Overall: Nice diversion from splattering guts, wisecracking streetwalkers and other game elements you wouldn't want your kids to see, SpongeBob is really a pretty fun game with a few giggles to boot! Unless you're a fan of the show, or are goaded into watching it by a youngster, some of the features may go right past you. Oh, tartar sauce! Gameplay: More than just going from point-to-point, there are some kinda challenging obstacles to overcome and different puzzles to figure out. (Mind the King Jellyfish!) Switching from one character to another is necessary to acquire some points (IE, "shiny things") and imperative to get through certain parts. Each character has different means to disable the bad guys, some more practical than others. I found SpongeBob's methods easier than Patrick's. Sometimes it becomes necessary to quickly change the camera angle at inconvenient times, though, putting the character in jeopardy. Fortunately, there are ample "power ups" scattered about. Graphics: At first it was odd to see the characters with shading and more detail, but that's not bad either. It was probably intentional, though, that more effort was put into the characters than any of the background or bad guys. It's worth a laugh to have the character just stand still, when practical, and watch them entertain themselves! Sound: I could understand how the same background music playing repetitively could be unnerving, but after playing for a while, its not difficult to mentally tune it out. Some effort in creating some simpler "splats" and "crashes" would have been in line, though. Surprisingly, all the character voices from the show are here, but Mr. Krabs sounds just a wee bit different. Suggestions: Thanks for not taking the game TOO seriously for the little ones, but some of the puzzles need hints for them to follow.
Overall: Spongebob's new XBox game is a great kiddie game... A nice blend of easy gameplay and attractive graphics will make it one of your kids favourite game!... Please do not compare Spongebob's game to Splinter Cell or Rainbow Six 3, but rather to Finding Nemo or Scooby Doo...
Since it's not the genre of game I prefer and considering I am not a kid anymore, I can only give this game a 3.5 score; but if was 7 years old (like my daughter) I would definetly give it a 4.5. The general public under 10 years of age will find it addictive! Gameplay: The gameplay for this game is fairly easy to pick up. This is very important for games oriented to small kids, since they do not have the ability to use 2 thumbsticks simultaneously like in serious FPS games. It is basically a third person game where you use 2 buttons to kill the enemy and 2 buttons to jump and monkey around. It is pretty straight forward if you played Super Mario 64 before... Graphics: The visuals are acceptable for a game of this genre. Nothing fancy, though I find it better than Pac Man World 2... It is a very close attempt to re-create Spongebob's TV show look. It kind of look weird watching Spongebob in 3D after seeing him in 2D all the time, but this does not mean it's bad, actually I find it an appealing feature. Again, I have to remind you that this game is for kids, and as such I have to rate it accordingly. Sound: Sound is just ok for this game.
The SFX sound nice on my DTS 5.1 system, and it's really close to watching Spongebob's show on the TV... The voices and laughs are exact replicas of the original.
The soundtrack is bad though; after hearing that hawaiian song for 3 hours straight I bet you will never want to travel to Hawaii in your life, but then again the original TV show lacks a decent soundtrack to also... Suggestions: 1- Provide an option to disable subtitles would be good.
2- Allow multiplayer in cooperative mode up to 4 players. It would be nice to play with 3 of your friends as Spongebob, Patrick, Squidward and Sandy Cheeks...
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