In 1997, Sega and Viacom started a partnership which lasts to this very day with an AM2-developed SpongeBob SquarePants 2D fighing game called SpongeBob SquarePants: Defenders of the Krabby Patty, which turned out to be a massive success in arcades both in the Western world and in Japan!
The next year, a sequel called Nicktoons Zany Heroes was released, also achieving great success like it's prequel.
Later in 1998 in Japan (and in Spring 1999), the first true crossover game was released, SpongeBob SquarePants vs. Sonic the Hedgehog, and while it did decently in the Land of the rising Sun, the game was a blockbuster in the West, and the rest is history.
These fighters are zany, hyperactive slugfests in the vein of the Marvel vs. Capcom games, but turned up to eleven, with the Sonic and later, Sega characters (as well as the anime guest stars) gaining new properties to their moves to fit in alongside the Nicktoons characters, such as one of Sonic's hypers showing him being surrounded by a bluish air shield looking sphere while running towards the opponent for example.
As of Nicktoons vs. Sega:Illusory Revival, there have been 6 main entries in this series, with the spiritual prequel being Ren and Stimpy:Stimpy's Invention on the Sega Genesis.
The main entries are as follows:
- SpongeBob SquarePants:Defenders of the Krabby Patty.
- Nicktoons Zany Heroes.
- SpongeBob SquarePants vs. Sonic the Hedgehog.
- Nicktoons Heroes vs. Sonic the Hedgehog.
- Nicktoons vs. Sega:Crash of Stupor Heroes.
- Nicktoons vs. Sega 2:New Age of Animation.
- Nicktoons vs. Sega 3:Intertwined Destinies.
- Nicktoons vs. Sega:Illusory Revival.
This game series contains examples of the following:
- All of Them:Every playable character from any game in the series is playable once again in Illusory Revival, excluding certain main bosses from previous games.
- The Anime of the Game:More like the Anime/Cartoon hybrid of the game in the case of Nicktoons vs. Sega:The Animation, an anime/Nicktoon adaptaton of Illusory Revival, made by Nickelodeon and Toei Animation with the English dub done by Funimation no less! In addition, the original Japanese dub was done by Bushiroad.
- Art Evolution:Despite going back to sprites, the sprite animations have been drastically improved in Illusory Revival in addition to more lively backgrounds ala Sonic Mania, a major step up from the previous 2D games, almost as if it was a CPS 3 game...
- Big Bad:
- Plankton in Defenders of the Krabby Patty.
- Rancid Rabbit in Zany Heroes.
- King Neptune in SBSP vs. St H and NH vs. St H.
- Plankton-Krabs in Crash of Stupor Heroes.
- Wormwood in New Age of Animation.
- The Almighty Tallest in Intertwined Destinies/Ultra 3.
- Denzel Crocker and Infinite the Jackal in Illusory Revival.
- Big Damn Heroes:Rina Tennoji and Lincoln Loud both land the final blow in the Infinite Crocker fight at the end of the Illusory Revival story mode.
- Darker and Edgier:The story mode in Illusory Revival, End of the Age. While the story presented there is still quite lighthearted and funny, the portion surrounding the final boss is unnerving with Mr. Crocker showing off his most sadistic side right before him and Infinite merge using the Phantom Ruby, not to mention the sacrifice Ren, Stimpy and Powdered Toast Man perform in order to finally defeat Infinite Crocker for good. The rest of the game averts this however.
- Dub Name Change:
- In the Japanese version, Peaches is called Lucifer among other examples.
- Rachel Bighead's first name is changed to Rika in the Japanese version of Illusory Revival.
- Guest Fighter:
- In Illusory Revival, Goku, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Neptune, Buttercup and last but certainly not least, Donald Duck, José Carioca and Panchito motherfucking Pistoles!
- Guns Akimbo:It just wouldn't be Panchito without this trope!
- Heroic Sacrifice:The playable Ren and Stimpy characters perform this to defeat Infinite Crocker once and for all in the story mode in Illusory Revival.
- Mad Scientist:Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, just like in his home series.
- Meaningful Name:Considering the powers of the Phamtom Ruby, the title of Illusory Revival comes off as this.
- Original Generation:New Age of Animation has the following examples:
- Luna Moonlight, an anime styled Magical Girl representing Nickelodeon who is the "main character" (alongside Stanley S. SquarePants) of said game who also acts as a meditator for the Nicktoons, Sega and anime characters.
- Wormwood, a cartoonish sentient slime creature representing Sega whose noxious gases are causing the world's climate to go haywire.
- Power Creep, Power Seep:A possible reason that the normal characters with no powers or fighting ability can last against and even defeat the likes of the Sonic characters, Powdered Toast Man, The Crimson Chin, the Nega-Chin and the other superpowered characters.
- Precision F-Strike:Not in any of the games, even in the Japanese versions, but The Animation certainly has some examples of "Damn" and "Hell" being used in certain scenes, and the Japanese dub was able to get away with a couple of the characters dropping "F" bombs!
- Retraux:Since it goes back to using sprites, 64 bit style sprites to be exact, Illusory Revival plays this straight.
- Shout-Out:
- On the title screen of Defenders of the Krabby Patty, SpongeBob imitates Sonic's animation and pose on the title screen of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game though SpongeBob waves hello at the player instead of wagging his finger.
- In Eggman's ending in SpongeBob SquarePants vs. Sonic the Hedgehog, he calls Plankton a "Protozoan Dummy".
- One of Ren's win quotes in most games he appears in:
- A sound effect Freya Jerbarn makes in the Japanese version of Illusory Revival when performing her Sen no Mahōtsukai hyper (Which is replaced with a more generic sounding grunt in the Western versions of the game.):
Freya:OraOraOraOraOraOraOraOra! - SNK Boss:Dot KP!Plankton by far!
- The Bus Came Back:Every Nicktoons, Sega and guest character who has ever been playable in a Nicktoons vs. Sega game is present and accounted for in Illusory Revival, including secret characters from previous games! Sadly, the main bosses excluding Plankton, Rancid Rabbit and Mr. Crocker aren't in said game.
- Zettai Ryouiki: Luna Moonlight in New Age of Animation and joining Luna in Illusory Revival, Rina Tennoji.
