It was an interesting experience going into SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide, because it has been a long time since I have even thought about SpongeBob SquarePants in any real way. The little yellow goober is everywhere in pop culture, but in terms of actually caring about the franchise, I dropped off around Season 3.
By then, I was past the age demographic for SpongeBob SquarePants video games, and I never got into any of them, even though I had heard they were mostly fine. With hindsight and a bit of nostalgia, I was curious to see how far SpongeBob had come, and I have to say, SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide is surprisingly good.
The story begins at the Krusty Krab, with SpongeBob, Squidward and Mr.Krabs preparing for a half-off Krabby Patty sale. It’s pandemonium already, but things get worse when the Flying Dutchman shows up and is forced to wait in line for his delicious burger. To make matters worse, once he gets his chance to order, he’s cut off by the King of the Seas himself—Neptune.
“I honestly didn’t expect SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide to make me laugh as much as it did.”
This explodes in a contest of words as to who is the more powerful being, and the Flying Dutchman releases a nasty curse upon all of Bikini Bottom, turning its inhabitants, including SpongeBob, into ghosts. Thankfully, Patrick arrives to help, and through the power of their BFF Rings, the two can swap in and out of ghost form. Together, the whole gang sets off in a Krusty Krab airship to chase down the Flying Dutchman and save Bikini Bottom.
SpongeBob has saved Bikini Bottom—and arguably the world—so many times in his storied 16 Season career that the story itself is fairly old hat. However, what makes it worth experiencing is some pretty decent writing and a lot of really good jokes. I honestly didn’t expect SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide to make me laugh as much as it did, but there are some really solid lines, visual gags and callbacks to older episodes that more often than not got a good chuckle from me.
While I don’t think it’s totally free from the post-Hillenburg modernization of SpongeBob Squarepants, it does feel like it’s trying to lean more towards the earlier seasons and give longtime fans something to enjoy. This is backed by a near full return of the voice cast that made SpongeBob SquarePants what it is.
I was genuinely happy to hear Clancy Brown as Mr.Krabs—as his appearances in SpongeBob SquarePants games have been spotty—but I was even MORE happy to hear Brian Doyle-Murray reprising his role as the Flying Dutchman. It adds an authenticity to the game and makes many of the jokes land better, since they’re being delivered by actors who have had years of experience with these characters.
Gameplay is serviceable, but nothing to really write home about. Players move through relatively linear 3D levels, battling ghostly foes and using SpongeBob and Patrick’s unique abilities to get around obstacles. Both are fairly straightforward in terms of control, but I like how they have abilities that reflect their characters. SpongeBob can utilize a Homing Attack-style Karate Kick, and use his Bubble Wand and Jellyfish net, while Patrick can use his superior strength to lift objects; and he can…burrow underground? Did he do that in the show?
There’s a decent amount of variety in each level, and while it’s never particularly challenging, it’s engaging enough that gamers old and young can probably get something out of it. It’s difficult to really write about SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide’s gameplay because it is so perfectly fine; there’s nothing really bad or particularly good about it.
Platforming is decent enough, with players given both a double-jump and glide, so jumps aren’t too hard to clear at any time, and if players mess around a little, there are some opportunities for sequence breaking. Combat is equally adequate with both standard enemies and boss fights not really being particularly tough, and the combined abilities of SpongeBob and Patrick make dispatching them pretty straightforward—plus there are ample health pickups, so the possibility of death is never really there.
“It’s difficult to really write about SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide’s gameplay because it is so perfectly fine.”
Instead, what this game really has going for it is a fantastic visual style. Seeing how some of the spin-off shows and the two recent films have switched to a 3D animation over the traditional hand-drawn look, SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide is a lot more comfortable with its animation than previous games. There’s a really goofy, rubberhose-style that feels authentically cartoonish and adds a lot to the humour of both the more elaborate pre-rendered cutscenes and some of the more static “conversational” ones.
Not only that, like I mentioned above, levels are very visually dynamic and feature a lot of fun background references to the show. I couldn’t help but chuckle when SpongeBob’s glider was a Krusty Krab Pizza box, or one particularly goofy cutscene where Mr.Krabs looked like he was being pulled away by his daughter Pearl, as he was quickly trying to tell SpongeBob what to do next. When the camera snapped back to SpongeBob and Patrick, revealing Mr. Krab’s head still in frame and his neck was being stretched. It was a really good visual gag that got a decent laugh out of me, particularly because I wasn’t really expecting it from a SpongeBob SquarePants game.
In the audio department, SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide is a bit of a mixed bag. For the most part, it’s pretty solid—the voice acting is top-notch, with all of the cast veterans putting a lot of heart and charm into their lines, even the ones that are more video-gamey and expository. The music is solid, despite not really featuring any of the series’ iconic tracks (or even the theme song at the start of the game, which seemed weird), but it’s upbeat and feels appropriately SpongeBob—utilizing a lot of ukulele and Lap Steel Guitar.
However, some of the audio mixing can be a bit janky, with NPC chatter at weird levels, and A LOT of repeated voice lines from either defeating ghosts, rescuing Bikini Bottom citizens or performing character actions. Also, and this is probably something that’s only going to bother me, but none of Karen’s voice lines are modulated, so she doesn’t sound like a computer.
But all that being said, I had a good time playing SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide—certainly more than I was expecting for a game based on a children’s cartoon. While it didn’t really knock my socks off, it was fun enough to keep me engaged, and I was always excited for a new cutscene since they were consistently funny. I think fans both young and old will appreciate this game, and while veteran gamers may sleepwalk through it, it’s got enough to be enjoyable.
