SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide is a game clearly targeted for kids ranging from eight to 12 years old. So, when I was tasked with getting something done for Insider Gaming, I figured, why not? Why not review the latest game in 26-year-old SpongeBob franchise from the perspective of its intended audience? So that’s exactly what I did.
To review this game, I enlisted the help of my eight-year-old son. While he played each level, I took notes as I watched. He gave feedback and let me know exactly how he felt each step of the way. My only need was to help him when he asked for it, and make sure I do the best job conveying his thoughts as well as my own from what I saw and the little I played.
But is SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide a game that can not only keep the attention of a kid, but actually be a serviceable platformer for any interested party?
Available On November 18 For: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide review
The story of the game is as silly as the show is itself. There is an “extra special offer” happening at the Krusty Krab, and everyone wants to get their hands on a Krabby Patty, especially the Flying Dutchman. After being forced to wait in line for hours, it’s finally the Dutchman’s turn to order when King Neptune comes in and cuts to the front of the line. An enraged Dutchman confronts Neptune, leading to a clash that results in Bikini Bottom being left in disarray and overrun by ghosts.
In the midst of the chaos, SpongeBob is turned into a ghost. With his BFF ring, however, he discovers that he and Patrick can swap being ghosts when they need to in order to save Bikini Bottom.
The game features the full voice cast of the popular show, but something just feels off. First, the dialogue during gameplay gets repetitive, fast. Hearing Patrick yell, “I’m a star in the sky!”, every time he’s gliding is enough to make a bald man’s hair fall out. That said, it, along with other lines, kept making my kids laugh, which is the goal.
But then, there are the visuals.
It’s something my son noticed immediately when he asked, “why doesn’t it look like the show?” And it doesn’t. It gives off a plasticky feel, almost like it’s made out of a weird type of clay. The wanting for it to look more like the show was something that was mentioned a couple of times during the early stages of play, but he eventually got over it and didn’t seem bothered as he went on.
When beginning the game, you learn what skills each character has. SpongeBob has karate abilities, is faster than Patrick, and, once getting a specific tool, can blow bubbles. Patrick, on the other hand, is stronger and can lift and throw objects, pull obstacles, and burrow under the ground. Each skill comes in handy at various points, and switching between the two is a must.
Your health are your underpants, which you share between the two. Gross, I know. You can unlock more as you play to a max of 10 pairs by buying them in the shop. Four segments of underpants give you an extra nodule of health. As far as that health goes, “dying” in the game just puts you back to the last checkpoint. Some gaps between checkpoints are longer than others, but nothing too punishing.
Circling back to buying things, there are a number of outfits for SpongeBob and Patrick that you unlock and buy with coins you find as you play. SpongeBob has more outfits than Patrick, which is to be expected. What was strange are the omissions. For example, Patrick can get a Barnacle Boy suit while there’s no Mermaid Man for SpongeBob. A weird oversight, but only one that people who’ve watched the show from its beginning would notice.
It’s Time to Save Bikini Bottom
After you have your bearings and get through a brief tutorial area, you really start your adventure. Missions are the standard “help me get this” or “go here and do that” that is perfect and simple for a game like this. To my son, they are “enough” but he didn’t understand how certain aspects of the game fit into the main story.
“What does starting a light house have to do with saving everyone?” he asked. To be honest, I don’t know either, buddy.
The controls are straight forward, though can feel a bit unresponsive at times. Sometimes, when you’re pressing the jump button, there’s a big of a delay in the action, leading to you missing your target or simply just falling off the edge of the map. And if you fall off the edge, you may find yourself frozen in the void. No less than four times did he have to reload from a save file because he got stuck either in a wall or floating in the air.
The camera can be frustrating as well. While you can move it around freely to get the best angle, there are times where the way it moves can leave you feeling a bit disoriented. Specifically, my son said that it’s “a little bit annoying” that you couldn’t see where things were at times. During boss fights, especially, you can find yourself losing track of where they are, leading to you getting hit.
Be Ready To Jump
With the game being a platformer, you’ll find yourself trying to get over, around, and through various obstacles. There are even some puzzles to solve that open the next area. For the most part, my son was able to solve the puzzles and get to where he needed to go. At the same time, there were some that might be too complex or require too much of a quick reflex for kids on the younger side.
I had to step in a couple times to help him, especially with puzzles that required you to switch between SpongeBob and Patrick mid-jump, use an ability, and then switch back to use a different ability in a matter of a couple seconds. It wasn’t enough to make him want to stop playing, but you could see the look of frustration on his face—one I know all too well. I’m looking at you, FromSoftware.
The platforming is varied well enough to keep someone from getting board. My son’s favorite was when he gets a Bubble Wand. The wand is used for things like flipping switches, opening inflatable trampolines, stopping fans, switching lanterns that hide/show different openings and platforms, and even trapping enemies.
Boss battles provide a challenge to kids while teaching pattern recognition. Each boss follows a pattern for their attacks that you can memorize to make it easier to defeat if you fail the first time. After defeating a boss, weaker versions of them will become standard enemies that you face as you progress. You won’t just see the cannon ball blasting ghost once and move on. He’ll be there moving forward.
One big area of content during his playthrough was when it comes to water. Jumping in water is an instadeath. Yes, you read that right. Going into the water in SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide will have you die immediately.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” my son said in a way similar to when a dog tilts its head when it’s curious about something. “They live under the sea.”
He then began to sing the show’s theme song: Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? / SpongeBob SquarePants!
It’s something that he brought up is confusion for multiple times. But don’t worry, you get a ghost surfboard at times to get across the water. That means your non-ghost character needs a ghost board, something that you’d realistically fall through, to get across the water in a game where you live under water. I know it’s a kid’s game from a kid’s show, but if an eight-year-old is questioning it, I don’t think I’m wrong to question it either.
Sliding Away
One big part of the gameplay involves slide levels. This is where my son and I differed a bit in opinion. I think they’re the worst part of the game, while he enjoys them to an extent.
I feel there are just way too many in the game. And they aren’t quick areas. These are long downhill slides that have different obstacles requiring either Patrick or SpongeBob, depending on the terrain.
My problem comes in the fact that they feel like they are there just to exist as filler. Having a good time platforming and getting to the next part of the story? Guess what?! It’s another long slide. They act solely to transition you to the next area of the game and break up the exploration in the game. It’s fine when it’s every now and then, but it’s far too often and some go on for way too long.
My son, on the other hand, finds the challenge of the slides enjoyable. He’s a kid that lives racing and time trials in games, so trying to get to the end of the slide—or finishing a side quest race—in a certain time gives him a thrill. That said, he did agree that some can be too long. No slide level, that’s supposed to be a transition from one area of the game to the next, should last four-to-five minutes.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide Review Verdict
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide is game that is definitely made for its target demographic. The voice lines, while repetitive, brought a smile to my kids’ faces that only SpongeBob can do. The story is silly, and the characters are sillier. For a game like this, that’s all you can ask for when entering children. Even the length of the game is good for most kids to keep locked in, especially one like mine who’s often quick to move on to the next thing.
When asked for how he would rate it, my son said it was, “A Good Game”, pointing to the length of the slide puzzles, the random glitches, and the controls not responding to what he wants at times as his biggest problems. It’s not going to win any awards, but for an eight-year-old who enjoys the show itself, it provided enough fun and laughs to make it an enjoyable and unique father and son adventure.
A copy of SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide for PlayStation 5 was provided for the purposes of this review. (Read our review policy). To talk about this game, and others, join the Insider Gaming Discord. And don’t forget to sign up for the Insider Gaming weekly newsletter.
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SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide
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SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide
Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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