Various Nickelodeon characters each receive a letter invitation to compete in a Grand Prix for the top prize, the Krusty Krab Big Bun Award. The host of the competition, also the individual who sent the invitations, is an unknown, unseen driver of a sleek, black car with a tinted dome window simply dubbed as the Mystery Rider, which the participating racers are challenged to beat, as well as each other. Upon arriving and being announced by the Race Announcer, the Mystery Rider and other Nicktoons speed off to begin their first race. Once the player ultimately completes the game and wins the final Cup to obtain the Krusty Krab Big Bun Award, their playable Nicktoon receives a year supply of Krabby Patties as it is hitched to their go-kart. The Mystery Rider arrives in his cart and is revealed to be Sheldon J. Plankton. It stated by the Announcer that Plankton created the entire series of races as a plan to obtain the Krabby Pattysecret formula. The winning racer then rides off into the sunset with their Krabby Patties and the credits begin to play.
Gameplay
Nicktoons Racing focuses on engaging players in go-kart racing through various Nicktoons-themed circuit tracks in a variety of different modes, similar to the Mario Kart series. The game features a wide selection of playable characters from various 1990's Nicktoons. The game offers an Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulty for the gameplay. The game also has a multiplayer option and can be played with a second player via split-screen utilization. Each track features power-up presents that allow the player to gain advantages against their fellow racers in the form of various weapons and obstructions, as well as small orbs that a racer can collect and utilize to get a short-term speed boost. Each track also contains a variety of alternate routes and shortcuts that allow the various racers to shorten their laps. ;Cups The primary mode for the racing gameplay. This mode allows the player to take control of one of the Nicktoon racers and compete in a series of 4 races in the form of a Cup. There are 3 Cups and the second and third have to be unlocked by beating the previous Cup series. This is the mode required to beat the game's main story, unlock all the tracks for other modes of play, unlock The Mystery Rider as a playable kart, and the bonus minigames. ;Time Trial A mode that can be used by the player to test their speed ability on each unlocked track. After finishing your first lap, a ghost racer will appear and perform the lap as the player did it on previous lap. ;Race for Fun A mode that allows the player to race a single track without competing in a Cup. The player progressively earns random collectible rewards for a trophy shelf the more races they participate at in a row and win. ;Verses A mode that is generally the same as Race for Fun, but for two players instead. This mode does not feature collectibles. ;Relay A mode that allows the player to pick three characters and race them in a 3-lap relay where each character performs one lap before tagging in the next racer. If the player hits their next racer directly, they get an initial speed boost for their next lap. ;Bonus Levels Besides the main racing tracks, the game also has a single-player and multiplayer specific bonus minigame that you unlock as you play-through and beat all the cups in Medium and Hard Mode.
For single-player, the player unlocks the Hey Arnold!-themed level Big City Clean Up in which the player is given a time trial in order to find and collect 60 of the power-up presents seen in the main racing gameplay.
For multiplayer, the player unlocks the SpongeBob SquarePants-themed level Beach Soccer in which two players push a beach ball around a field attempting to score more goals than the other in a timed match.
Characters
The game has 13 playable characters* each with their own distinctive go-karts :
Ren Hoëk and Oblina appear in the game's opening cutscene, but are not playable racers. Squidward Tentacles and Rancid Rabbit also appear in the background of select tracks during actual gameplay. The Race Announcer is a fully new character created specifically for the game.
All characters retain their original voice actors via reused audio bits from their respective shows. The Game Boy Color version of the game features a heavily reduced roster of characters. Stimpy is removed in the arcade version.
Reception
While the PlayStation game was not reviewed on IGN, it got mixed to positive reviews elsewhere, while the Game Boy Color version seemed mixed or negative with a 3.0/10 from IGN. The Game Boy Advance edition received positive reviews with an 8.0/10 on IGN.
Sequels
After several years of re-releasing Nicktoons Racing for different consoles and platforms, with the last being the arcade version released in 2003, a sequel was put into production. Nicktoons Winners Cup Racing was released for PC in February 2006. In 2008, a third Nicktoons Racing game was put into production, and was released in 2009 as Nicktoons Nitro, for arcade. In July 2018, Nickelodeon Kart Racers was announced as the fourth game in the Nicktoons Racing series.
