Oooooh? Who lives in a Pineapple under the sea?
So we all know about Spongebob and his quadrilateral pants? Great...
...because in creatures from the Krusty Krab you?ll get to guide Spongebob, Patrick and Plankton in nine levels, which are as similar as Jellyfish and cats, and unless you take a peek at the screenshots, you?ll not have much idea of where you?ll end up next?
This game has no obvious plot per say, rather each of the nine levels is by rights it?s own mini story with racing, 3D platform gaming, plane flying and Godzilla style destruction featuring Spongebob, Patrick starring as Starfishman (genius) and Plankton.
In all the levels, you collect Z coins which are used in The Shop via the main menu to buy art work, extra music and cheat codes. This seems to have been a secondary thought, as the goodies aren?t really that exciting however as with my past of Sonic, I simply have got to collect them all.
Also in each level you have to collect Starfish and Plankton Sleepy Seeds. If you collect all of them, you will unlock characters to race in the last level via the Free Play mode.
Kids Play:
No matter how much you fool yourself that you?ve put Spongebob on the TV as a selfless act to any children in the house, the fact is it?s a hit with the adults too; something THQ have considered when making this game. It?s not a hard journey, but an enjoyable one and THQ have built in features to make the game child friendly.
Like the Z coins, which will float toward you if you get near as if they are attracted to your very aura. There are also save points everywhere so if tea is on the table, there?s no excuse not to save and stop playing! Save points are something I am friends with; one of my biggest gripes with games such as Final Fantasy is that you have to play for an hour at times, to find a save point and stop.
THQ have made it so, although you can die, you will re appear not very far from where you met your peril. This means you don?t have to repeat too much to get to where you want to be, therefore you don?t get mad enough to want to give Spongebob a bath in your dirty toilet, plus you won?t hear too many tantrums from the little ones.
The graphics are pretty good in this game with no noticeable glitches, and I especially love Starfishman?s levels which look like a comic strip. I think this is because they look the most like the cartoon this game is!
Spongebob away!
First things first: Go into options and then audio options and TURN UP THE VOICES. The standard setting is just not loud enough and they are pretty funny to hear while you are gaming away.
Your menu shows:
? Story Mode; just the normal journey through the game
? Free play; allowing you to replay a level you?ve already completed and maybe find collectables you might have missed first time round
? Extras; where you?ll find the shop, character unlock and the ability to enter cheat codes
? Bonus Games; where you?ll be able to replay the mini-games you?ll encounter throughout the game.
Children love repetition so allowing them to replay a favourite level or mini-game, although some would consider a poor attempt to increase the life span of a game, I think is a feature that will get some good use out of it although adults wont be captivated for more than an hour at a time with these extras.
Gentlemen, start your engines!
Your first task as Spongebob is to race in an obstacle-ridden track. The controls are a piece of pie. Go, brake, left and right. A turbo boost is also thrown in later on, however it?s all a bit too repetitive, and there?s no feeling you?re actually going to gain anything because, at least in your opening race; you wont win. (But then, as Spongebob would tell you, it?s the taking part?)
I?m ready, responsibility?
For the majority of the game, you control either Spongebob or Patrick in a 3D platform world with enemies to rid of and open spaces to jump about in. Again, the controls are nice and simple although the manual control of the camera can be a little slow.
Enemies don?t really change all that much in appearance or difficulty, simply the further you progress in the game, the more enemies you will have to bash at any one time.
With Patrick as Starfishman, you explore a very similar world to Spongebob?s, however the graphics and theme mimic a comic strip, and each time you tackle an enemy you are treated to a satisfying display of ?BASH !? ?POW !? or ?KABLAM !?.
Another level has you helping Plankton evade a giant and hungry Krabby Patty. It is set in a 3D world with 2D controls; left, right, jump and an automatically adjusting camera. At first this feels bizarre and will take children some getting used to. The voice sounds of Plankton are funny and fantastically timed but this level will be completed after a short while.
You also get the opportunity to destroy Spongebob?s town; Bikini Bottom with, (who else) but an over-sized Plankton. The Godzilla style action has great novelty value as you destroy buildings and crush tanks, however I was glad to progress to something different as the controls have been made purposely sluggish to convey the sheer size of Plankton and sometimes brought out the worst in my impatient side. (For those interested, it?s my right side: My left side is perfect in every way).
Finally, two levels consist of you controlling an aircraft. Again, the controls are easy and the graphics smooth, however sometimes it seems all to much like you?ve little affect on what is going on in the game and more that the levels are simply fillers to kill time. I also felt that there could have been a little more to the objectives (and maybe a little more shooting).
But what about my friends?
I was sad to see a lack of multiplayer mini-games which, if linked with more extras to unlock, would have seen this game have a much greater lifespan for adults as well as children. You get the feeling it would have been done if the Developers had have given (or had) more time on the game.
Also allowing players to create profiles, rather than simply saved files would have been much more logical especially for children.
Come on Gary, let?s go home.
I was expecting this game to be full of glitches and annoying features, however I was pleasantly surprised. The lack of a multiplayer, further extras to unlock and relatively short lifespan (for an adult gamer) makes the game feel rushed. Also, I missed Gary in this game as I think he?s great. (Look out for the video with him in though, as it?s very funny).
If you?re not a Spongebob fan you?re probably best keeping your hands in your pockets as a hardcore gamer will finish this in about 7 hours and have collected everything within 10.
This game is targeted at children and THQ have done great to add little features to accommodate for them, and let?s face it, if it?s got Spongebob in it, it?s going to be a hit. Just beware that when your child asks for your help to get past a certain spot, there?ll be tears as you start having fun yourself and don?t return the controller? (Great tip: Hide your memory card otherwise they?ll nick it for their own ends!)
The scores:
Storyline 7/10 - Although there's no obvious plot, stick with it and it all will make sense.
Game Play 8/10 - Great fun to play and really user friendly, especially for it's main target audience; children.
Graphics 7/10 - No glitches and nice and smooth. The comic strip levels are by far the best to look at.
Sound 9/10 - Fantastic voices, as you should expect.
Life Span 6/10 - Even taking into account that this is
mainly for children, the lack of multiplayer means this can't score higher.
  
Reviewed by: BenCubed
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