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So many Spongebob games have been released since the show’s premiere in 1999 that it
can get a little hard to keep track. For some reason, the video games eventually made a
jump to 3D that didn’t fit with the classic 2D look of the cartoon. It was a weird period
when developers thought that 3D of any kind was better than the best 2D out there. Fortunately,
the game I have today doesn’t follow that trend. This is Spongebob Squarepants: Supersponge
for the Game Boy Advance. Spongebob Squarepants: Supersponge has Spongebob
on a mission to get a present for Patrick, but along the way he finds that other people
need his help, as well. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, for instance, need food and facial cream,
and it’s up to Spongebob to track down the items needed. At the end of a few stages,
there’s a boss, and then the story advances to the next section. Now, although this works
fine as a video game, all of the humor, and I mean ALL of it, has been sucked out of the
show for this game. It’s a shame, too, as the jokes on Spongebob tend to be much more
clever than other cartoons, but the game isn’t funny at all.
Supersponge is a platformer, kind of like the last Spongebob game I did, but there are
two main differences. First, the level design is much better, with varied locations and
different enemies. However, on the reverse, the controls are very stiff, and hit and jump
detection is not very good. The level where Spongebob is in Sandy’s treedome is one
I have never been able to beat. It’s a good thing the game uses passwords, or I may never
have been able to get past it. I just realized I actually said “it’s a good thing the
game uses passwords.” If you can get past the technical flaws, however,
this is not actually a bad game. Hazards and platforms are both really well made, and the
different gadgets that Spongebob gets to use, like the net or reef blower, are a ton of
fun. But getting past the controls can prove to be a challenge, especially when you keep
dying at the same place over and over again. The game is pretty liberal with giving you
health, though, so it’ll be pretty hard to be killed from getting hit, most of the
time it will be from falls. There’s also mines that can explode and kill Spongebob
in this game, something I don’t think would pass in a kids’ game today.
Visually, SuperSponge isn’t really anything that special, although this was a really early
Game Boy Advance title. The levels are all full of color, and the animations are all
clean. The best thing about this game, however, is the music. It isn’t from the TV show,
but it’s one of the best mix of songs I’ve heard on a handheld game. Each one is different
enough to fit the vibe of the level you’re playing, and given the fact that this is an
area of a game that developers sometimes neglect, it’s pretty impressive.
Spongebob Squarepants: Supersponge is nowhere near as good as it could be because of its
stiff controls, but once you get past that, you’ll still have some fun with it. “And
then there’s the lights, and the phone, and my game will ooze green slime!” That
line isn’t in the game, but that’s how it should’ve been written.