iCarly (video game)

iCarly (or iCarly: The Game) is a 2009 party video game loosely based on the TV series of the same name. The Wii version of the game was developed by Blitz Games, while the Nintendo DS version was developed by Human Soft. The game was released in North America for the Nintendo DS on October 27, 2009, and for the Wii on October 20, 2009. Both versions were also released in Europe and Australia in November 6, 2009.

iCarly
Nintendo DS North American Box art
Developer(s)Blitz Games (Wii)
Human Soft (Nintendo DS)
Publisher(s)Activision
Director(s)John Jarvis
Designer(s)Mike Bithell
Jonathan Tainsh
Kory Vandenberg
Programmer(s)Chris Bunner
Duncan Chambers
Andrew Hague
Matthew Hayward
Artist(s)Auburn Hodgson
Matthew Norledge
Owen Williams
Writer(s)Myles McLeod
Stuart Maine
Composer(s)Matt Black
Platform(s)Wii, Nintendo DS
ReleaseNintendo DS
  • NA: October 27, 2009
  • AU: November 6, 2009
  • EU: November 6, 2009
Wii
  • NA: October 20, 2009
  • AU: November 6, 2009
  • EU: November 6, 2009
Genre(s)Party
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

A sequel, iCarly 2: iJoin the Click!, was released for the Wii and Nintendo DS in November 16, 2010.[1]

Development and release

In May 2009, Activision announced they had partnered with Nickelodeon to create an iCarly game for the Wii and Nintendo DS to be released in fall of that year.[2] The game was released in October 2009, with David Oxford of Activision Publishing describing it as "an energetic gameplay experience that is non-stop entertainment" and Steve Youngwood of Nickelodeon saying it would "tap[...] into kids' creativity to provide them with endless fun."[3]

Gameplay

Based on the TV series, iCarly is about a girl named Carly Shay who creates her own web show called iCarly with her best friends Sam and Freddie. Carly's videos that are uploaded on the iCarly site are being deleted, and it turns out that Nevel has taken down their website. So Carly and her friends have to get their website back by playing 10 minigames, presented as show skits, and they allow players to work with the characters through new adventures. The iCreate mode lets players add their own touches to the webisodes by swapping out props, characters, color schemes, audio, intros, outros and other elements. Up to four players can either compete or cooperate to complete the skits and earn Web-Creds, which can then be used to purchase new items, props, accessories and locations from in-game websites.

The Wii verison of the game allows for up to four players at once.[4]

Reception

Common Sense Media commented in their review that the contained mini-games were "genuinely fun, easy to learn but hard to master", but that "there just aren't enough of them, which leads to a lot of repetition"[5] Digital Spy praised the game's voice acting and story, but criticized the gameplay as "slightly repetitive", the customization as "rather surface level", the game as having "limited substance".[6]

Speedrunning

Between 2018 and 2020, a small speedrunning community developed around the Wii version of the game, and in November 2020, a former world record holder for the Any% category offered a $200 reward to the first person who could record themselves beating the world record at the time.[7]

References
  1. iCarly 2: iJoin the Click! - Wii - IGN
  2. "Activision Partners with Nickelodeon on Global Licensing for iCarly" (Press release). Activision Publishing, Nickelodeon. May 13, 2009. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020 – via IGN.
  3. "Activision Publishing Releases Nickelodeon's iCarly For Wii and Nintendo DS/DSi" (Press release). Activision Publishing, Nickelodeon. October 28, 2009. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020 – via IGN.
  4. "iCarly – Nintendo Wii". GameStop. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  5. Healy, Christopher (2009). "iCarly Video Game Review". Common Sense Media. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  6. Laughlin, Andrew (November 13, 2009). "'iCarly' (Wii)". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  7. Knudsen, Fredrik; Saltydkdan (November 12, 2020). The World Record History of iCarly (for Wii). Retrieved 13 December 2020 – via YouTube.
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