Overall 9 Graphics 9 Sound 8 Addictive 9 Story 8 Depth 8 Difficulty 5
9
Here we go again.... Boxia
This is the first game i've ever played. The graphics, the sound, and the gameplay blew me away when i was younger, and this is still one of my favourite games. Quite suprising for a video game adaption of a T.V. show. Let's take a closer look.
Story: Plankton is at it again! This time he's constructed a "Duplicatatron 3000", a giant robot which dispences many different types of mercenary robots. Since Plankton forgot to set the duplicatatron to obey his command, the robots stage a mutiny and invade Bikini Bottom. Upon waking , Spongebob finds the town enveloped in chaos and panic, so he takes it into his hands to defeat the robots. Along the way he is aided by his idiotic best friend, Patrick, and Sandy, a squirrel proficient in martial arts and use of the lasso. The story isn't much different from the story of a typical Spongebob episode or video game. It is, however, slightly more imaginative than other Spongebob stories in that Plankton himself is not the main antagonist for most of the game, but rather the robots.
Graphics: The graphics are fairly typical for a 3D Gamecube game. All Characters, right down to the most irrelevant NPC's, look almost exactly what they'd look like on the show. Buildings also have detailed textures that are pleasant to look at. There is a major problem with terrain, however. Things like rocks, sand, and water (not the kind you're in for the whole game, but so-called "Goo") look as though only a single colour was used and other details hastily thrown in. You may think i'm too hard on textures for the terrain, but seeing as how it's an integral part of the stages, your eyes will quickly get tired.
Sound: The music is actually pretty good. You might find yourslef stoping in the middle of stages just to listen to the music. All of the songs are designed to match their respective stages, from the bouncy, upbeat tune of Bikini Bottom to the gloomy and downright creepy theme of Flying Dutchmans Graveyard. As for the sound effects, they're as generic as can be. A major problem is that the sound effects can be prone to glitching. Case in point, several times i have been walking through stages when i stop to collect a shiny object, the in-game currency. When i do so, i am sometimes greeted with an unholy medly consisting of every sound effect in the game coupled with blaring static that only ceases when you turn off the console.
Addictiveness: The first time you beat the game, you instantly want to play it again. Throughout the game, there are 100 golden spatulas you can collect, though you only need 75. You'll want to play the game again so you can collect all of these. Aside from Spongebob, you can also play as Patrick and Sandy. Patrick can pick up items and throw them, and Sandy can use her lasso to destroy robots and cross gaps. You can switch between these characters by use of a bus stop. All three protaganists prove enjoyable to play as. My only problem is that you can only play as Patrick in some stages and Sandy in others, never both in one stage.
Depth: Aside from the golden spatulas mentioned above, you can collect socks. Bring back 10 to Patrick for a golden spatula. There are 80 socks total, which means you can earn a total of 8 spatulas like this. You can also collect shiny objects, in-game currency. Sometimes shiny objects are actually required to progress in some stages. (You'll have to pay a toll). But you can also use the shiny objects to find some sweet secrets....
Difficulty: The difficulty varies considerably between levels. In the earlier levels, the enemies and obstacles are spaced out quite considerably, so much so that those even those younger than the games target age can breeze past them. In later levels, the obstacles and enemies are mixed, so you'll need to perfect the art of jump-attacking. Nothing TOO difficult, however. As for the bosses, they all have patterns that are very easy to predict. Sometimes the game will throw in a hazard during a fight but once you learn to avoid them, they might as well not exist.
Overall: Spongebob Squarepants: Battle For Bikini Bottom is a solid platforming title with great graphics, music, story, and balanced difficulty. I'd recommend it, but only if you've exhausted other, slightly better GCN games.
Graphics 9 Sound 8 Addictive 9 Story 8 Depth 8 Difficulty 5
Review Rating: 5/5
Submitted: 01-10-14
Review Replies: 0
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