Growing up, my family was never able to get cable. The line only went so far up our road and then stopped. As such, I may have missed certain shows that others consider sacred, although I still managed to watch a lot on air, through DVD sets and when I visited my grandparents. SpongeBob SquarePants was not one of those shows. It maybe released a little too late for me, but it also didn’t really appeal to me humour wise. Regardless, this is something that I need to be up front about, as this IP doesn’t carry any nostalgia for me.
Having played and enjoyed two of the last three games based on this iconic cartoon, I was interested in playing through the newest one when I saw that it was on the near horizon. It’s called SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide, and it’s the first of these licensed platformers to be developed exclusively for current-gen consoles and PC, and it shows. This is a truly beautiful representation of the show, and it pops off the screen thanks to polish and tons of colour.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide begins on what is expected to be the busiest day of the protagonist’s professional life. All patties are 50% off, and there’s a massive lineup circling around the restaurant. Citizens are impatient, and things get worse when pirate King Neptune tries to skip the line before being rebuffed and having to wait, just to see King Neptune get special treatment. The two end up butting heads, and the result is chaos. SpongeBob is turned into a ghost, Bikini Bottom gets all screwed up, and the restaurant ends up flying away.
The quest that follows this chaotic beginning sees SpongeBob and his friend, Patrick, using their unique abilities to try to save the day. This means venturing through several different locations, including a lagoon based resort, a jungle, a frozen version of Jellyfish Fields, the king’s castle and the catacombs below. Along the way, the two will complete side quests to help those in need, including finding food for Gary, collecting lost clothes, capturing 100 jellyfish, finding chocolate, and collecting an important ticket.
The core gameplay is similar to what we got in previous SpongeBob games from the last two generations of consoles, along with similar 3D platformers. You venture through semi-open stages, look for secrets and hidden collectibles (of which there are many), and then follow the main path. To succeed, you’ll need to use each character’s abilities. For example, SpongeBob can aerial karate kick balloons and targets, use bubbles to flip switches, and spin attack. Patrick, then, can pick enemies up and throw them, and can also pick up heavy items like boxes and totems required for puzzles. He can also burrow underground to collect sunken coins, use molehills to get more air, use a grappling hook to pull objects and perform basic attacks. Both can double jump and float, but neither can swim. That’s where a magic surfboard comes into play.
All of the above works as it should, and with polish. For the most part, the core gameplay found within SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide is of quality, and fun. It’s a well made 3D platformer, and is of higher quality than a lot of licensed fare. That said, things aren’t perfect. There were times where the controls failed me a bit, and I died more than I would have liked. Thankfully, the game doesn’t punish you much for losing all of your health (I mean clean underwear), which can be replenished by collecting underwear bubbles, and increased by collecting pieces of underwear. You can spend coins to unlock these in the store, which is also where different costumes can be purchased and equipped, along with camera filters for photo mode and decorations for your flying restaurant ship. You’ll find tons of gold coins throughout each stage, in hidden chests, and in floating yellow balloons.
The aforementioned locations all have different areas, which can be travelled to and revisited at will. This helps to complete side quests, at least one of which appears after completing its level.
These stages all have varying paths, an overwhelming amount of hidden areas and secrets, and slide sections where you just avoid obstacles, jump from one path to another and use the heroes’ abilities while sliding with speed. Then, each one has a concluding boss battle, all of which are colourful, fun, well designed and somewhat memorable. I enjoyed all of the boss battles in this game.
Lastly, there’s bonus content that must be mentioned. This starts with a grilling mini game, in which players are scored based on how many quality burgers they can grill, as the speed and intensity quickly increase. Then, there’s a portal that takes you to different challenges, including sliding races, ones where you stand on a rolling boulder and even jellyfish collecting challenge(s). On top of that, there are a number of different types of races, some of which are a wee bit frustrating in how challenging they are.
Presentation-wise, this game is a home run. It’s a treat for the eyes and ears; especially if you’re a fan of the source material. There’s full voice acting, quite a bit of quality dialogue, a solid story and visuals that truly do the cartoon justice. Some scenes blew me away with how colourful, polished and impressive looking they were. The game truly popped off the screen. As such, it’s one of the best looking platformers I’ve played.
If you happen to be looking for a Christmas or Hanukkah gift idea for a SpongeBob SquarePants fan, you can’t go wrong with SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide. This is also true for fans of the genre, as we don’t get many of these games anymore. That goes double for ones that are this good, polished and well made. Purple Lamp did a really good job with this one.
While Titans of the Tide may take you only 5-7 hours to complete, there’s reason to return if you’re a completionist. Furthermore, it’s only $40 US dollars at launch, which is a steal.
This review is based on the Xbox Series X version of the game, which we were provided.