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In a collaboration video game by Squaresoft and Disney, Kingdom Hearts, the two companies decided to throw a bunch of Disney and Final Fantasy characters into one game (which sounds odd but actually worked out quite well). Tidus is one of the Final Fantasy characters who managed to snag himself a spot in the Kingdom Hearts series, although he got a relatively small part as a friend (possibly acquaintance) of the protagonist. He is also much younger in this game, about thirteen years old, and is friends with Wakka (not a big surprise) and Selphie (which is a surprise ... but I suppose if you think about it, their personalities probably mesh together well).

In Kingdom Hearts, the story revolves around a boy named Sora who, along with his friends Kairi and Riku, want to go see other worlds, since they feel like they're not experiencing much being stuck on their tiny little home island and all. A freak storm transports all three of them into seperate worlds and the adventure begins with Sora's quest to find his missing friends by going to various Disney worlds.

At the same time, the King of Disney Castle (in Mickey Mouse's world) is missing and his loyal subjects Donald and Goofy need to find the king, who in turn is searching for a "key" holder -- this person turns out to be Sora! While looking for his friends, Sora rescues the pure-heart princesses and uncovers a deep, dark plan by Maleficent, who was holding Kairi prisoner and Riku as her sidekick.

As well as having Disney characters make guest appearances in the game, Final Fantasy characters are also incorporated into it. I'm going to guess the reason for this is that Squaresoft was hoping to attract not only the "E for Everyone" crowed to the Kingdom Hearts game with the Disney characters, but also the "T for Teen" older audience with Final Fantasy characters.

So that explains why Tidus makes a feature in the game. Unlike FF characters such as Cloud or Squall, Tidus does not have a big part, he is quite a minor character in the game and is only seen for a short while in the beginning. You are able to fight against Tidus, as he is meant to be a sort of training buddy for Sora.

Cloud and Squall managed to keep the age they were in their respective games, while Tidus (and Wakka and Selphie) were represented by much younger versions. Tidus is actually thirteen years old in this game, four years younger than the real Tidus. His official Jiminey Cricket journal entry reads:

A cheerful, strong-willed, excitable boy who gets carried away quickly. He is very confident in his athletic skills and often challenges Sora to practice duels.

And challenging Sora to duels is really his whole purpose in life. In Kingdom Hearts, anyway.

His profile/journal entry in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is slightly different, but pretty much the same thing:

A young boy from Sora's islands with a sunny personality and lots of energy. Tidus has no shortage of confidence either, and considers himself a champ at everything.

Sora can gain experience and levels by battling him, Wakka and Selphie on the Island in the original Kingdom Hearts. I suppose you can say that they are there to serve as Sora's punching bags, although Sora is friends with them all. After Destiny Islands is swallowed in darkness, it was not clear as to what happened to Tidus (as well as Wakka and Selphie). He does not make an appearance in Kingdom Hearts II (let's be honest, he's really not an important character at all in Kingdom Hearts), though it's presumed that he survived the attack on Destiny Islands and is alright. Selphie (who did make it into the sequel) mentions Tidus and Wakka always so absorbed in their "ball game" -- which we can assume is blitzball. So it's probably safe to bet Tidus is alive.