Game Boy Advance
SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, The
| Graphics: Sound: Gameplay: Overall: |
8.75 8.63 9.00 8.88 |
| Votes: | 8 |
| Reviews: | 1 |
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| Reviewer: Alotario | Date: Apr 12, 2024 |
| I grew up with this game. It's not exactly a stellar start to the gaming space, but for a very long time it was one of the only games I could afford. Now almost 20 years later, I'm proud to say that even as a licensed game it has aged very well.
Graphics: 8 For the hardware this game has to run on, this game holds up the SpongeBob art style pretty well. Very squash-and-stretchy animations, character designs made to match the movie it's based on such as the Chum Bucket grunts and the tough guys from the start of the game. Granted once it hits the "real-world" bosses and environments it can get a tiny bit questionable, it still uses the stark contrast of animated characters in a realistic environment as it does in the movie. Sound: 7 The sounds in this game are very... existent. Don't get me wrong, the music is stellar, and very much emits what you'd expect from a 16-bit SpongeBob platformer, but the choice of having SpongeBob's lines be a mix of 16-bit blips and bitcrushed noises was certainly a limiting one to be sure. Don't get me wrong, the music is good, it's just... those SFX, man. They need work. Gameplay: 8 For a Mario-pill platformer made in the mid-00s, the gameplay loop has held up pretty solid. The platforming is weighty and responsive, the charge dash is iconic, and the bucket powerup is (to put it bluntly) cheating. I would've liked to see some Mario-style powerups in this game besides the mustache, but I think for a GBA platformer this is more than enough. Overall: 8 Overall, this game isn't perfect. It certainly has it's problems and a remaster is something I would absolutely kill for, but that isn't likely to happen, unfortunately. For what it's worth though, I think this game did something beyond itself-- it created memories for me and all the other broke kiddos on the block in it's time, and frankly that's all it needed to do. In short, this game is pretty good for its age and general reputation. It's not for everyone, and it has some glaring issues that I think could have been great ideas if they hadn't been rushed on a release window, but if you're looking for a game to get your kid to pick up platforming with, then this is for sure a good choice. |
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