Pandora's Box: The Ultimate GameCube Tier List

#59: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

Rating: E

Players: 1

Price Range: ~$20 USD

The second of the Red Iron Studio 3D platformers that are based on SpongeBob SquarePants, this one of the film of the same name.

The film is...good, but more so due to nostalgic attachment more than anything else.

As for the game itself?

Well, I'll be blunt and say that this is easily the weakest of the two games, without a doubt. It's still great, but nowhere near the hit that was Battle for Bikini Bottom for me.

Okay, let's talk about the good first. I really enjoy the upgrade system of this game, as instead of shiny objects like in BfBB (sorry for the abbreviation), you instead collect dumbbells to upgrade the abilities of SpongeBob and Patrick, which is quite great, as it asks you to make a decision on making one ability or another have more utility per level-up, or to improve your basic attack or to increase your hitpoints, and you must ration these between both characters. I also enjoy the different structure and challenges of the platforming levels, as instead of having a clear path with several objectives in a big stage like in BfBB, the Movie game goes for a more linear approach, with the game's main collectable, Goofy Goober Tokens, this game's version of Golden Spatulas from BfBB (which themselves are based on Power Stars from Super Mario 64 in function), available at the end and in either branches or challenge portals you can attempt, which isn't half bad when done right.

There are three challenge types. For SpongeBob, you have Combat Arenas where you must take on a set of waves of enemies with one life, and you have the Sponge Ball Obstacle Courses, where, as a ball, you have to simply get to the end with these new controls as, well, a ball. Honestly, a great change of pace. However, easily my favorite are the Floating Block challenges, where you must take Patrick, who is the worst of the two in terms of platforming due to his heavier jump and his attack not able to be used in the air to stall him like SpongeBob can. Tasking you to just get to the end of a long obstacle course made up of these puzzle blocks (with several types), these gave possibly the best bits of platforming in the entire game in my opinion. These are actually quite challenging and very fun to play through.

Also, the music is quite great as well, with the Sliding level and Block challenges being standouts, and the sliding levels, at least for the first mission, aren't half bad.

However, this game has some serious issues that gave of the impression that it was rushed.

First of all, you can clearly identify that the game uses the same engine as BfBB, and even uses several of both SpongeBob's and Patrick's abilities that were built in inside BfBB, but are unlockables now. This isn't too bad, as they actually do some rather interesting things with their upgrades, making them cooler than they ever were in that game. However, that doesn't change the fact that they are simply reskins of already existing ideas.

Another problem is the abundant use of padding. For the Slide and Driving levels, the first mission just asks you to get to the end, simple enough. However, the second tasks you with a time limit, which is...okay. But then, we get into egregious territory, as the third mission of each of these stages has you finish the entire level without failure...going through rings.

Rings.

Hasn't it already been established that these are quite the boring and lazy type of objective?

This is especially inexcusable in the Driving courses, where the controls are unbelievable slippery and not very good, which is passable for levels where you just have to make to the end, but for these and the Sliding ones, there are points of no return, and you only have three hitpoints, making these ludicrously easy to mess up.

It is just frustrating and annoying, and this is easily the low point of the game.

However, because the platforming levels don't give you enough Tokens by the time you get to Planktopolis, you have to play these vehicle stages, which is nearly insufferable.

Also, some parts of the design of the platforming stages make no sense at all. For one, in the Tavern level, the frame rate is cut in the GameCube version when most of the other platforming stages are not. Why? One of the later Combat Arenas has an enemy that can only be killed by an ability you get later. So if you need to get the Token, you'll have to play it and defeat this specific enemy by...deflecting projectiles back at it. SpongeBob's and Patrick's upgrade to their basic attack not only increases their attack damage and range, but also allow them to deflect projectiles. The fact that the only way to finish this Arena earlier than you were supposed to is to have this upgrade, which I feel was not intentional at all.

Also, the cutscenes are atrocious. While the in-engine ones are okay, the other ones are not. They are the equivalent of PowerPoint slideshows with stock pictures that you could search for on Google Images and are on a bunch of merch and promotion material, which make it all just appear cheap. It just overall gives off the impression that time and financial constraints were involved.

Some of the creative liberties taken are also not good at all. They either range from questionable at best to ill-conceived at worst. For example, two Driving levels are nothing but either filler, or padding, with one literally being a dream sequence whose only purpose is to artificially increase the length of the game, and the other, the one stage before the final boss level, is just...there, and it doesn't even conceptually make any logical sense. You could remove both of these, and nothing would be lost. Terrible all things considered.

Overall, a good game on its own. However, if you were to ask me, its older sibling is a much more polished experience. Still, as a game locked in this generation of systems, it is not only a time capsule, but, for a licensed, game, is fairly decent.