Spongebob Squarepants The Battle For Bikini Bottom

This is an old game, but one that has stayed "in rotation" at my house since we picked it up a good year ago. If you aren't watching cartoons with your kids, shame on you, but if you are, hopefully you are watching SpongeBob SquarePants. This is - without a doubt - one of the funniest cartoons out there - no matter what your age. Despite that - I wasn't actually sure I should pick the game up for my child. Licensed games don't typically translate so well, a lesson my children will surely learn as they get older.

However I was very surprised by the game. It is not only fun, but challenging as well. Both my son, my wife, and I all played the game, which really speaks to how entertaining and approachable it is. At a basic level, the game involves a plot by Mr. Krab's nemesis, Plankton, trying to take over Bikini Bottom with robots. Things go slightly awry when the robots decide they no longer need to follow Plankton's order. SpongeBob and his friends have to help save Bikini Bottom from being overrun by the malicious robots. As you play the game you will run into pretty much everyone from the cartoon, all voiced, as far as I can tell, by the actual voice actors.

The game is a classic platformer, very much like Super Mario 64. There are a variety of levels and optional challenges you can take while playing the main quest. Your main objective is to defeat the robots, but you reach your goal by capturing Golden Spatulas. As you gain more spatulas, new realms open up to you and allow for more freedom to explore Bikini Bottom. One of the best parts of the game are the various races you do. I don't want to ruin the surprise - but the race in Sandy's dream made me laugh out loud. (Mainly because it confirmed what I truly think of Texas.)

The game lets you take on the role of SpongeBob along with Sandy (a squirrel from Texas) and Patrick, SpongeBob's not so intelligent starfish friend. Each character has a different set of abilities. SpongeBob learns new powers as the game progresses. Compared to Kameo, the multi-character aspect of this game is much easier. You pretty much are forced to change characters where you have to. This makes the game somewhat simpler.

My son was playing the game at four. While he has not been able to beat the final boss (I can't do it either!), the game is very large and he has gotten many hours of enjoyment from it. (And as I stated above, both myself and my wife have played it quite a lot as well.) The game requires some quick reflexes. Like Super Mario 64, there are levels where very precise jumping is required. Another thing I noticed was that the 3D aspect of the game took my four year old a few days to get used to. In general camera control is acceptable, but it does take a new game player some time to get used to. I would probably recommend it for six year olds at minimum, but as I said, my son played it earlier. The game is rated E for Everyone, and I certainly agree with that rating.

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Summary: SpongeBob SquarePants is a rare breed - a licensed game that is not only fun, but fun for the whole family. The game will give you many hours of enjoyment and is a must have for SpongeBob fans. As an older game, you can get it pretty cheaply which is a bonus.

Note: This game is also supported on PS2, GameCube, Gameboy Advance, PC and XBox platforms. This reviewer played it on the XBox.