Due to its widespread popularity as a staple Nickelodeon children’s TV show, running successfully since 1999, SpongeBob SquarePants has received several game adaptations featuring its eccentric characters and the wacky town of the Bikini Bottom. Some of the most notable games include The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (Game), SpongeBob’s Truth or Square, SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom (my personal favorite), the original SpongeBob SquarePants Battle for Bikini Bottom, and more. The original SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom was co-developed by Heavy Iron Studios, AWE Games, and Vicarious Visions, and published by THQ in 2003. The game was available on PS2, Xbox, GameCube, and more.
The remake, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated, was recently released onto Steam on June 23rd of this year. It was developed by Purple Lamp Studios and published by THQ Nordic and, like the original, it is an action-adventure game with multiplayer and co-op modes and positive reviews from players.
Bikini Bottom really comes to life in this game’s world design and graphics, everything is fun to look at and there is so much for you to interact with. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated is designed as an open-world game where venturing to new areas is especially fun because of the uniqueness that areas of Bikini Bottom already have in the original TV show and the familiarity of locations mixed with the new features the developers brought to the table. Each area is recognizable and includes some of the nostalgic characters and features of classic SpongeBob episodes. Characters sound and act like their television counterparts, so dialogue flows naturally with a comical and lighthearted tone.
From the start of the game players can already expect appearances from and references to Bubble Buddy, the iconic French narrator, and the “jellyfishing” episode as well as appearances from the staple characters like Patrick, Gary, Mr. Krabs, Plankton, and more. Most of the well-known characters and settings (if not all) show up at some point throughout the game.
Like an episode of SpongeBob or a SpongeBob movie, the story of the game is simple and easy to keep up with, but good enough to keep you engaged in what’s going on because of how it is intertwined with the other random events of the world. The story is the same as the original game. The main conflict is that Plankton, in an attempt to take over the world, created an army of robots to work for him that, of course, malfunction and proceed to not only attack Plankton, but to also wreak havoc on the rest of Bikini Bottom. Plankton coerces SpongeBob and his friends into helping him stop the uncontrollable robots from destroying anyone and everything in their path. During his robot fighting adventures, SpongeBob does various small tasks to help other characters, like the Flying Dutchman, King Poseidon, and Mrs. Puff, all of which still ends up tying into the main story.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated is very clear about the keyboard controls, but I found that it worked more smoothly with my PS4 controller once I figured out how the controls translated over. You start off with three lives, which are displayed in the form of underwear, and the underwear are fairly easy to come by. Other objects in the game (Golden Spatulas, Patrick’s socks, Shiny Objects) act as a form of currency that will help you pay your way into new areas on your journey. There are pretty much no changes that you can make to the difficulty settings for the story mode, so the difficulty you are on is pretty much all you have. Luckily, the game is not bad about the setback for running out of underwear. There are check points in areas and enemies are not so persistent that you can’t run away and recuperate when you’re at risk.
Another fun feature of the game is that there is a multiplayer mode, where players fight all of the different variations of robots in waves, moving from area to area. You can choose from a couple of the main characters of the SpongeBob universe, and each character has their own unique fighting style. All in all it was a great game that is fun whether you are looking for fun game play or just want to experience the world of SpongeBob SquarePants again!
9/10
Check Out the SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated Trailer:
For more information, please visit the official website.
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Steam Review
I am an aspiring writer particularly interested in helping write video game storylines and scripts. I prefer games that aim to strike a balance between compelling stories with character development and fun and immersive gameplay. Some of my favorite games include Until Dawn, Detroit Become Human, and both the Call of Duty and Resident Evil game series.
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