When a friend of mine recommended this to me, I was only expecting a half decent time, so it was incredibly surprising that this ended up being one of my favourite overall platformers.
Starting with the first thing that impressed me about this game; its overall structure. It's a semi-collectathon platformer where you access levels through a hub world and get the required collectables to progress through the rest of the game, with some additional ones that unlock more content, and this structure which would usually be for 3D platformers is translated wonderfully into 2D. The way it works is that you play the first level of a world, get a new character ability, and then once you complete that level, use that very ability to reach an area that gives you access to the remaining 3 levels in any order you like, on top of allowing other areas of the hub world to be reached. The way this incentivizes exploring every inch of the hub world is amazing, and it's done wonderfully through simple platforming challenges.
And this brings me to the second thing that impressed me about this game; the different character abilities. Throughout the main game, you start off with SpongeBob and Danny Phantom, but then you get Timmy and Patrick later in the game, and all of them offer 1 or 2 insanely fun abilities. From Danny's ghost switching that allows him to phase through specific platforms and walls while giving him access to others, to Timmy being able to sling off of any ring hook in any direction an trajectory, to SpongeBob's drilling power which lets him traverse soft terrain (aka. the Yellow Drill before Sonic Colours was ever a thing), to Patrick being able to float down using his pants as a parachute after being shot from cannons. Putting aside how they're utilized in the levels (which I will get to), each and every ability available is an absolute joy to use, all being incredibly effective with their functions and made even better by the fact that you can switch between all four characters on the fly. It helps that each character controls really well, having enough precision to account for harder platforming, but also enough weight to ensure that the physics didn't feel static.
And now for the third, and debatably biggest, element of this game that impressed me; the level design. This game is not only a semi-collectahon, it's also a puzzle platformer, and it absolutely excels on that front. I was expecting simple, but relatively fun platforming challenges and puzzles, but man, did this game blow me the fuck away with what it actually offered. There's a surprising amount of depth and challenge present within the platforming and especially the puzzles, both being built wonderfully around the character abilities as it really makes you think about how to properly make use of them to overcome said challenges.
And there are two more elements that make each level more fun than they have any right to be. The first of which of is the addition of the golden hearts. Now, what makes them different from the normal hearts you get from checkpoints, you may ask? Well, these ones actually unlock bonus levels once you have enough of them, with the drawback being that if you take damage, you'll lose that heart for good until you replay the stage. Having a collectable also serve as an extra bit of health surprised me in the best of ways as I've never seen any other platformer do something like this, but it also does an amazing job at incentivizing replayability, as many of these hearts are placed in difficult spots, and you need to hold on to all 5 of them until the very end of the level to get the best rank, on top of getting the bonuses I just mentioned. And the second element is how the game handles backtracking. I did catch on to moments where you had to go back through parts of levels you already did, but the reason why it's not at all bothersome is that it had you going through unique platforming challenges and puzzles on the way back, and the entire reason you had to go back in the first place is to access a new area you previously couldn't to continue with the rest of the level.
All of this high quality is elevated a fair amount by the game's presentation. The level environments and spritework look incredibly appealing, with the cave of World 3 being a particular standout of the former, enhanced by a sense of cartooniness that makes the Nicktoons that are represented incredibly charming, and while the music isn't some of the best I've ever heard, every track is still catchy in someway and fit the tones of each world brilliantly.
Now, with all this surprising amount of effort for a game like this, WHY IN THE HELL DOES THIS GAME NOT HAVE ANY BOSSES?! I swear, with how amazing everything about this game is, I'm absolutely certain that if bosses were here, they'd be on the same level of quality. Although, I am a bit more baffled regarding the final level. Don't get me wrong, it was pretty fun, but I was personally expecting it to be a lot harder, especially with the challenge that the puzzles in the prior worlds offered. But I don't think I'd list these as legitimate flaws.
So, overall, Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island GBA is a surprisingly fantastic semi-collectahon puzzle platformer with brilliant gameplay, really solid structure, phenomenally crafted level design with incredibly creative challenges and puzzles at every turn, and a significant amount of replayability achieved in really unique ways. I do not see a lot of logs for this game, which is a shame because I think this is 100% worth checking out if you're looking for a fun and fairly difficult platformer with Nicktoons characters.
Starting with the first thing that impressed me about this game; its overall structure. It's a semi-collectathon platformer where you access levels through a hub world and get the required collectables to progress through the rest of the game, with some additional ones that unlock more content, and this structure which would usually be for 3D platformers is translated wonderfully into 2D. The way it works is that you play the first level of a world, get a new character ability, and then once you complete that level, use that very ability to reach an area that gives you access to the remaining 3 levels in any order you like, on top of allowing other areas of the hub world to be reached. The way this incentivizes exploring every inch of the hub world is amazing, and it's done wonderfully through simple platforming challenges.
And this brings me to the second thing that impressed me about this game; the different character abilities. Throughout the main game, you start off with SpongeBob and Danny Phantom, but then you get Timmy and Patrick later in the game, and all of them offer 1 or 2 insanely fun abilities. From Danny's ghost switching that allows him to phase through specific platforms and walls while giving him access to others, to Timmy being able to sling off of any ring hook in any direction an trajectory, to SpongeBob's drilling power which lets him traverse soft terrain (aka. the Yellow Drill before Sonic Colours was ever a thing), to Patrick being able to float down using his pants as a parachute after being shot from cannons. Putting aside how they're utilized in the levels (which I will get to), each and every ability available is an absolute joy to use, all being incredibly effective with their functions and made even better by the fact that you can switch between all four characters on the fly. It helps that each character controls really well, having enough precision to account for harder platforming, but also enough weight to ensure that the physics didn't feel static.
And now for the third, and debatably biggest, element of this game that impressed me; the level design. This game is not only a semi-collectahon, it's also a puzzle platformer, and it absolutely excels on that front. I was expecting simple, but relatively fun platforming challenges and puzzles, but man, did this game blow me the fuck away with what it actually offered. There's a surprising amount of depth and challenge present within the platforming and especially the puzzles, both being built wonderfully around the character abilities as it really makes you think about how to properly make use of them to overcome said challenges.
And there are two more elements that make each level more fun than they have any right to be. The first of which of is the addition of the golden hearts. Now, what makes them different from the normal hearts you get from checkpoints, you may ask? Well, these ones actually unlock bonus levels once you have enough of them, with the drawback being that if you take damage, you'll lose that heart for good until you replay the stage. Having a collectable also serve as an extra bit of health surprised me in the best of ways as I've never seen any other platformer do something like this, but it also does an amazing job at incentivizing replayability, as many of these hearts are placed in difficult spots, and you need to hold on to all 5 of them until the very end of the level to get the best rank, on top of getting the bonuses I just mentioned. And the second element is how the game handles backtracking. I did catch on to moments where you had to go back through parts of levels you already did, but the reason why it's not at all bothersome is that it had you going through unique platforming challenges and puzzles on the way back, and the entire reason you had to go back in the first place is to access a new area you previously couldn't to continue with the rest of the level.
All of this high quality is elevated a fair amount by the game's presentation. The level environments and spritework look incredibly appealing, with the cave of World 3 being a particular standout of the former, enhanced by a sense of cartooniness that makes the Nicktoons that are represented incredibly charming, and while the music isn't some of the best I've ever heard, every track is still catchy in someway and fit the tones of each world brilliantly.
Now, with all this surprising amount of effort for a game like this, WHY IN THE HELL DOES THIS GAME NOT HAVE ANY BOSSES?! I swear, with how amazing everything about this game is, I'm absolutely certain that if bosses were here, they'd be on the same level of quality. Although, I am a bit more baffled regarding the final level. Don't get me wrong, it was pretty fun, but I was personally expecting it to be a lot harder, especially with the challenge that the puzzles in the prior worlds offered. But I don't think I'd list these as legitimate flaws.
So, overall, Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island GBA is a surprisingly fantastic semi-collectahon puzzle platformer with brilliant gameplay, really solid structure, phenomenally crafted level design with incredibly creative challenges and puzzles at every turn, and a significant amount of replayability achieved in really unique ways. I do not see a lot of logs for this game, which is a shame because I think this is 100% worth checking out if you're looking for a fun and fairly difficult platformer with Nicktoons characters.