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A series of multiconsole video games combining multiple cartoons featured on the children's TV network Nickelodeon. Only the first game in this series goes by the title Nicktoons Unite!, but considering all four games are about Nicktoons characters joining forces to defeat a common enemy, we might as well consider it the name of the series as well.

Note that in European regions, the series has the shared title of SpongeBob and Friends.

This series was "succeeded" in 2011 by Nicktoons MLB, Nickelodeon Kart Racers in 2018, and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl in 2021.


These games contain examples of:

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    The series in general 
  • Adaptational Badass: A lot of the characters in this series normally wouldn't be likely to put up much of a fight against some of the Mooks in their own shows, but in these games, they're all more than capable of kicking ass. Special mention goes to Rocko, who goes from being a timid everyman to being able to destroy killer toys.
  • And Your Reward Is Clothes: Every game barring Globs of Doom has unlockable costumes for each playable character; Unite has them unlocked via Old Save Bonusnote , Volcano Island has them unlocked by finding enough of an item associated with the character and Attack of the Toybots' are unlocked by buying them from the character select.
    • Unite: Mermaid Man SpongeBob, Human Danny, Action Packed Timmy, Secret Agent Jimmy.
    • Volcano Island: Pirate SpongeBob, Fenton Suit Danny, Tribal Patrick, Cheerleader Sandy, Prom Dress Sam, Crash Nebula Timmy.
    • Attack of the Toybots: SpongeGar, Barnacle Boy Patrick, Chicken Suit Tak, Cowboy Timmy, Secret Agent Jimmy, Dark Danny, Plant Girl Sam, Kilted Yaksman Stimpy, Pilgrim Rocko, Flame Colored Jenny, Dog Disguise GIR.
  • Big Bad:
    • In the original game, Professor Calamitous is the leader of the Evil Syndicate who wants to power their Doomsday Device to destroy the multiverse.
    • Battle for Volcano Island: The Mawgu is the demonic entity draining energy from the multiverse to conquer the titular Volcano Island, and spreading his black ooze to control people.
    • Attack of the Toybots: Professor Calamitous returns with his army of the titular toybots to conquer the multiverse.
    • Globs of Doom: Globulous Maximus is the leader of the alien Morphoids who is using them to corrupt people with their orange goo and destroy Earth, until the Evil Syndicate betray the heroes and try to take control of Globulous for their own ends.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: The original game has the Evil Syndicate, a group of Nickelodeon villains respective to each main character in the games, though Professor Calamitous is undoubtedly their leader. The new Legion reprises this role in Globs of Doom, seemingly helping the heroes while planning to kidnap Globulous and use them for themselves and hijacking the Vessel of Porpentia to become the Final Boss.
  • Big Good: Jimmy Neutron in Unite!, The Wise Old Crab in Battle for Volcano Island and Globs of Doom, and the Chad-Bot in Attack of the Toybots.
  • Boss Rush:
    • The final boss battle against Calamitous in the GBA version of Unite is this. At certain health thresholds, he will retreat to let one of the three previous bosses take over.
    • The final stage of the DS version of Attack of the Toybots has all five previous bosses interspersed through it.
  • Call-Back: From both in the series and the original shows.
    • Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda appear as their CGI rendering from the Jimmy Timmy Power Hour specials, as well as Jimmy referring to the fairies as "holograms" and other references to the events of the specials.
    • Whenever the air-breathing characters visit Bikini Bottom, they are mentioned to be chewing on the Neutronic Air Gum that Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen used in Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion.
    • The purple-back gorilla (Samson, later revealed to be a Delilah) from all the way back in One of a Kind, the second episode of Danny Phantom, is being kept in Vlad’s castle in the first game, and the player has to use Danny to overshadow her and use her brute strength for navigating some of the obstacles.
    • In the first level of Battle for Volcano Island, SpongeBob remarks that the moisture seal Jimmy sprayed him with in the first game is still keeping him hydrated out of the water (no word on how Patrick breathes without a water helmet though).
    • Unite opens with Bikini Bottom being attacked by mooks and Jimmy retrieving SpongeBob through a portal. Globs of Doom opens the exact same way.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Sam and Sandy are promoted to playable characters in Volcano Island, but Sandy is completely absent from Attack of the Toybots and Globs of Doom, with Sam also being absent in the latter. Notably, neither of them even get an NPC appearance in the latter game like Patrick does.
  • Concept Art Gallery: Each game has a gallery that allows you to view unused concept art of things like level and enemy designs:
    • Unite!: The Old Save Bonus for having two other compatible games is an art gallery you can view from the main menu.
    • Volcano Island: Collecting all of Squidward's personal items unlocks his art gallery, which can be accessed from the Hub Level.
    • Attack of the Toybots: The art gallery can be accessed from the Chadbot's basement.
    • Globs of Doom The gallery can be viewed from the computer in the Volcano Island Hub Level and fills up as you progress through the game.
  • Continuity Nod: There are several references to The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour specials, Timmy and Jimmy's first crossover efforts:
    • When Timmy flirts with her in the first game, Cindy replies, "Hi, Timmy. I didn't know you were back in Retroville," referring to their encounters.
    • Jimmy refers to Cosmo and Wanda as holograms rather than believing them to be fairies with magic, the Hand Wave for why he could see them in the specials without having his memory erased.
    • The boss fight against Crocker in Unite! takes place at the Big Wand and has him in the same outfit (only with a golden Powered Armor around it) he wore when he broke into the Fairy Armory in the first crossover.
    • Pairing Timmy and Jimmy up in Attack of the Toybots grants an award referencing the Power Hour specials.
    • Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda appear as their CGI renderings from the specials.
  • Collection Sidequest: Every game barring the first has at least one optional collectable sidequest:
    • Volcano Island has personal items for each of the six playable characters plus Squidward and Tucker. Collecting all four of a playable character's items unlocks an exclusive bonus level for said character, all of Squidward's items unlock the art gallery, and all of Tucker's items unlock the movie theatre. Each character also gets a better looking house once their personal items are collected.
    • Attack of the Toybots has the fairy rescue sidequest: a whopping 500 fairiesnote  are trapped in glass tubes throughout the factory. Jorgen Von Strangle congratulates you for every one hundred you save, but you don't get anything beyond a Cosmetic Award for saving them all.
    • Globs of Doom hides two trophies in each of the first two levels of each world; collecting all four in a world reveals a hidden cheat code depending on said world.
  • Crisis Crossover: Between several Nickelodeon cartoons.
  • Crossover-Exclusive Villain:
    • The villain of the second game, Battle For Volcano Island, is a purple monster called the Mawgu. Said villain has never been in any of the four represented shows.
    • Globs of Doom features a giant orange Blob Monster called Globulous Maximus as the Big Bad, who is technically based off the Nickelodeon slime imagery but doesn't actually appear in any of the represented shows.
  • Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: In every game after Unite, if you die, you'll simply respawn a safe distance away and are allowed to continue on.
  • Easter Egg:
  • Expressive Health Bar: A recurring feature across all four games; if a character is at low health, the icon of their face will change from smiling to worried and freaking out.
  • "Fantastic Voyage" Plot:
    • The final level of the console version of Nicktoons Unite is outright called "Fantastic Voyage of Goddard"; there, the party shrink themselves to hunt down a giant fleabot inside Goddard that spies for and holds the coordinates to Calamitous' secret hideout (which is a Boss-Only Level).
    • The battle against the Girl-Eating Plant in Globs of Doom has you trying find a way to get swallowed by it so that you can beat up its innards (which you accomplish by entering the clothing store aisles and dressing up like women).
  • Final Boss:
    • Nicktoons Unite! has Professor Calamitous as the final boss (with the other Evil Syndicate members Plankton, Vlad Plasmius and Mr. Crocker assisting him in the console and Game Boy Advance versions).
    • The Mawgu serves as the final opponent to fight in Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island, with the Game Boy Advance version having the final battle against him being the only boss fight in the game (albeit the objective is to dodge his attacks in addition to the usual obstacles and hazards of the level rather than directly fighting him).
    • The console versions of Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots lacks boss fights, but has Professor Calamitous as the last boss fought in the handheld versions.
    • In SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom, the console version has the final battle consist of the now reformed Globulous Maximus take on the form of SpongeGlob to fight the Evil Syndicate piloting the Vessel of Portentia. The DS version has the final confrontation with Globulous Maximus being the real final battle and ends the story without the Evil Syndicate betraying the Nicktoons heroes once Globulous is defeated and convinced to beome good.
  • Flunky Boss: Everyone in the console version of Nicktoons Unite, and everyone but the final boss in the console version of Globs of Doom, have regular enemies accompanying their boss fights. Crocker even shouts out for mooks to appear in the former game.
  • Green Hill Zone: Jellyfish Fields in all versions of Nicktoons Unite and the second Zim's Town stage in the console version of Globs of Doom.
  • Hub Level: Jimmy's Lab in Nicktoons Unite, Camp Castaway in Battle for Volcano Islandnote  and the Mawgu Lair in Globs of Doomnote . Attack of the Toybots is the only game that's devoid of a hub level and instead has a simple level select screen.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Throughout the whole series, SpongeBob consistently uses bubbles in some form as one of his main weapons.
  • Legion of Doom: The Evil Syndicate is made up of villains from various Nickelodeon shows, though the exact lineup varies between Unite! and Globs of Doom:
  • Level in the Clouds: Fairy World in the console and DS versions of Nicktoons Unite, and the console and GBA versions of Attack of the Toybots.
  • Lighter and Softer: The first game is Darker and Edgier than the series it's crossing over, both in music and threats, and with less cartoonish and comedic moments. Volcano Island and Toybots, however, are much lighter and more comedic, while Globs of Doom is sort of a middle ground between the two extremes.
  • Massive Multiplayer Crossover: Between several Nicktoons series, with SpongeBob SquarePants, Danny Phantom and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius being the most prominent. The series provides the page quote.
  • Money Is Experience Points: Coins are generally used to level up characters in various games.
  • Original Generation: Every NPC except for Tucker, Squidward and Jimmy in Battle for Volcano Island, every NPC except for Professor Calamitous in Toybots, and Globulous (as well as the bosses for Bikini Bottom and Retroville in the DS version) in Globs of Doom.
  • Power Creep, Power Seep: Not only does Danny get screwed big time by this trope but Calamitous, normally an ineffectual Jimmy Neutron villain, gets bumped on the Sorting Algorithm Of Villain Threat to a Multiuniversal Threat (at first with his Evil Syndicate, and then by himself with an army of living toys).
  • Promoted to Playable: Patrick, Sandy, and Sam go from NPCs in Unite! to playable characters in Battle For Volcano Island and Attack of the Toybots (though Sandy gets excluded in the latter and both her and Sam are excluded from Globs of Doom, with Patrick reverting to an NPC in that game).
  • The Protagonist: Despite the series primarily being an ensemble crossover, SpongeBob, being Nickelodeon's Mascot, is the closest thing to a main character: he has a major role in every game, he's one of the first playable characters in each, he's front and centre on every game's box art, and he and Danny are the only members to be playable in every game. It's most prominent in Globs of Doom, where he's used by the Big Bad to communicate, he's playable in the most levels, and he's the one who convinces Globulous to make a Heel–Face Turn, with Globulous then proceeding to become a SpongeBob copy named SpongeGlob.
  • Puzzle Boss:
  • Several of the bosses in the console versions of Globs of Doom require unconventional strategies:
    • Bubble Bass has to be fed Krabby Patties, which require interacting with the grills in the center of the Krusty Krab and flipping the patties over to him at the right time.
    • GIR has an impromptu platforming section in Zim's yard before you're allowed into Zim's house, and can't be attacked until after he completes his main attack and becomes vulnerable.
    • Cujo the Ghost Dog has to be tricked into running into pillars that lower to reveal buttons. Once all the buttons are pressed, lasers will appear around the arena that damage him on contact.
    • The mutated Girl-Eating Plant can't be damaged normally. Instead, you have to find clothing shops scattered around the arena to trick it into eating you, at which point you can attack its insides.
  • Reformulated Game: While the console versions are 3D platformers, the handheld versions are 2D sidescrolling platformers with some extra differences from the console versions. Some of the handheld versions even take on different new genres entirely; the GBA version of Battle for Volcano Island becomes a collectathon puzzle-platformer while the DS version of Attack of the Toybots becomes a Final Fight-esque 2D-sidescrolling beat-em-up.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Volcano Island features two references to Invader Zim before the series took a more active role in later games: Zim's ship appears in Fort Crabclaw while his house appears in the background of The Summit Storm.
    • Attack of the Toybots contains "off-screen" cameo appearances by characters from almost all Nicktoons that were made at that point, including those that no longer air regularly.
    • GIR has this quote in the console version of Attack of the Toybots: "All your data are belong to MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"
    • In the console version of Attack of the Toybots, Rocko may randomly express "A wallaby's gotta do what a wallaby's gotta do... Whatever that is."
    • Timmy compares Volcano Island to Lost at one point.
    • Among Zim's quotes for using his tractor beam in the console version of Globs of Doom are "Welcome to your doom!" and "Get over here!"
    • One of SpongeBob's lines upon breaking an object in Globs of Doom is "Oops, did I do that?"
  • Sixth Ranger: Tak from Tak and the Power of Juju, in spite of his game series predating this game series, doesn't join the other Nicktoons heroes until Attack of the Toybots, with his presence there mainly being to promote the cartoon based on his game series. In spite of his late arrival, Tak noticeably resurfaced in the final game Globs of Doom when Timmy Turner was left out and replaced by Zim.
  • The Smurfette Principle:
    • Jenny is the only playable female character in the DS version of Attack of the Toybots. Averted in the console versions, where Sam is playable as well.
    • Beautiful Gorgeous is the only female member of the Evil Syndicate (and consequently the only playable female character) in Globs of Doom.
  • Spiritual Successor: The series can be considered one to the early 2000's Nicktoons crossover games such as Nicktoons Racing (which features SpongeBob, Patricknote , Tommy and Angelica Pickles, CatDog, Stimpy, Eliza Thornberry, Darwin, Arnold, Helga, Daggett, Norbert, and Ickis) and Nickelodeon Party Blast (which features SpongeBob, Jimmy, ZIM, Tommy, Angelica, Eliza, and Otto and Reggie Rocket).note 
  • Spotlight-Stealing Crossover: In general, SpongeBob SquarePants and Danny Phantom get the most focus out of all the series represented. SpongeBob and Danny are the only two Nicktoons to be playable in all four games, and only four (alongside Jimmy and SpongeBob's friend Patrick) to appear in each game. Both series also got multiple playable characters in Volcano Island and Toybots (Patrick, Sandy and Sam) and had a playable villain in Globs of Doom.
    • SpongeBob gets top billing for Globs of Doom, which is justified by him being a focal point of the game's story rather than a part of an ensemble cast. He's also playable in the most levels of any character, being used in a whopping fivenote  levels when no other character has more than three.
    • To a lesser extent, Danny is usually second to SpongeBob in terms of plot importance, though that may be a tad bit justified due to being one of the few Nicktoons who regularly fights and beats up super powered baddies in his own home series.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Title: The series is titled SpongeBob SquarePants and Friends in Europe, and the last game is outright called SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom worldwide.
  • Super Drowning Skills: Most apparent in Battle for Volcano Island as the characters will immediately fall through the water that isn't shallow. Lampshaded by the Wise Old Crab.
  • Teamwork Puzzle Game: Each version of Unite is one in its own different way. Also, the GBA version of Battle for Volcano Island and the DS version of Globs of Doom.
  • Temple of Doom: Crystal Ruins in Battle for Volcano Island and the second Pupununu stage in Globs of Doom.
  • Token Adult: SpongeBob is the only member of the main team in Unite! to be an adult rather than a teen (Danny) or child (Timmy and Jimmy), though he makes up for it by being by far the most childish of the group.
  • Token Evil Teammate:
    • Zim in Globs of Doom allies himself with the heroes under the guise of being curious, despite being a Villain Protagonist who's tried to take over Earth numerous times in his home series.
    • An interesting variation of this occurs in Attack of the Toybots. An unlockable costume (console)/cheat code character (DS) allows you to play as Dark Danny (Dan Phantom). Yes, that Dark Danny.
  • Two Girls to a Team: Sam and Sandy are the only two playable girls in the console version of Volcano Island, as well as Sam and Jenny in the console versions of Toybots. The latter game seems to Lampshade this, as one of the awards is obtained by pairing them up. Notably, none of them return for Globs of Doom.
  • Under the Sea: The Bikini Bottom levels in general in any game sans Battle for Volcano Island.
  • The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: The Summit Storm in Battle for Volcano Island and Calamitous' Lair in Attack of the Toybots.
  • The Worf Effect:
    • Having actual powers, Danny is easily be the most powerful member, but is nerfed down for gameplay purposes. The games often explain that he's unable to use his full power due to various reasons, such as Professor Calamitous interfering with the Ghost Zone in Attack of the Toybots.
    • Timmy can actually wish that whatever problems the team is facing to be solved, but Da Rules doesn't allow any changes in any universes other than Dimmsdale. And when they do get to Dimmsdale or Fairy World, the antagonist has drained enough power from the latter to weaken all fairies.
  • Your Size May Vary: In his home series, SpongeBob and his friends are around the size of their real-life sea counterparts - that is, small enough that a normal-sized human could easily hold one of them in their hand. In the Unite! series, all of them are scaled up to be comparable to said normal humans so as to actually be visible in normal gameplay, or while at Bikini Bottom, other characters scaled down.

    Nicktoons Unite! 
  • An Ice Person: Timmy's second ability in the console versions is the Freeze Glove, needed to freeze bodies of water to traverse further.
  • Assist Character: DoodleBob appears as SpongeBob's third ability in the console versions. The ability is primarily used to lure enemies to DoodleBob's location, whether to be used as a distraction or to get enemies to press certain switches.
  • Big Boo's Haunt: The Ghost Zone Prison, which is the console game's first level. Overlaps with The Alcatraz.
  • Big Fancy Castle: Vlad's Castle in all versions and Crocker's Fortress in the console version.
  • Bleak Level: Haunted Amity Park, where the citizens are possessed by ghosts and need to be exorcised by Danny.
  • Blow You Away: Jimmy's main weapon in the console version is the Tornado Blaster, which shoots bursts of air.
  • Boss-Only Level: In the console and GBA versions, the last stage of each world is only a boss fight against the world's villain. The DS version instead has them at the end of a world's final stage.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • DoodleBob, a one-time villain from the SpongeBob episode, "Frankendoodle" appears as one of SpongeBob's attacks.
    • While fighting through the Jellyfish Factory in Bikini Bottom, one of the rooms the heroes pass by has the picture of the lab(rador retriever) from Plankton’s debut episode.
    • Crocker’s palace in Dimmsdale is identical to the one he had when he took over the world in Abra-Catastrophe!. The outfit he wears during the boss fight is the same one he had after raiding the Fairy Armory in the first Jimmy/Timmy Power Hour special, which also introduced the Big Wand that the boss fight takes place at.
  • Cut the Juice: SpongeBob thwarts the Evil Syndicate's evil plan by simply unplugging the Doomsday Device.
  • Darker and Edgier: Compared to the sequels and especially the other games featuring the Nicktoons, this one is considerably darker and more serious. It certainly doesn't help the fact that the humor is toned down here, and all the antagonists of the shows have formed an alliance to have total dominance and be unstoppable. Even the game's art style is noticeably less cartoonish and more realistic than the other Nicktoons games. Muted colors and a dramatic orchestral score predominate here, which is quite rare coming from the lighthearted nature of the Nicktoons. The sequels, however, are considerably more cartoonish and focused on comedy.
  • Deflector Shields: Each character has access to one in the console versions. The design of the shields reflect the character using them, with SpongeBob having a Bubble Shield and Timmy using fairy magic for example.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: The first game has a number of differences from the following games:
    • The tone is much darker and more ominous, with less humor overall, muted colors and an orchestral score. Later games are much lighter, more comedic and feature more distinct music.
    • There was a set team of four characters (SpongeBob, Danny, Timmy and Jimmy) throughout the entire game. Later games feature more characters.
    • Timmy and Jimmy used different weapons. Cosmo forms a star blaster for Timmy instead of a hammer and Jimmy uses a tornado gun instead of his tennis racket.
    • No one could Double Jump.
    • Each character had several exclusive abilities. In later games, most characters play identically or only have minor differences.
    • This game has a Recall system where you can only die a limited number of times before having to restart the level. Later games feature very little punishment for dying and allow you to revive as many times as you need to.
  • Eternal Engine: Plankton's Jellyfish Factory is set in a massive factory in Jellyfish Fields owned by Plankton that harnesses the power of the jellyfish.
  • Finding the Bug: Literally. Near the end of the game, Jimmy figures out that the way Professor Calamitous stole his portal technology is by spying on him through a flea bot on Goddard. The heroes shrink down to battle the flea bot and trace its signal back to Calamitous.
  • Game-Breaking Bug:
    • In the console version, for some reason fully maxing out all playable characters' abilities renders the final boss battle Unwinnable as all attacks no longer register on any of the villains.
    • The recall system is extremely broken and inconsistent. It's entirely possible for a character to get hit by an attack from a boss and use up multiple recalls at once before finally reviving, which can cause you to burn through lives and get a Game Over when you're not supposed to.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: Goddard can be encountered in every level, where he allows you to save your game and purchase upgrades. For some reason, he can also be encountered in The Fantastic Voyage of Goddard, a level that takes place inside him and which he logically shouldn't be able to access.
  • Giant Enemy Crab: Plankton's mecha in the console version.
  • The Goomba: Syndicate Grunts are the basic mooks. They come in green, blue, and red with the former being the lowest tier and the latter being the highest.
  • Guest-Star Party Member: The first level in Bikini Bottom has Sandy guiding the heroes to the Krusty Krab.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Calamitous' fleabot, which he snuck onto Goddard and used to track the heroes' movements, turns out to be his undoing when they defeat it and use its parts to track his secret base.
  • King Mook: The giant fleabot, the penultimate boss of the console version, which leads the flea robots populating the stage you find it in.
  • Macro Zone:
    • The Fantastic Voyage of Goddard in the console version, since it takes place inside Goddard.
    • The Chum Bucket has the heroes shrinking themselves to infiltrate it. At the end of it, they revert to normal with a growth ray, which leads to...
  • Make My Monster Grow: Plankton in the GBA gets accidentally caught up in a growth ray. He is consequently fought as a boss who has a sprite bigger than the player characters.
  • Making a Splash: SpongeBob's first unlockable ability is the Soak. By going into puddles of water, SpongeBob can absorb the water, which can then be squirted out to put out fires, water plants, or fill things with water. However, his mobility greatly decreases, and he'll lose his water storage if he falls from any height.
  • Mecha-Mooks: Many of the mooks are robots created by the Syndicate.
  • The Medic: Timmy's final ability (and by extension, the absolute last ability unlocked in the game) in the console versions is a first-aid kit that slowly heals the team. Unlike every other ability in the game, there are no puzzles that require it.
  • Oh, Crap!: All four heroes scream in terror when they encounter the giant fleabot inside Goddard.
  • Old Save Bonus: Exclusive to the PS2 version, having save files of Tak: The Great Juju Challenge, SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! and Barnyard unlocks several bonus features: one file unlocks bonus costumes for each of the main four, two files unlock concept art and all three together unlock optional cheats. Oddly enough, the GameCube version lacks this feature despite all 4 games being released on that system as well.
  • Shrink Ray: Jimmy's second ability in the console version is obtained in the Fenton's lab. It can be used to shrink larger objects to be used as platforms or against enemies to make combat easier.
  • Stuff Blowing Up: SpongeBob's last power is a Bubble Bomb obtained in the Chum Bucket Lab. It can be charged to create bigger and stronger bombs, and it's needed to blow up cracked structures and defeat Plankton's crab robot.
  • Take Your Time: The Evil Syndicate starts up their Doomsday Machine in the pre-boss cutscene, but no timer is ever present during the fight that follows. Averted in the DS version, where the final boss is not only on a time limit, but then you have to actually disarm the device. Take too long and the Doomsday Device explodes.
  • Use Your Head: Jimmy's final ability unlocked early on in Crocker's Fortress is a football helmet, serving as a dash attack that can be used to hit certain buttons.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: The Doomsday Device needs to be plugged into an outlet to function. Calamitous intended to make a backup source, but he forgot to finish it.
  • Version-Exclusive Content: The PS2 version of the first game has an Old Save Bonus: having save files of Tak: The Great Juju Challenge, SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! and Barnyard unlocks bonus in-game features for Unite!. Interestingly, this feature was not present in the Nintendo GameCube version despite all of these games being released on that system as well.
  • You Don't Look Like You: Crocker's boss fight in the GBA version features "Nega Timmy" as an obstacle. Instead of being a goth vampire-esque evil version of Timmy, this Nega Timmy is just a dark Palette Swap. Also, he's a separate entity from Timmy.

    Battle for Volcano Island 
  • Achievement System: There are medals for performing specific tasks. Blue medals are obtained for collecting specific objects, green for collecting all of a character's salvage items and red for destroying monster generators.
  • Adapted Out: Sandy, Squidward, Sam, and Tucker are entirely absent (as either playable characters or NPCs) from the GBA version.
  • Advertised Extra: Timmy Turner appears on the front cover, but he's recruited about halfway through the game and is only playable in one story level and a bonus level.
  • Arbitrary Skepticism:
    • Some of the dialogue implies that not all of Volcano Island’s residents believe in the prophecy until the chosen ones save them. The Queen of the Myrmec Tribe is one such person.
    • Sam and Danny’s dialogue at the end of the game seems to imply they think of their battle against the Mawgu as just their usual heroism and the islanders’ perception of them as The Chosen Many prophesized to save them from the Mawgu is a bizarre coincidence, despite having just fulfilled said prophecy (every step of which the Wise Old Crab had accurately predicted) alongside a veritable Fantasy Kitchen Sink of heroes before returning to their own universes.
  • Ascended Extra: Patrick, Sandy and Sam got bumped up to playable characters after initially appearing as NPCs in Unite!.
  • Character Select Forcing: Six heroes are playable in the console version, but the characters you use are pre-determined for each level. While some exclusions are justified (no using heroes in levels set before they've been met in the story), others don't make much sense. Timmy in particular gets screwed over badly by this, as it renders him only usable in one story level and his bonus stage.
  • The Chosen Many: The Nicktoons are summoned to Volcano Island to fulfill a prophecy, in which they save the island and its inhabitants from the Mawgu.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Plankton's crab robot from the first game appears in the background of the tutorial level. SpongeBob and Danny talk about how they defeated Plankton upon seeing it.
    • SpongeBob mentions his uncle Sherm from the episode "Krab-Borg" at one point in Ancient's Peak.
    SpongeBob: [laughs] Oh, that looks just like my uncle Sherm.
    Danny: Yeah, I bet it's older than he is.
  • The Corruption: The Mawgu’s ooze, which enslaves anyone who touches it and mutates various animals into monsters.
  • Crystalline Creature: In the late game, enemies include scorpions made out of crystals, which attack by firing long-range ooze projectiles from their stinger tails. They're fragile, though, and go down in one hit.
  • Demoted to Extra:
    • Jimmy goes from a playable character in Nicktoons Unite to non-playable Mission Control in this game, before becoming playable again for the rest of the series.
    • Timmy is only playable in one story level and his bonus level after having been a main playable character in the first game.
  • Dismantled MacGuffin: The Neutron Rip-Zipper, Jimmy Neutron’s invention that will hit the Reset Button on the energy drain the Mawgu is subjecting their universes to and seal the Negative Space Wedgie he is using to do it. After Jimmy sends Tucker the plans to complete it, the heroes have to find the necessary components for its construction among the junk that the rip is raining on the island. Among the pieces are an espresso machine and a microwave oven.
  • Easter Egg: If you push the Great Carapace into the waterfall without destroying the shell on its back first, you unlock an optional cutscene of it expecting to collapse only to No-Sell the water and return to the boss fight. This scene can be viewed in the cutscene theatre only if you unlock it, unlike every other cutscene that is mandatory to the story.
  • Game-Breaking Bug: Occasionally, completing either the level where you rescue Sandy or the penultimate level prior to the final boss in the console versions will make the game boot right back to the main menu as if the entire game was completed. If you haven't saved your game at all and were doing a speedrun of the game, then its back to Summoner's Rock for you! Luckily, you can reload where you left off and hope that you can make it to the next level.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation:
    • Due to not being able to choose which characters you use, some cutscenes have different teams present than what is seen in gameplay: Fetid Forest has you use a team of SpongeBob, Danny, Patrick, and Sandy, but the cutscenes at the end of the level have Sam instead of Patrick, despite Sam not participating in the level. Similarly, Ancient's Peak has a team of SpongeBob, Danny, Sam, and Sandy, but Patrick replaces Sam in the end-of-level cutscene.
    • The Rip-Zipper needs to be completed by assembling specific parts scavenged from the island, including a large spherical crystal, with such rarity that presumably they can only make one Rip-Zipper. However, in order to facilitate the 2-player gameplay in the console version, the final boss fight against The Mawgu has two Rip-Zipper turrets set up so Danny and SpongeBob can attack simultaneously.
  • Guide Dang It!: The console version has some in the case of Patrick and Sandy's unlockable costumes. While SpongeBob, Danny, Sam, and Timmy all have collectibles that can easily be found by just going though the levels normally, Patrick and Sandy's collectables are much more vague. Patrick requires tusks, which you can only collect by attacking shaking bushes and then attacking the boar that comes out, and Sandy requires feathers, which require you to attack similarly shaking palm trees and then keeping the camera focused on the bird that comes out. Neither of these are stated in the game itself.
  • King Mook: There's The Great Carapace and King Gorge. The former of which is this to the sand monsters and the latter of which is this to the Florian guards, although the latter has a Heel–Face Turn after defeating him.
  • The Lost Woods: Fetid Forest starts out in a dark and dreary forest before eventually leading underground into an Ooze mine.
  • Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Patrick: while everyone else has a projectile attack which uses up energy, Patrick's energy attack is a close-range cartwheel which propels him forward instead, most likely as a Mythology Gag to his cartwheel move from The Sponge Bob Movie Game.
  • Museum Level: The Hub Level has a zoo section where you can safely look at the enemies you face throughout the game.
  • Mythology Gag: Patrick does a close-ranged cartwheel for his energy attack in the console version, referencing his cartwheel move from The Sponge Bob Movie Game. It returns in the DS version of Attack of the Toybots.
  • Palmtree Panic: Summoner's Rock and Calamity Cove.
  • Powered Armor: Sam wears the Fenton Ghost Peeler. Finding enough batteries will activate the suit, temporarily increasing the power of Sam's attacks.
  • Remilitarized Zone: Fort Crabclaw.
  • A Winner Is You: In the GBA version, your reward for obtaining all 23 Rip-Zipper pieces and 115 Gold Hearts (which requires a No-Damage Run on every level) is a giant monolith that says "Congratulations! You've completed the game 100%! Thank you for playing!".

    Attack of the Toybots 
  • Achievement System: You can obtain trophies for performing specific tasks, such as destroying enough enemies, pairing certain characters together or rescuing fairies.
  • Adapted Out: The DS version leaves out the fairy sub-plot.
  • Advertised Extra: Despite appearing on the cover, the giant Nicktoon robots don't have any plot relevance and are relegated to generic mooks during the two mech suit stages. Averted in the GBA and DS versions, where each of them gets a full boss fight dedicated to them.
  • Anti-Climax: The ending. Unless you're playing the DS version, there is no Final Boss like the previous games before it. Instead, the Nicktoons storm into Calamitous' room only to find out that the entire Toybot conflict was just part of a game show called "The Biggest Genius", which Calamitous seeks to win. Calamitous ultimately loses out the game show to his minion Chadbot who then proceeds to humiliate Calamitous by shaving his mustache off with a razor, and the cutscene just ends there, leaving the whole Toybot conflict unresolved.
  • Demoted to Extra: The Mawgu goes from the Big Bad of Volcano Island to a brief cameo in the intro cutscene.
  • Eternal Engine: The near-entirety of the console and DS versions take place in various industrial robot factories. The GBA version instead has each stage divided into an outdoor first half and a factory second half.
  • Goofy Print Underwear: Knock off the skirt-like casing of one particular type of robotic enemy in the console version, and they'll be revealed to be wearing what looks like polka-dot underwear.
  • Improbable Weapon User:
    • In the console versions, Jimmy uses a modified tennis racket (which returns in Globs of Doom), while Stimpy wields a giant, purple toothbrush.
    • In the DS version, Mr. Blik uses windup mice, pillows, and giant wedges of cheese while GIR tosses tacos, muffins, and rubber pigs.
  • Killer Teddy Bear: Mr. Huggles teddy bears are just one of the many killer toys the characters have to fight.
  • Lethal Joke Character: The unlockable Mr. Huggles in the console version can kill all enemies in one hit.
  • Living Toys: Calamitous uses a combination of fairy magic and ghost energy to bring his robotic toys to life, and they serve as the main enemies throughout the game.
  • Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Mr. Blik and GIR in the DS game: The former throws short-ranged projectiles and lobs three of them of varying height for his combo attack in an arc so narrow that it nearly defeats the purpose of him being a ranged character, but they pack a serious punch. The latter is a fairly standard ranged character but has a special attack that can hit multiple enemies like a rock skipping on water and will stun all of them.
  • Medal of Dishonor: Using any of the non-Mr. Huggles cheat codes in the console version grants the player the "Cheater!" award, which essentially calls them out for cheating.
  • Mythology Gag: Several of GIR's quotes reference lines from his series:
    • "Yay, we're doomed!": GIR upon encountering a vengeful Dib in a battle suit in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy".
    • "Why is my head soooo big?!": GIR commenting on Dib's large head in "Door to Door".
    • "I hunger... for yummy waffles! Let's make some!" and "Threat level increased! Eat waffles!" both reference GIR's love for waffles seen in "Zim Eats Waffles".
    • "We're on TV! We're on TV! I'm a serious actor!" references GIR's "I'm on TV!" exclamation from "Mysterious Mysteries".
    • "I must have them or I'll explode. That happens to me sometimes." A cut line that was supposed to play upon encountering a master model, referencing a line from the episode "Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain", where he forced Zim to buy him tacos after becoming his house's AI.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Discussed. An early cutscene in the console version has SpongeBob pointing out to Tak that red eyes are a good indication of evil. Sure enough, the titular toybots have them.
    Tak: I'm Tak of the Pupununu People. You are the good guys, aren't you?
    SpongeBob: Sure, it's the beady red eyes that are a dead giveaway for the evil fellows. I am SpongeBob SquarePants, nice to meet you.
  • Secret Character:
    • Certain characters have to be rescued before they can become playable, depending on the version. The console versions get Stimpy and Rocko, the DS version gets Zim, Mr. Blik and El Tigre and both versions get GIR and Jenny Wakeman.
    • The console and DS versions also feature cheat-code-exclusive characters. The console version has the Mr. Huggles and Exo-Huggles 3000 mooks, who can One-Hit Kill any enemy. The DS version gets SpongeGar and Dark Danny, who play differently from their base characters.
  • Sidelined Protagonist Crossover: The console versions feature Breakout Character GIR from Invader Zim as a secret playable character, but Zim himself makes no such appearance. Averted in the DS version, which features both Zim and GIR as playable characters.
  • Spin Attack: Rocko attacks by spinning.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Jenny (Girly Girl) and Sam (Tomboy) share this dynamic in the console version.
  • Unexpected Gameplay Change:
    • SpongeBob's master figure levels are 3D racing stages involving him using his tongue to slide through sewers.
    • Danny's master figure levels are timed maze levels where Danny has full vertical movement.
    • The final segment of the third factory zone features a brief turret section where the player has to shoot down UFOs.

    Globs of Doom 
  • Absurdly Spacious Sewer: The first stages of Bikini Bottom and Zim's Town in the console version have sections where you go inside sewer tunnels filled with Morphoid goo.
  • Adaptational Heroism: In the console version, the Evil Syndicate betray the heroes at the last second, abandoning them in space and attempting to use the Vessel of Portentia to capture Globulus Maximus and use him for their evil plans. This betrayal does not happen in the DS version, and their alliance with the heroes sticks until the end of the game.
  • Adaptation Name Change: Tlaloc's name is changed to Traloc.
  • Amusement Park: The first Retroville stage in the console version, which takes place in Retroland.
  • The Artifact: In the previous games, touching a deadly object or falling off a platform simply teleports the player to a safer area, with a "Poof!" effect lifted straight from The Fairly OddParents!. This was Hand Waved in the former two games as Cosmo and Wanda using their power to protect the player, but it's harder to justify in this game since Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda aren't present.note 
  • Ascended Extra: After the former appeared as a Secret Character in the DS version of Attack of the Toybots and the latter a master model in the GBA version, Zim and Dib got promoted to fully playable, plot-relevant characters in all versions of this game.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The goo causes many of the bosses to turn giant.
    • Bubble Bass eats some of the goo and grows large enough to lift the Krusty Krab into the air, setting up the first boss fight.
    • In Retroville, the Girl-Eating Plant has grown to an enormous size, seemingly towering over the entirety of Retroland in the world's intro cutscene and is still large enough to cover nearly the entirety of a mall's height during its boss fight.
    • In the DS version, the Vendor Juju and Almighty Tallest are both extremely large, much larger than they are usually. In fact, an essential part of the former's boss fight is just getting high enough to reach his head.
  • The Bad Guys Win: The secret ending has the Evil Syndicate defeat Globulous and the heroes. The villains are then seen gathered around a table after trapping Globulous in a jar.
  • Be Yourself: How SpongeBob got Globulous to do a Heel–Face Turn. And then he shapeshifted into a giant, slimy cyclops SpongeBob.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: Globulous Maximus is the leader of the Morphoids, but the Evil Syndicate turns out to be helping the heroes only to kidnap and use Globulous for themselves.
  • Boss-Only Level: The third stage for each world exclusively features a battle against said world's boss: the Krusty Krab for Bubble Bass, Zim's house for GIR, the Fenton Underground for Cujo the Ghost Dog and Retroville Mall for the girl-eating plant. The sole exception is Pupununu Village, which lacks a third stage and thus has its boss faced at the end of the second stage.
  • Brainwashed: Anyone who gets covered in Morphoid goo gets put under Globulous' control. SpongeBob, being an absorbent sponge, is able to shrug it off, but this comes at the cost of Globulous repeatedly body-snatching him.
  • Brick Joke: Near the start of the console version, SpongeBob can interact with Patrick's rock in Bikini Bottom to have Patrick come out, clinging onto it. Patrick returns in Pupununu Temple, now clinging onto a boulder rolling down the temple steps.
  • Bullfight Boss: Cujo the Ghost Dog has to be tricked into charging into pillars scattered around the arena, which will then lower to reveal buttons. Once all the buttons are pressed, lasers will form around the arena that damage Cujo if he collides with them.
  • Character Select Forcing: There are ten playable characters in both versions, but the player is unable to choose who they want to use. In the console version, they are forced into using pre-selected combinations for each individual level, even the boss ones. The DS version, being a Teamwork Puzzle Game, has a set pair for each world which has levels designed around their abilities; only for the final boss battle can one of the five pairs chosen.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
    • Despite being one of the main characters in the first three games, Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda are completely absent from this game without a mention.
    • While the playable villains are said to be the Evil Syndicate from Nicktoons Unite!, the only returning member of the team is Plankton. Vlad, Crocker, and Calamitous are all replaced by other villains with no explanation.
  • Continue Your Mission, Dammit!: A subtle example in the console version: if left idle, your active characters will constantly go "Ahem!", as if urging the player to pay attention and continue playing.
  • Continuity Nod: This game features a boss fight with Bubble Bass, a SpongeBob character not seen since the first season, though he would eventually reappear on the show several years after the game was released.
  • Darker and Edgier: When compared to the lighthearted Volcano Island and Attack of the Toybots, Globs of Doom is more somber, with the toons' worlds actively being at stake to the point where the heroes and villains are forced to team up and a moody ambient soundtrack in the console version. However, it's still less dark than Unite!, as it still continues to retain the cartoonish nature of the previous games.
  • Demoted to Extra:
    • Patrick goes from a playable character in Volcano Island and Attack of the Toybots to a non-playable character who provides comic relief.
    • GIR starts off as an unlockable playable character in both the console and DS versions of Attack of the Toybots, but becomes a non-playable boss (or in the case of the DS version, a cameo) in this game.
    • Vlad Plasmius in Nicktoons Unite! was one of the main antagonists of the game and had dialogue and screentime to match. He reappears as a one-off boss with no dialogue in the DS version, and is never mentioned again after he's defeated.
  • Disguised in Drag: The boss battle against the Girl-Eating Plant in the console version invokes this: in order to damage it from the inside, SpongeBob and Technus have to find several clothing stores and put on dresses, which fools the plant into thinking they're girls and eating them.
  • Down in the Dumps: The second Bikini Bottom stage in the console version.
  • Dual Boss: The DS version has the infected Almighty Tallest as the penultimate bosses.
  • Dueling Player Characters: The Final Boss of the console version has the Nicktoons heroes (SpongeBob, Patrick, Danny, Jimmy, Tak and Zim) piloting SpongeGlob against the Evil Syndicate (Plankton, Technus, Beautiful Gorgeous, Traloc and Dib) piloting the Vessel of Portentia. In single-player, the Nicktoons win by default, but if there are two players, they can duke it out to determine who wins the matchup.
  • Earn Your Bad Ending: There is a secret ending only accessible through a rather oblique method: a second controller must be connected during the first phase of the final boss fight against Globulous Maximus, which will allow a second player to control the Evil Syndicate's robot in the subsequent battle between the heroes and the Evil Syndicate. The player-controlled Evil Syndicate (losing to the CPU-controlled Syndicate merely results in the battle restarting, and the first player will always play as the heroes) must then win the battle to get an alternate ending where they succeed in capturing Globulous in a glass jar, and are implied to use him in their evil schemes. In addition, the ending can only be achieved on a save file that hasn't already been completed, as completing the battle again will not play the ending a second time.
  • Enemy Mine: The heroes (consisting of SpongeBob, Danny, Jimmy, Tak and Zim) are forced to team up with their enemies from the Evil Syndicate (consisting of Plankton, Technus, Beautiful Gorgeous, Traloc and Dib) to take down Globulous, who's a bigger threat than either side could ever be. Until he is defeated, at which point the Evil Syndicate breaks the alliance in favor of their own plans.
  • Forced Transformation: Several characters can turn Morphoids into harmless objects that can be defeated in one hit: SpongeBob - bubbles, Jimmy - atoms, Tak - sheep and Dib - balloons.
  • Game-Breaking Bug: The console versions have a particularly nasty one where if the game is exited through the main Hub Level, the save files may become corrupt and unplayable, essentially forcing the player to start the game all the way from the beginning.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: Two examples with Bikini Bottom:
    • The starting cutscene has SpongeBob and Beautiful Gorgeous chasing after Bubble Bass, who's heading to the Krusty Krab (which acts as the boss level of the area). After travelling through most of Bikini Bottom, the two end up at the Chum Bucket, which is right across the street from the Krusty Krab. Instead of just going across the street, however, the game makes the player go through another level which starts off in a completely different location altogether before then facing Bubble Bass at the Krusty Krab.
    • Upon completing the first Bikini Bottom level, the following cutscene has Plankton mention that the Chum Bucket is in danger, even though it's the last location visited in the aforementioned level and the player's likely already cleared most, if not all the enemies out of it already.
  • Hijacked by Ganon: The console version has Globulous Maximus be the villain for most of the game, but after defeating him, the Evil Syndicate reveals their own agenda to use his power for their own evil plans. They ultimately become the real Final Boss using the Vessel of Porpentia. Downplayed since of all the villains present, Plankton is the only returning one.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Plankton can fall into this when defeating Morphoids in the console version.
    Plankton: Take that, you one-eyed freak! Hey, wait!
  • Improbable Weapon User:
    • On the hero's side, Spongebob's bubble blower, Jimmy's tennis racket, and Zim's infamous plunger of doom.
    • On the villain's side, Beautiful Gorgeous's megaphone and Dib's balloon launcher. Of course, many of these get Lampshaded.
  • Jungle Japes: Pupununu has its first console stage and the entirety of its DS world set in one.
  • Large Ham: Globulous.
  • Later-Installment Weirdness:
    • Compared to the previous games, this one is treated more as a SpongeBob game that happens to feature other Nicktoon characters and places a heavier emphasis on the SpongeBob characters themselves.
    • This is the only game where SpongeBob doesn't wear his karate gloves while attacking. The gloves instead appear as a power-up that buffs the player's attack power for a short time.
    • This is the only game in the series not to feature any content from The Fairly OddParents!.
    • This is the only game in the Unite! series not to get a Game Boy Advance port.
  • Limit Break: Combo Attacks in the console version can only be performed once the combo gauge is full. When performed, it results in a special attack unique to the combination of characters you're using that instantly kills all non-boss enemies on the screen, such as SpongeBob and Beautiful Gorgeous turning all enemies into bubble hearts or Dib and Tlaloc summoning UFOs to abduct them.
  • Marathon Boss: Globulus Maximus. In the DS version, his health bar is absolutely massive. In the console version, he has 9 phases, with only three of which where you're able to damage him. And if you die in either version, it's back to the very start.
  • Marathon Level: Both Amity Park levels in the console version are ridiculously long when compared to the worlds before (Zim's Town) and after (Retroville) it.
  • Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Danny Phantom: while everyone else has a projectile attack which stuns enemies, Danny instead creates a clone of himself which attacks nearby enemies and absorbs damage.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Beautiful Gorgeous, as shown in this concept art.
  • Multiple Endings: The console version has two, as alongside the standard ending achieved by simply beating the final boss, there's a second ending so well hidden it may as well be an Easter Egg as described above. After the villains defeat the heroes and Globulous, they sit at a table in their lair with Globulous trapped in a jar in the background.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • The Invader Zim episode "Zim Eats Waffles" had a scene where Zim threatened one of his experiments with a plunger. In Globs of Doom, Zim uses a plunger (OF DOOM!) as his main weapon.
    • Similarly, Dib's balloon launcher appears to be based on the balloon launcher he built in "The Wettening".
  • Promoted to Playable:
    • Plankton goes from being a member of the Big Bad Duumvirate in Unite! to a main playable character, notably being the only member of the first game's Evil Syndicate to make the cut.
    • Dib first appeared as a master model in the DS version of Attack of the Toybots before appearing alongside his nemesis Zim as a playable character.
  • Puppeteer Parasite: While the Morphoids can fight on their own, the bosses (except for their leader Globulous Maximus and two of the bosses in the DS game who have instead integrated into the environment) are all infected characters with a head full of Morphoid goo.
  • Remember the New Guy?: Zim and Dib are introduced as if they already know the other Nicktoons. While Zim was playable in the DS version of Attack of the Toybots, the canonicity of the handheld versions in comparison to the console versions (where GIR was playable but Zim wasn't) is highly debatable.
  • Rewarding Vandalism: Lampshaded in the console version by the character you're controlling when you do such things.
  • Roofhopping: The second Amity Park stage in the console version is set entirely atop roofs.
  • Running Gag: SpongeBob getting goo all over him at the end of every boss level (before dealing with Globulous Maximus).
  • Slide Level: Every stage is prefaced with a sliding sequence in which your character automatically moves forward, and the player can steer them left and right and jump over obstacles while collecting coins.
  • Token Good Teammate: Dib is this to the Syndicate, as he allies himself with them solely on the basis that they're against Zim despite Dib himself being a Hero Antagonist rather than an outright villain.
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential: Over the course of the game, you'll encounter several characters trapped in Morphoid goo. Most of these characters have to be freed to open the portal at the end of each level, but some are entirely optional. So, if you're feeling cruel, you can leave the likes of Squidward, Ms. Bitters, Dash Baxter or Sheen trapped in the goo.
  • Voices Are Mental: In the case of Globulous!SpongeBob, first averted and then played straight after Zim's Town.

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