Nicktoons MLB
Nicktoons MLB is a baseball game for the Xbox 360, Wii, DS, and soon 3DS. that features both Nickelodeon's Nicktoons and real life MLB players. It was developed by High Voltage Software[1] and published by 2K Play. It is pretty much a Spiritual Successor to 2K Games' arcade baseball game The Bigs, to the point that it actually runs on The Bigs' engine.
The game features all 30 MLB teams and the following 23 Nicktoons characters[2]:
- From SpongeBob SquarePants: SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star, Sandy Cheeks, Larry Lobster, Flying Dutchman
- From Danny Phantom: Danny Phantom
- From Tuff Puppy: Dudley Puppy, Kitty Katswell
- From The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron and Planet Sheen: Jimmy Neutron[3], Sheen Estevez, Nesmith, Ultra Lord
- From Fanboy and Chum Chum: Fanboy, Chum Chum
- From Avatar: The Last Airbender: Aang, Katara, Toph, Prince Zuko
- From Invader Zim: Invader Zim, Gaz
- From The Ren and Stimpy Show: Ren Hoek, Stimpy, Powdered Toast Man, Yak
- From Monkey Quest: Hiro Mightypaw[4]
Here's the trailer for those who are interested.
Tropes used in Nicktoons MLB include:
- Announcer Chatter: Brought to you by Perch Perkins and GIR!
- Ascended Extra: Jimmy Neutron cameos on a loading screen in the Wii/360 versions, before becoming playable in the 3DS version.
- Backstory: The baseball cards for all the playable Nicktoons have a short explanation of what brought them to the game or what they are currently doing.
- Big Boo's Haunt: Ghost Zone Field
- Blow You Away: Aang's hits and pitches cover the ball in air. Also in his intro.
- The Cameo: Many of the Nicktoons from the represented series who didn't make the roster appear on in-game baseball cards. Other Nicktoons characters whose series didn't make the cut, period, appear on the loading screens.
- Continuity Nod: One of the adds that can be seen in some of the stadiums says "Chum is Fum", a reference to the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Chum Bucket Supreme".
- When Dudley hits a turbo pitch, he frightfully asks "Was that thunder?", a reference to his fear of thunder in the Tuff Puppy episode "Thunder Dog".
- Dishing Out Dirt: Toph's hits and pitches cover the ball in earth (dirt). Oddly, unlike the other Avatar characters, she doesn't use bending in her intro.
- Everything's Better with Rainbows: SpongeBob's hits and pitches cover the ball in bubbles, with a trailing rainbow.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: You can play baseball with Zim and The Flying Dutchman!
- Gotta Catch Em All: The baseball cards.
- Green Hill Zone: All of the real MLB stadiums.
- Ground-Shattering Landing: Ultra Lord's intro.
- Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: The three difficulties in order of easiest to hardest are Rookie, Pro and All-Star.
- Jungle Japes: Ook Park[5]
- Lazy Artist: Almost all of the baseball cards reuse already exsisting artwork of the characters featured. This is also true for some of the characters who make cameos on the loading screens.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Gaz:
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"This feels like a... video game... somehow." |
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- Making a Splash: Katara's hits and pitches cover the ball in water. Also in her intro.
- Massive Multiplayer Crossover
- Off-Model: Ren
- Fridge Brilliance: Considering how John Kricfalusi preferred his works to be Off-Model.
- SpongeBob looks more like a guy in a mascot costume.
- Playing with Fire: Zuko's hits and pitches cover the ball in fire. Also in his intro.
- Roger Rabbit Effect: One of the game's more interesting aspects.
- Say My Name: Subverted. Characters will say their own name when you select them on the character select, but they don't shout it. Also, Ultra Lord sometimes says "Ultra Lord!" (but not to loudly) when there is about to be a turbo pitch.
- Sliding Scale of Silliness Versus Seriousness: The game takes itself pretty seriously despite the concept. Except for the commentary.
- And funnily enough, due to lack of The Bigs' over-the-top moves, Nicktoons MLB is more realistic than The Bigs!
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Frosty Freeze Field
- Spiritual Successor: As mentionned above. This may be due to The Bigs developer Blue Castle Games becoming Capcom Vancouver and thus unable to work with 2K ever again.
- Suckiness Is Painful: One of the loading screens features Squidward playing the clarinet and Jimmy Neutron singing, with some MLB players and Nicktoons holding their ears in pain.
- Under the Sea: The Poseidome
- The Unexpected: Larry Lobster, Flying Dutchman, Gaz, Powdered Toast Man and Yak. Hiro Mightypaw in the 3DS version.
- Wutai: Air Temple Courtyard