Nate's Great Adventure

Nate's Great Adventure (released in North America as The Sweet Treets: Nate's Great Adventure) is an action-adventure video game based on the Sweet Treets franchise. Starring the character Nate Nicholson, it is a follow-up to the All New! The Sweet Treets special "Nate and the Forest Venture", and chronologically takes place three months later. The game was released for the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color in September 2001. Franchise creator Taylor Ridley served as the director of all three versions of the game, though they were each developed by different studios. A PC version, based off the home console versions of the game was also released exclusively in China in 2002.

The Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 versions of Nate's Great Adventure were developed by Block1 Games, the Game Boy Advance version was developed by KP Games and the Game Boy Color version was developed by Puffinsoft. The former two studios were split off from Kubokartoonz Interactive, a game development division of Kubokartoonz, a Kuboian animation studio who co-produced both ''All New! The Sweet Treets and The New Adventures of The Sweet Treets''.

All four versions of the game received positive reviews from critics, who praised their gameplay, presentation, music and accessibility, although some criticised the game's marketing, as well as the loading times on the home console versions. Nate's Great Adventure was a commercial success, with the PlayStation 2 version selling over a million copies worldwide.

Plot
After a group of giant rats start to cause havoc in Eastwood Park, Nate, with the help of his friends, get to the bottom of where they could be coming from.

Dreamcast and PS2 version
The Dreamcast and PS2 versions of Nate's Great Adventure are set in a 3D environment, with the camera usually following the player in a fixed semi-high angle shot (similar to Louise's New Quest.

Whilst controlling Nate, the player can move freely, with the option to either walk or run, though running means Nate has difficulty breaking and slides about easily. Nate can also interact with some of the objects in the area, such as pushing heavy objects or breaking wooden creates by kicking them. He can also perform a single jump - the player must hold down the jump button in order to reach higher.

The game is divided into four main areas; Eastwood Park, Eastwood Outskirts, Westend Village and Outer Heights. Each of the four areas feature a large open-world environment which the player can freely roam and interact with. Additionally, every area has one multi-part objective to complete, which is slowly ticked off via a checklist.

Occasionally, the player will have to play as Louise and King Rojo in order to advance in the game. Louise plays similarly to Nate, but can run indefinitely and jump high without needing to charge up, though her movement is slightly more slippery. King Rojo can only walk slowly and can't jump, but can use a giant hammer to smash hard objects. Both Louise and King Rojo are played on three different occasions each.

GBA and GBC version
The Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color versions of Nate's Great Adventure is set in a 3D top-down perspective similar to the Pokemon series. Playing as Nate, the player has to explore six stages, where they solve puzzles and collect items scattered throughout the environment.

Nate is equipped with a repellent spray, which he has to use to take out enemies in the game. Enemies usually come in the form of giant rodents, though species vary. Nate has a total of four heart pieces in the game. Getting a Game Over gives the option to restart from the last save point (the player can save at any time) or to return to the main menu.

In the Game Boy Color version, each stage has four puzzle pieces which are hidden in the area. Collecting all four unlocks a simple minigame where the player has to last as long as they can without losing.

In the Game Boy Advance version, the puzzle pieces and minigames are omitted and replaced with golden coins, which can be used to purchase seven levels in Challenge Mode (one level is unlocked at the start, making eight in total). In Challenge Mode, the player controls Nate in a 2D side-scrolling environment, and tries to pop balloons relating to the level's colour whilst avoiding black balloons which stun Nate. The aim is to try and complete each level in the fastest time, with the top five times for each level getting saved.

Using the Game Boy Advance Link Cable, the Challenge Mode can be played with up to four players using one game pak, with the other three players playing as Louise, Marilyn and Hugh (who plays as who is randomised - the characters all play identically). In these multiplayer levels, players compete to pop as many balloons as possible within a one, two or three-minute time limit.

The Playground
The Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 versions of Nate's Great Adventure feature an area called The Playground. Here, the player is given a samdbox-like area which they can customise to their liking. The Playground has both an outdoor area and a cafe-esque indoor area. Scenery, aesthetics, objects and music upon other aspects can be bought from the Playground Market. The player can also buy new clothing for Nate and customise his look exclusively for the mode.

Playground Stadium
There is also an area called the Playground Stadium, where the player can play multiplayer minigames with up to four players. Each of the minigames features a certain Sweet Treets character, with each player playing as a certain colour-coded version of the character (red for player 1, blue for player 2, green for player 3 and yellow for player 4).

In order to access the Playground Stadium, the player must acquire Stadium Keys by completing missions throughout the game. The player needs a Stadium Key to unlock the stadium, and then another key for each unlocked minigame.

The minigames included in the Playground Stadium include:
 * "Nate's Skipping Challenge" (unlocked upon unlocking the stadium)
 * "Louise's Balloon Burst"
 * "Marilyn's Art Attack"
 * "Hugh's Pinball Panic"
 * "Swoop's Sky Race"
 * "King Rojo's Gold Rush"
 * "Gunge's Conveyor Chaos"
 * "Rusty's Surprise Tunnels"
 * "Monster Rat Maze" (unlocked after acquiring all Stadium Keys)

Any slots not filled up by human players are taken by computer players. It is possible for only computer players to take part in each minigame as well.

Cast

 * Peter Malosh as Nate
 * Lottie Baker as Edwina
 * Ashley Maverick as Nina and Liane
 * Sharlie Deem as Louise
 * Opaline Robins as Marilyn
 * Avoc Westwind as Hugh
 * Candis Westwind as Anthem
 * Sap M.N. Williams as Swoop and Rat Monsters
 * Henry Buckings as King Rojo
 * Charlie Karma as Tigen, Zoe and Gunge
 * Bruno Leon Vidal as Rusty
 * Flynn Raidon as Stumpy and Derrick

Please note that the Game Boy Color version has no voice acting, and only Nate has lines in the Game Boy Advance version (as do Louise, Marilyn and Hugh, in the multiplayer mode).

Development
Development on Nate's Great Adventure began all the way back in 1997, when Taylor Ridley proposed making a video game based on a Sweet Treets character other than Louise. Though it was originally intended as a Dreamcast exclusive, Ridley later decided it would be a good idea to release the game on newer hardware as well, such as the then-upcoming PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance. In January 2000, the game development division of Kubokartoonz, Kubokartoonz Interactive, was split into two; Block1 Games and KP Games, with the former developing the home console version and the latter developing the Game Boy Advance version. Puffinsoft also received the rights to develop a Game Boy Color version. Ridley mostly focused on developing the home console version, but frequently checked on all three versions to make sure production was going smoothly.

In March 2000, Taylor Ridley, Sharlie Deem and Peter Malosh made an appearance at a cafe in Fahrbahnin to showcase a tech demo titled Nate's Story. The demo, which ran on a Dreamcast, featured Nate in a generic 3D environment, where he could run, jump and interact with some of the environment's objects. Louise and Swoop also appear in the demo, and could be controlled by running up to and talking to them.

Ridley revealed shortly after the game's development that she wanted the final game to feature a lot of areas where the player would play as many different characters, but reduced it to simply Louise and King Rojo due to mutliple factors, including budget, simplicity and consistency. She said that the minigames Playground Stadium were created in order to make up for this, as allowing characters to be playable in the minigames only would save on time due to having to worry about producing fewer animations. It is possible to hack all of these characters and make them playable in the main game with the use of cheating devices, though doing so makes the game prone to crashing when doing most actions outside of moving and jumping.

Sales
Nate's Great Adventure was a commercial success, with the PlayStation 2 version selling over a million copies worldwide. However, according to Taylor Ridley, the Dreamcast version sold below expectations, which she believed was due to the console being on "its last legs".

Critical reception
Nate's Great Adventure received generally positive reviews, except for the Game Boy Color version, which received mostly mixed reviews.

The Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 versions were praised for their music, visuals, presentation and accessibility. Nintendo Official Magazine noted that the game "is violence-free and easy to play for little kids, but deep enough for older players to also enjoy". IGN awarded the game a 7.8 out of 10, giving additional praise to the Playground and its replay value, though it did criticise the long loading times and easy difficulty.

A few critics were unkeen towards the game's marketing, with some criticising Ridley for "milking" the franchise, as well as catering primarily towards the Kuboian market, something Ridley declined,

The Game Boy Advance version was praised for its simple yet fun gameplay and addictive minigames, with some criticism going towards its repetitive game design. When reviewing the Game Boy Advance version, Nintendo Official Magazine said it had little to offer compared to the home console versions, but called it a good "time killer".

On Metacritic, the Dreamcast version has a 75/100 rating, the PlayStation 2 version has a 78/100 rating, the Game Boy Color version has a 58/100 rating and the Game Boy Advance version has a 71/100 rating.