SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated Review

"Who Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea?"

Campaign

July 5, 2020 at 5:01pm
By Jason Stettner

This is a remake of a classic niche SpongeBob SquarePants game. I played this when I was younger, so it’s actually really interesting that I recall some of it even to this very day. It was great to jump into the action, and this is a very faithful recreation of that original style of play. Now with that, it definitely does feel somewhat aged in terms of how you work through it. I personally still find it to be generally fine, and still very fun to play. It offers a great selection of content as you work through many iconic areas from the show.

If you’re part of the younger audience, or looking for nostalgia I think it hits that mark. You have to keep in mind with this that it is meant for the younger ones out there in terms of layout and general design. That means that this is generally really easy to play, but it does feature some slightly challenging segments and a light puzzle element. You sort of just dance through levels with various well loved characters, meeting other side individuals from the show and just have an easy going time.

There are some bosses too, and various smaller enemies along the way in the form of robots. Your goal is to collect golden spatulas, but there are other collectibles to discover as well. The spatula collection will determine your progression, but they are most certainly plentiful if you look around and complete tasks. As mentioned prior, there are a wide range of iconic spots to visit. These are all fairly extensive, with varying sections to travel between while in them. It’s all rather smooth, featuring open world segments that feel linear while still almost taking place within an endless sea.

Gameplay

This game is straight up just lovely, it feels as though it’s right from the show and it shines. It feels like it captures that cartoon aesthetic perfectly, and adds a little shine to it. It handles well, playing smoothly and featuring a wide range of movement options.

Each of the characters has their own abilities, and it’s fairly easy to switch between them. I would have liked some more locations for swapping however. I did notice some technical bugs here or there, but nothing that detracted from the enjoyment. This is, as I mentioned quite easy to play so it’s perfectly appropriate for any audience type to jump into this.

I did also want to give a small focus on the new coop mode. This can be played locally for two players, or online for two players. It’s basically a restored piece of content cut from the original game with a battle against a massive robotic Squidward. This addition wasn’t anything too wild quite honestly. Nice to have it, but I wasn’t too thrilled by the inclusion.

The Conclusion

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated is a solid recreation of that original title, bringing back the enjoyment with stellar visuals. I was truly impressed with the look of the game. It captured that original feeling, while bringing it to the standards of today in terms of the quality.

The characters each feel unique, and I liked the vast areas you visited. It had all the little quirks of the show, and provided some fun. It’s just a really enjoyable, easy going sort of platformer with light combat. They really don’t make games like this anymore, and it works very well.

There are tons of collectibles to gather, a lot of activities to take part in and of course a quest for those golden spatulas. It was certainly enjoyable, even in today’s time. I think it’s a really good option for the younger audience, the ones that watch this show.

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SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Evolve PR

Rating Overall: 7.5