SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis (video game)
| SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) |
Blitz Games (Wii, PS2) Altron (DS, GBA) |
| Publisher(s) | THQ |
| Director(s) | Chris Viggers (Wii, PS2) |
| Producer(s) |
Team RocFISH (Wii, PS2) Yoshi Hiro Tanaka (DS, GBA) |
| Designer(s) |
Mark Digger, Alex Johnson, Jon Law, Luke Nockles, Lynsey Rigby, Peter Theophilus, Lance Winter (Wii, PS2) Yuhei Fujita, Tomoya Hiwatari, Marika Tanimoto, Kei Ko Yizawa, Yuki Hagino (DS, GBA) |
| Programmer(s) |
Chris Bell, Steve Bond, Garry Hughes, Simon Offord, Tiago "Azorian" Rodrigues, David "Wavey" Waby, James "Dr." Watson, David Woo (Wii, PS2) Shi Tepi Echogi, Koi i Kanagaki, Yohei Shimada (DS, GBA) |
| Artist(s) | Shakkel Alli, Malcolm Burke, Chris Hudson, Karen Pinchin, Mike Proctor, Marcel Simons, Wai-Hung Wan (Wii, PS2) |
| Platform(s) | Wii, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Action-Adventure |
| Mode(s) |
Single-Player
Multiplayer (Mini-Games) |
SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis is a SpongeBob SquarePants video game based on the television series. This is the first SpongeBob game that is based on a made-for-TV movie.[1] The game was released October 23, 2007. It is also the first by Altron. The next one would be Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition. This was the last SpongeBob game released for the PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance.
Plot
The game begins with SpongeBob and his friends escaping from Atlantis. Meanwhile, Plankton rampages around Atlantis with a tank he "borrowed" until he comes across the gang. SpongeBob and Patrick begin to remember how they got into this mess. They began having a flashback that begins with them blowing bubbles until they got trapped in a big bubble that carries them into a cave. The duo make their way through the cave, avoiding ghost pirates and searching for ladders to venture deeper, where they find the missing half of the Atlantean Amulet (Patrick thinks it is related to SpongeBob's ancestors because of the word "antis" on it). They take it to the Bikini Bottom Museum to see what it is, taking pictures of exhibits and taking down tourists and security blocking the way. Squidward is shocked to see that they found the other half of the amulet. Sandy and Mr. Krabs tag along while walking in the museum. Squidward conjoins the two halves and the path to Atlantis is revealed: the path is a bus. The bus is powered by song, and the group starts to sing to get to Atlantis in which the bus crash lands along the way, forcing them to drive the bus around Atlantis to find the bus pieces and tool kits to fix the bus.
Once repairing the bus and arriving at Atlantis, the group is greeted by the Lord Royal Highness (or LRH). LRH gives them a tour around the Atlantean palace in which they had to avoid traps that were set around Atlantis for some reason. Mr. Krabs begins to collect some treasure to take with him with some help from Sandy and her bubble catching gun. Squidward poses for the artists in the art studio. Unbeknownest to them, Plankton hid in the Atlantis bus compartment on the way here. He plans to use the Atlantean weapons, the most advanced of all time, to destroy SpongeBob and his friends, and take over the world. After getting out of the bus, he sneaks around Atlantis and makes his way to the weapon room.
While taking pictures of attractions (also taking down tourists and Atlantean guards blocking the way), Patrick accidentally destroys the oldest living bubble and tell the truth to LRH who shows them the real bubble. Squidward reminds them that the bubble that Patrick destroyed was a prop for tourists. Patrick again accidentally pops it for real and the group must run from Atlantean forces, searching for paper clips to open doors, and Sandy uses Squidward as a gun to take down the soldiers. Plankton rampages around the city in his tank just like in the beginning and confronts the gang in which ends the duo's flashback of how they got here. He fires his weapon, but is shocked to see it shoots ice cream. LRH captures Plankton, believing he is a talking speck, and displays him as a replacement for the recently destroyed bubble and as a replacement to the national treasure of Atlantis. He then orders one of his soldiers to throw away the amulet so that the troublemakers can't return. The soldier makes his way across Atlantis to the dumpster and tosses it in. Then the gang head home back to Bikini Bottom on board the bus.
Gameplay
Abilities
- Console Systems
The main characters (SpongeBob, Patrick, Sandy, Squidward, Mr. Krabs and Plankton) have different abilities, most often, these abilities are related to them in one way or another. SpongeBob can use his spatula to flip things and open a portcullis. Patrick can lift other characters or an anchor and throw them over to another platform and then pull him across. Squidward, on the other hand, uses the tentacles on his feet to run across moving carpets and on treadmills to break open doors or a portcullis. Mr. Krabs uses his pockets to attract him to money and sometimes clear path by absorbing the money. He can also get across platforms by being attracted to the money across. Sandy uses her lasso to get over the gaps by grabbing bridge handles and opening the bridges herself by pulling the lasso. She can also grab things or other characters. As for Plankton, he doesn't have any special moves and can only be played as in certain missions.
- Portable Systems
The main characters (except Plankton) are controlled in pairs. When you find a changing station, you can choose which two characters you want to control. These characters have different abilities when 1 character picks up the other and then presses L and the character that's being held would do a special move. (For example, if SpongeBob picked up Sandy and the player pressed L, Sandy would flip in the air and do an exploding karate chop.) This can only work with the Nintendo DS.
Reception
| System | IGN [2] | GameSpot[3] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DS | 6 | 6.8 | |
| Wii | 5.3 | 6.2 | |
| PS2 | 5.1 | 6.0 | |
| GBA | 5 | 5.5 |
The game received mostly mixed reviews. An IGN review of the Nintendo DS version was headlined “SpongeBob actually managed to be boring.” Likewise, the most-criticized aspects of all versions was the clunky camera control, the lackluster AI, and the annoying method of having to return to the start of the level to switch characters. It was also called "too short" and "too easy" for older gamers.[4] A review of the Wii version called the game "second-rate", "sloppy", "tedious", and "really boring". The graphics were criticized for being "bland".[5] The PlayStation 2 version was criticized for the same reasons but were given a slightly lower rating because IGN says that Wiimote controls spice up the shooting games.[6]
References
External links
- DS version at IGN
- Wii version at GameSpot