5/10/2021 0 Comments Spongebob Fighting Games
Again, none of these things were particularly experience-ruining, but they definitely soured parts of the adventure in my memory.When Heavy Iron Studios (a subsidiary of THQ) released SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom in 2003, it couldnt have foreseen the cult following of speedrunners that, years later, would latch onto the game like barnacles to a long-derelict ship.
![]() With the ingenious Plankton (Bikini Bottoms resident villain) forgetting to flick the obey switch on his army of robot minions, hordes of electronic evildoers begin running amok throughout town. Mistakenly thinking themselves responsible, SpongeBob and friends must travel around Bikini Bottom, meeting up with familiar faces from the show and helping them fight off the mechanical menace. ![]() Why, for example, golden spatulas are necessary to defeat the robot menace is never explained. Nevertheless, in the vein of Super Mario Odyssey s moons, theyre the primary reward for completing various tasks, puzzles and challenges strewn around the games semi-open platforming levels. That is, in addition to Patricks lost socks (yes, really), SpongeBobs spare underwear (yes REALLY) and nondescript colourful shapes which are treated like currency despite bearing no resemblance to it. Earning these oh-so important collectibles will see players smashing a variety of enemies, fighting giant bosses, sliding down enormous ramps, solving large (but usually not difficult) puzzles, traversing platforming obstacles and more. BFBBR is more than a 8-12 hour obstacle course with an occasional robot-smashing interlude, its a full-on family-friendly adventure with multiple playable characters, secrets and styles of gameplay. No amount of visual magic can distract from the painful truth that this is a PlayStation 2-era game, with all the trappings and technical limitations that come with that. Despite first and foremost belonging to the 3D platformer genre, BFBBR s platforming sections are among the least enjoyable and most dated parts of the game. Its not just that jumps are imprecise (although that IS true), but much like fan-made levels in games like LittleBigPlanet, the correct path through a level can often feel cobbled together. There were too many instances where I felt unsure if Id circumvented the levels design or was just following a poorly-designed obstacle. It was never a nice feeling, made worse by the fact that it is actually possible to cheese the level design in many places. After all, Battle for Bikini Bottom is a speedrunning staple; even the remaster needs to be vulnerable to exploits and shortcuts. Unfortunately, that does contribute towards cheapening the experience for traditional players. Purple Lamp Studios has remade the game from the ground-up, and while its a little limited graphically and framerate-wise on the Switch, it still blows the original out of the water (pun intended). The added vibrancy of colour helps the game match the shows tone, and when taken alongside the surprisingly high-quality writing and (mostly) original voice cast, the whole experience feels like a superb celebration of SpongeBob s early seasons. As much as Id like to report that my complaints end there, they dont. Occasional technical bugs saw SpongeBob and his aquatic friends falling through the floor, dialogue failing to play (thanks subtitles) and one endless loading screen.
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