Once upon a time there lived a marine biologist. He always dreamt of researching fish when he was a kid, and for a while he enjoyed his dream job. Sadly however he grew bored of the process and wished for something more. After drawing enough marine life he realized he could pursue a career in art. Specifically in bringing his drawings to life through animation. So he went back to school, got a degree in art, and started creating ideas for a potential show. I’m not gonna explain too much because this story has been covered to death, so instead I’ll recommend a recent video essay that perfectly explains it. SPONGEBOB and the weird 90s band that SHAPED it by small time animator and content creator Noodle. Anyways, the marine biologist I’m discussing is none other than Stephen Hillenburg and he created what is one of the most successful and influential cartoons of all time. SpongeBob SquarePants, a funny little show following a cartoon sponge in pants as he and his friends go on crazy undersea adventures. What started off as a simple show proposed to Nickelodeon became a multi-million dollar franchise. Spanning movies, toys, books, musicals, real world attractions, spinoffs, and of course video games. One of which we’re talking about today, but I want to talk about my connections to SpongeBob SqaurePants before moving on.
Like many of you I grew up watching SpongeBob SquarePants. My parents were not the type to limit the kinds of cartoons I watched because of a little “crude humor” and wanted to expose me to the funny sides of the world. There was something about SpongeBob SquarePants, mainly the older seasons, that made it stand out from other cartoons at the time. It was colorful, funny, and above all else funny. The humor didn’t feel mainly targeted towards children and even adults can laugh at the jokes the show cracked from time to time. There’s a reason why fans of the older seasons can probably act out scenes word for word, because these jokes were memorable. So I watched a lot of SpongeBob through cable television and eventually my parents bought me this special one hundred episode dvd boxset. I believe it’s still being sold today, but it contained what were essentially the first five seasons of SpongeBob. I watched through this box set several times as a child. It’s probably the reason why my sibling and I can recall so many jokes, even the lesser known ones. SpongeBob made up a good portion of my childhood, and even though there’s a lot of cartoons I’d consider better, I’d still say older SpongeBob is still one of my favorite childhood cartoons. The older seasons are timeless and can very much still be enjoyed to this day.
Now I haven’t watched SpongeBob SquarePants in a very long time. Probably due to how busy I am and how I try to check out media more targeted towards my age. As I’ve grown older I soon began to realize that experiencing childlike whimsy in the adult world is very hard. Weird way of phrasing it, I know, but it’s nice to be reminded of what made us happy at a younger age. Stuff that helped form the individuals we once were or are now, so I thought it would be nice to inject a little bit of nostalgia into my veins and talk about a licensed game connected to my childhood show. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, a 3D platformer released for sixth gen consoles and was developed by Heavy Iron Studios. The game is considered a cult classic and a lot of SpongeBob fans have fond memories of playing it. Not only did people who worked on the show help out with the game, but you can tell it was made for people who truly watched those older seasons. Having callbacks to some of the more popular episodes and trying to frame itself as if it were another episode of the show. The game was well designed, fun to play, and even has a pretty dedicated speedrun community from what I recall. Battle for Bikini Bottom is one of the few rare occasions where a licensed game worked, and in 2020 it was brought back for modern hardware. The remake titled Rehydrated aimed to polish up the visuals and add more splendor to this cult classic. It was more colorful and bouncy, but still attempted to maintain and appeal to the audience who grew up with it. While critical reception wasn’t the brightest, old fans still very much loved it and it even swept in a whole new audience who were absolutely ready like the sponge himself to enjoy the nautical nonsense.
I never played Battle for Bikini Bottom because I didn’t grow up with sixth gen consoles. I mean that’s pretty obvious seeing how many modern titles I review. However, I always had an interest in playing this game and it went on sale recently for a very cheap price. The 25th anniversary for the first episode of SpongeBob SquarePants happened recently and I thought what better way to pay respect to all Steven Hillburg has done than by reviewing a SpongeBob game. God rest his soul may he live peacefully in the afterlife. After finishing the game in around seven hours I can safely say that yes Battle for Bikini Bottom left a strong impression on me. It’s one of the most charming games I played recently, and while it does have its flaws I enjoyed it because it gave me a sense of nostalgia. Not for the original game but for SpongeBob in general. So today we’re gonna be talking about Battle for Bikini Bottom and why it deserves your attention.
Story
Ah yes, the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. Home to the lovely denizens of the sea, and would you look at that one of the denizens is spending an afternoon playing make belief with his bestest friend. SpongeBob SquarePants, a silly faced little lad who lives in a pineapple and attends his weekly job at the Krusty Krab. This statement would work better if you read it in the voice of the narrator, but I digress. SpongeBob and Patrick are playing with action figures and imagining a scenario where a massive robot attack happens. They think it’s quite funny and Patrick states he can make their dream of robots coming to life happen. Using a “magic” shell he bought from a shop he stuffs one of the toy robots in and shakes it about. The two go to sleep thinking the wish would come true. It doesn’t, but a coincidental set of events does make it happen. Meanwhile at the Chum Bucket, Plankton is attempting to construct an army of robots. With this army he plans to storm the Krusty Krab, take the secret formula, then take over Bikini Bottom, and finally the rest of the world. He flips a switch to activate the robot producing machine, but something goes horribly wrong. He forgot to turn on a switch that makes the robots obey him and the robots go crazy. Throwing him out of the Chum Bucket and taking over Bikini Bottom.
The city is thrown into chaos as the robots spread madness, not terror, throughout the streets. A new morning rises and SpongeBob awakens to find his house in shambles. Upon exiting his little pineapple he realizes what is going on. His friends come to him for help and Plankton asks SpongeBob to help him get back into the Chum Bucket. SpongeBob doesn’t know what is really going on, but plans to aid anyway. With the help of Patrick Star and Sandy Cheeks, SpongeBob will venture through all of Bikini Bottom, fight robots, and hopefully save the day. I'm ready! I'm ready! I'm rea-
Gameplay
In Battle for Bikini Bottom you explore every part of the titular Bikini Bottom, collect a variety of items, battle robots, and try to get to the source of where all the robots are coming from. This is a collectathon 3D platformer and your main collectible are Golden Spatulas. Collect enough of them and you can unlock a new area. There are over one hundred Golden Spatulas in the game and they are obtained in a variety of ways. Whether that be overcoming platforming challenges, solving a puzzle, going on quests for friends, or defeating powerful bosses. There’s also shinies which is this game’s form of currency. They can be used to open up certain gateways, spend at clams to unlock objects to obtain Golden Spatulas out of your reach, or spent at Mr Krabs to get more Golden Spatulas. Each area is small and closed off, but there’s a variety of things to do in them so explore carefully and of course get those Golden Spatulas. The Golden Spatula fetching never stops my friend! Go get them all! Be the spongiest of sponges!
Spongebob and pals have a variety of moves to get around the world. Everyone can double jump easily, but some characters have moves that only they can use. SpongeBob is who you’ll be using for a majority of the game. He can wall jump, ground pound, and two abilities he gains later on is the ability to throw a bubble ball and shoot a bubble missile. The bubble ball is used to activate certain buttons no other character can hit, and the bubble missile can be controlled to hit far away objects. Patrick while still being able to ground pound like SpongeBob can pick up heavy tikis and throw them around. Sandy can lasso enemies from a distance and hover through the air with a good lasso twirl. Allowing her to cross long distances the other two can’t. Characters can be swapped out at bus signs and usually you get two characters per area so you don’t get confused on what you can and cannot do. After collecting enough Golden Spatulas and progressing far enough you face a boss. These guys have a whole slew of tricks and mechanics up their sleeve, so you want to quickly analyze their attack patterns and learn how to take them head on. Beat them and you’ll be able to progress to the next district of Bikini Bottom. That’s all I really have to say about the gameplay. It’s simple, fun to play, and manages to be enjoyable from beginning all the way to the end. Hopefully you can topple the whole robot army and bring peace.
Thoughts
SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom is exactly the palate cleanser I’ve needed as of recently. It has a few flaws, but my time with the game overall was really positive. Sunshine and rainbows all around, which isn’t a description I’d give for a game because that’s just weird. It’s fun. That’s all this game is plain simple fun, and what more could a person ask for from a gosh darn rootin-tootin SpongeBob game? The gameplay is rock solid and is a joy to play. Spongebob and pals feel tight to control, easy to maneuver, and each level makes good use of their abilities. I like the small close off level design because it allows the devs to spend more time on design of each level and the quality of their content rather than their scope and how much they can stuff in them. It’s why I prefer 3D platformers like the Psychonauts games and Tinykin. Collecting each of the Golden Spatulas is really fun and you’re sometimes rewarded for checking every nook and cranny of a level. That or you may find one of Patrick’s socks and when enough are obtained you get another Golden Spatula. The game is finding as many ways as it can to reward you, and it feels very nice. It motivates you to push onward and see what lies next. Any criticisms I have towards the gameplay mainly has to do with how easy Battle for Bikini Bottom is and how each quest could’ve been written more naturally, but it doesn’t bother me too much.
Not every game needs Dark Souls levels of difficulty and I appreciate how easy going this game was. It paces the difficulty curve well so that near the end it can start hitting you tougher and more challenging tasks, and you don’t feel overwhelmed because again the game paced you into it well. When it comes to assigning you quests though it’s given in the old fashioned video game way. “Hey there’s this problem and I need you to fetch these items for me?” I feel like they could have written these problems so that it sounds like Spongebob and company are wrapped into yet another silly adventure. Sorta like an episode within an episode. Kind of like how the South Park RPGs have these side plots that feel like side adventures rather than disturbances to the story. I can overlook this though, because this game was targeted towards a younger audience and they needed to address this stuff clearly so they’d be able to understand what to do. In fact, that’s the reason why I’m okay with this game being easy for the most part. It’s a game that anyone can pick up and enjoy without having to worry about skill issues or combat encounters, and that’s a great thing in my opinion. One design choice I really love though is that areas don’t have to be approached in a linear fashion. You do need seventy five Golden Spatulas to beat the game, but let’s say you obtain enough to access two whole areas. Well you now have a choice of which one you’d like to do first, and you don’t even need to complete whole areas. You just need enough so you can progress which gives the player a nice sense of choice as they move forward.
The plot is simple, but the writing is good. It's nothing but good old SpongeBob comedy which I love. The characters are enjoyable as always, their voice acting is great, and they have these nice little freak outs that make you chuckle. In most games that would annoy you, but it doesn’t here because you know it’s SpongeBob and it’s a pretty normal thing for these characters. The game is finishable within a reasonable amount of time and can easily be beaten within a week. For most players it’ll take ten or so hours, but for me it took seven to eight which is good. So already you can tell I recommend Battle for Bikini Bottom, but I do have a few complaints. I don’t like how when you want to switch characters you gotta go to a bus sign. It forces you to backtrack and creates inconvenience. I feel like they could’ve just allowed you to switch with one button press, or at the very least place the bus signs next to where you need the characters. The game also has some really terrible pop in. I played Battle for Bikini Bottom on a Playstation 5 and it ran oh so wonderfully. However, visuals tended to struggle loading in or objects just pop in the distance. It’s not terrible,but this game was most likely well funded by Nickelodeon and the people who published it. Performance could’ve just been better overall. Speaking of which, the animation I feel like could be better too. It’s expressive and there’s some funny gestures during gameplay, but stuff like character conversations and certain cutscenes don’t look very good. It feels lifeless which is a bad thing to say for a show that’s always been expressive with its animation and fun characters. The developers Purple Lamp did improve this though with the next SpongeBob game, The Cosmic Shake, so that I appreciate. I might check out.
I really like Battle for Bikini Bottom. Is it a masterpiece? No and I wouldn’t say this is a polished product either because at times it feels like a tech demo to a fancier SpongeBob game which they did in fact make. However, for what is basically Purple Lamp’s first outing I am very impressed with what they did. I recommend this game to anyone who likes 3D platformers, SpongeBob, or just wants a cure to their depression. I like this game and I hope you’ll like this game as much as I did. In the end I am going to give SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom an 8.5/10 for being pretty good.
