual elements of the game such as the multiplication and division screens, the HUD and the menu screen were different.
Screenshots
-
Screenshot of the September 14, 2007 prototype.
-
Screenshot of the October 19, 2007 prototype.
-
Screenshot of the November 11, 2007 prototype.
Concept art
-
Early version of the menu screen.
-
Early version of Bikini Bottom's background, showcasing a twisted version of Conch Street under Zim's control.
-
Concept design for Bikini Bottom's background.
-
Early version of the world map with nine levels instead of five.
Gameplay
Trivia
General
- This was the only Nicktoons video game to ever be released on the Didj console.
- The artwork of SpongeBob on the front cover was previously used on the cover of the Deep Sea Sillies VHS tape while the back cover artwork of SpongeBob was also previously used on the Shocktober! digital cover.