Splatoon teams up with SpongeBob in the most appropriate crossover ever

Nintendo and Nickelodeon have partnered to bring a touch of SpongeBob SquarePants to Splatoon, its aquatic creature-starring multiplayer shooter on Wii U. The game's next Splatfest event, beginning April 23 at 6 a.m. PT, will be inspired by characters from the nautical-themed cartoon — although, surprisingly, the sea sponge's neighbor Squidward Tentacles won't be involved.

Instead, players can choose to compete on Team SpongeBob or Team Patrick, SpongeBob's pink starfish companion. After pledging loyalty to one of the two teams, participants will receive a shirt with their team mascot's face on it.

The polls open tomorrow, and the competition runs from April 23 until April 24 at 12 p.m. PT. That gives players just 36 hours to fight in the name of their SpongeBob character of choice. The winning team will receive Super Sea Snails — Nintendo notes in a press release that these are unrelated to SpongeBob's pet snail Gary — that can be used to upgrade their gear.

Splatoon regularly runs limited-time Splatfest events, including one in February held in advance of Pokémon's 20th anniversary. That competition had players make the call between Pokémon Red or Pokémon Blue as the superior Pokémon game.

If you haven't started playing Splatoon yet, check out our review to learn more about the 2015 release.