SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide PC Review
Summary: A clash between King Neptune and The Flying Dutchman throws Bikini Bottom into ghostly disarray leaving SpongeBob and his best Pal Patrick to save the day!
4.6
Spooky SpongeBob
SpongeBob SquarePants is one of those cartoons that crosses age brackets, children can enjoy it for its playful stories and humour and adults can enjoy it for the more “mature” humour that pops up from time to time. In terms of gaming… SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide captures that sense of fun of the cartoon and is sufficiently easy to pick up and play that all ages can jump in either for a serious “collect every achievement” session… or a simple “got a few minutes to spare… I just want some silly fun” session.
The basic premise is that The Flying Dutchman and King Neptune are both keen to order from the Krusty Krab… unfortunately egos clash and suddenly Bikini Bottom is in the midst of a Titan stoush. Caught up in the middle of this epic duel is SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick (who, thanks to their friendship ring, can alternately swap between normal or ghost form). The duo must set out to put things right (and maybe search for some gold for Mr Krabs along the way).
The gameplay is fun and not super challenging… by that I mean it’s reasonably easy to figure out what you need to do and though it can require a little finessing, nothing so severe as pixel perfect jumps or anything like that, which means people like me who might decry “I’m too old for this….” can actually progress without getting stopped by a precision challenge. The seamless swapping between SpongeBob and Patrick is both fun and necessary as certain “puzzles”/challenges require you to use either character’s unique ability (for example, whilst sliding down a track you might need Patrick’s burrowing ability to avoid obstacles but then need SpongeBob’s flying kick to clear a chasm). It’s a lot of fun and certainly adds to the otherwise reasonably straightforward platforming setup.
Visually the game is an absolute treat! Looking just like you could be playing a 3D rendered SpongeBob SquarePants movie and featuring all the original voice cast… it really is like playing in the cartoon! For those who like to play dress up (and SpongeBob obviously does) you can unlock various outfits for your characters as you progress through the game… these are then bought with the coins you collect (which seems like an odd extra level of obstacle… but it’s not hard to build up a decent stash of coins so it’s not a big deal). It can be quite fun dressing up your heroes in various goofy or cute outfits and watching them make their way around the world or fighting giant ghosts whilst wearing what would make a fantastic Halloween costume.
Final Thoughts
As someone who was probably a bit too old to have caught the original fandom of SpongeBob but then was introduced to it via fatherhood… I appreciate the love that has been put into this game. It is very easy for franchises to simply churn out pulp slop (anyone from the 90’s remember all those side scrolling/platform games based on things from The Blues Brothers to Home Alone and basically everything in between?). Fortunately, SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide has been made with fans in mind and really does feel like you are in the middle of an episode of the show (the moment SpongeBob and Patrick first learn they can swap who is in ghost form had me chuckling quite a bit). It’s a lot of fun with very minimal stress whilst still not being so easy that you can play it with your eyes closed. It’s the right level of challenge with a lot of fun throughout… highly recommended for SpongeBob fans or even just fans of fun platformers!
About the Author
Chris O'Connor Father of four, husband of one and all round oddity. Gaming at home since about 1982 with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Moving on to the more traditional PC genre in the years that followed with the classic Jump Joe and Alley Cat. CGA, EGA, VGA and beyond PC's have been central to my gaming but I've also enjoyed consoles and hand helds along the way (who remembers the Atari Lynx?). Would have been actor/film maker, jack of many trades master of none.
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