SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab

SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab is a video game for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and Wii developed by Blitz Games and published by THQ. It stars SpongeBob SquarePants, his best friend Patrick Star and their enemy Sheldon J. Plankton as they journey to nine different worlds, supposedly, inside the dreams of the characters. The Wii version was a North American launch title for Wii. It is also the first SpongeBob game released in Japan (Sony PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii versions), but was released under the title: "Spongebob" (スポンジ・ボブ Suponjibobu), to mark it as the first video game in the Spongebob series to have a Japanese release.

Gameplay

Players have access to three playable characters during the game, SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Starfishman (Patrick Star in superhero form), and Sheldon J. Plankton, and must guide them through nine levels of play in a dreamworld.^[1] Four different types of gameplay have been incorporated into the game, known as flying; rampaging; racing and platforming. During flying sections the game sets obstacles one in front of another, and the player must maneuver past them. In most cases, the game will tell the player which way to fly (up, down, left and right). On the Wii, you use the controller like an actual plane control stick. The most common cases of this is when SpongeBob uses his plane to attack a giant-sized Plankton.^[2] In rampage levels the player controls a giant sized Plankton and uses special powers and moves to destroy everything in their path.^[3] The player's laser's power is indicated by a bar on the right side of the screen, which refills after use. The Wii version features controller movements that respectively activate moves. Racing gameplay is similar to most racing games; it is featured in both the air and the ground's gameplay, fuel must be collected in order to keep the player's vehicle running.^[4] The platforming gameplay is spread throughout the game, such as when Plankton must escape from a live Krabby Patty.^[5]

Levels

Note the following only applies to the PlayStation 2/GameCube/Wii version.

• Diesel Dreaming — This level is inspired by Ed Roth's cartoon character Rat Fink and Roth's signature art style. The first level of the game starts at night in the Bikini Bottom viewing SpongeBob's neighborhood, seeing dream bubbles coming out of SpongeBob and Patrick's homes. The camera goes into SpongeBob's house, where he reveals his bed has transmogrified into a hot rod car. Still sleeping, he pulls a lever which causes the car to crash out of his house, whereas he sees a race track seeing a race track instead of his usual surroundings, as he turns into a crazy Rat Fink version of himself, although he talks normal. He starts on a practice race of two laps around the track, with the stadiums falling apart at the moment. After the practice race, SpongeBob takes out his license in his pants and looks at it, however Plankton comes and crashes into SpongeBob, causing his license to blow away. This is where the next episode of the level starts. The license jumps away and SpongeBob follows it. SpongeBob learns from Mrs. Puff for how to do various things, (as this is the tutorial) and goes past an obstacle course until he reaches Mrs. Puff. Not long after, SpongeBob claims his license again. After so, a crazy hyper version of Patrick (who calls himself "Piston Patrick") and challenges him to a race. This is where the first boss is. While racing, Patrick will occasionally drop bombs to slow SpongeBob down as in a Mario Kart manner. After beating him in a race, Plankton comes again, and this time he destroys SpongeBob's car. Now that his car is busted, SpongeBob must find more parts to repair his car, while destroying several enemies along the way. He then challenges Plankton to a race, which after winning, a crazy hyper version of Gary comes and surprises SpongeBob. Learning from Mrs. Puff that Gary is the champion, SpongeBob goes on foot to find motors so he can use turbo boosts on the track while racing Gary. The final episode is SpongeBob racing with Gary in which this time, the player is able to use turbo boosts five times a lap. When SpongeBob wins, he begins complimenting on how well he and his car did, but does not notice a pit up ahead, and falls right into it.

• Starfishman to the Rescue — The second level is the beginning of Patrick's story. He is awaken from sleep in his house, and hears that the "Dreaded Patrick" and his paper minions have run loose in Bikini Bottom. He then gets out of bed and transforms into Patrick Starfishman. This level is a city with cel shading to give the place a cartoony, comic-book feel, and everyone is a starfish resembling Patrick. The evil villain is an evil version of Patrick named Dreaded Patrick. During the first level, a "phone guy" gives Patrick tips throughout the episode, mainly in the first level. (The "phone guy" talks once at the second level.) It is basically a tutorial telling Patrick about his superpowers and other things he can do as well as the enemies he will face, as well as pursuiting Dreaded Patrick. At the end of the first episode, Patrick advances to the 2nd where he finds a civilian tied up by Dreaded Patrick who is about to be run over by an approching express train. During this part, the player must tap the button shown as fast as they can to push the train back. (If the player fails, the train does not run over the civilian and the player starts again in an easier try.) After the train is stopped, Dreaded Patrick retreats elsewhere. The civilian is also naked, so Patrick must explore the town to find all 5 pieces of his clothes. Then Patrick beats the town of bad people to collect laundry detergent after the town mayor mentions "Clean up the town." Starfishman advances to the 3rd and last level of his episode. Here he finds another civilian tied to a rocket that Dreaded Patrick is about to launch into outer space. Patrick battles Dreaded Patrick's henchmen going up an elevator. After the elevator is beaten, Patrick goes down a hallway to see the civilian tied up to the rocket. When calling to say everything is alright, Patrick is knocked out from behind by two of Dreaded Patrick's minions. Then Patrick wakes up to see he is strapped to the rocket instead. While saying, "You're the villain, I'm the good guy, I'm supposed to win" he is launched out of Earth and hits an asteroid which makes a ring, and Dreaded Patrick then says to himself "Well, that's my arch nemesis defeated, now what? Mow the lawn?". The ring then falls to Earth and traps him, and is assumed to be caught afterwards, although this is not shown.

• Super-Sized Patty — This is where the main story begins, the other two levels were just minor levels leading to the levels ahead. Plankton wakes up from dreaming the past episodes and gets a Krabby Patty crumb and places it on his Enlarge-o-tron that makes things big. When doing it the patty does not stop and becomes a giant mutant patty, so Plankton orders Karen to make him 100 times bigger. When that happens, Plankton grows to the size of a normal sea critter, but the patty is still big. Plankton runs and equips a freeze ray which he names the Dispiculator. The whole episode is 3-D with a 2-D feel to it. The first level is a run through Bikini Bottom, the second is a run through an industrial park, the 3rd is a run through the jellyfish milking factory, the 4th is through the Oyster Stadium, and the 5th and final is a path leading back to the Chum Bucket. After this, Plankton hides behind a rock, the patty does not seem to notice and walks away. Plankton then brags loudly and the patty notices, so it pounces on him.

• Alaskan Belly Trouble — This is where SpongeBob's story left off. Back in the 1st level, SpongeBob fell off the track into a pit, he then wakes up and realizes he is still falling, he then falls off his hot rod and becomes lost free-falling down a pit, and as he falls the player controls SpongeBob until he falls into an Alaskan Bull Worm, where here he finds Old Man Jenkins, working on an airplane made out of various things the worm has eaten. He must first find the remaining parts for it. He rescues the chief of castaways and then rescues his wife (which is an ironing board). The chief lets SpongeBob have it so they can use it for wings (because she's not as "Pretty pretty" as he thought). Then SpongeBob goes into a lab where he must find three jellyfish power cells to help an inventor, who will give SpongeBob a propeller in return. The next level is about removing a can of chili from the worm to calm his indigestion.(Note that if you manage to mess this up after turning winches, you might be stuck here UNLESS you start a new game. ) Then SpongeBob finally gets to exit the Alaskan Bull Worm. He and Old Man Jenkins go off and just as they are about to escape, the bull worm's mouth suddenly shuts closed, dramatically ending the level, leaving the player with suspense.

• Rocket Rodeo — Beginning from the horrible fate Starfishman suffered in episode 2, he is alive in space, still attached to the rocket. He wakes up from sleep, beginning the level. The player begins in level 1, where they must both escape a Krabby Patty UFO and chase it. When the first level ends, Patrick manages to untie himself and he is able to use the rocket lasers. After getting out the second level begins in which the player must destroy meteors with a gun on a space station run by jellyfish, then the player advances to a level where they must destroy asteroids, and then the final level of the episode, a boss fight against the Krabby Patty UFO. Things go right after the UFO is destroyed and Patrick returns to Earth, but then realizes he does not know how to slow down, so the rocket plunges into the sea.

• Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster — This level has a grainy, 1950s B-movie feel to it. This is were Plankton's story left off on, he wakes up at his normal size and the Patty is still there, it wakes up and Plankton orders Karen to turn him 50 feet high. Then he goes after the Patty. He also destroys most of Bikini Bottom too, including SpongBob's, Patrick's, Squidward's, Sandy's, and Mr. Krabs' house, a clock tower, a drive-in movie theatre, the entire Bikini Bottom Defense Force, and remolding Mount Fishmore (a parody of Mount Rushmore) in his image. But then after catching the patty, SpongeBob and Old Man Jenkins come out with their airplane (breaking through the bull worm's teeth) the Krabby Patty grabs on the plane and Plankton chases it.

• It Came from Bikini Bottom — This level takes place after Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster and returning to SpongeBob, he must flee from Giant Plankton in 2 boss rounds as well, one in a construction site, another near what seems to be a tower that Plankton hangs on to, resembling King Kong. The rest of the level is through Bikini Bottom, and the sewer. SpongeBob's, Patrick's, and Squidward's houses are shown too, still intact despite being destroyed in the previous level (likely because the game is a dream). At the end of the level, Plankton falls down and SpongeBob feels sorry for him. He flies over but Plankton tricks him and catches him.

• Rooftop Rumble — This level is the penultimate level before the end of the game. Starfishman arrives from crashing into Bikini Bottom and he presses a panic button (which was actually the rocket's air brake) before the rocket crashes. On the rooftop, he battles Giant Plankton to help SpongeBob, with the assistance of Mermaid Man. After shrinking Plankton down with Mermaid Man's Shrink Guns, SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton go into a white dream bubble, where SpongeBob says "Thanks for trying Patrick, but I think we've made it to, Shangrila", but then he sees a doctor, resembling a Krabby Patty, inside telling him it's all in his head.

• Hypnotic Highway — The doctor in the bubble explains this happening with all the dreams is because they all ate a Krabby Patty before bed, altering their dreams, the three do admit to eating at least a morsel of a Krabby Patty before bed. The doctor runs away and turns out to be the same patty Plankton chased. SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton head into the final level, here they all race in a strange dream to get out of their dream, in which they argue about if it's their dream. This level begins with only SpongeBob playable, but after the player collects enough Sleepy Seeds for Patrick and then Plankton, each character may be used. SpongeBob is the only playable character if the player does not have all seeds. If the player plays as SpongeBob and wins, SpongeBob finds out it really was a dream. He then gets out of the dream and takes the Krabby Patty to the Krusty Krab and cuts it into many Krabby Patties for the hungry customers at the Krusty Krab, afterwards a customer complains "Hey stupid! I said without relish." SpongeBob then finds out that he and the customers had shells on their backs. If the player plays as Patrick, he is in the Krusty Krab celebrating his victory. Just as he is about to eat his Krabby Patty, it starts running away. Patrick chases it, but he hits the door with his head with the patty escaping, with small snails resembling Gary spinning around his head. If the player plays as Plankton, it shows he has made a franchise of the Krabby Patty and has destroyed the Krusty Krab. The Patty suddenly appears and many different sized patties fall and destroy everything. A giant patty with eyes (probably Gary's) lands on the Krusty Krab and smashes the Chum Bucket. SpongeBob awakes from the dream while Patrick wakes from SpongeBob's dream while Plankton wakes from Patrick's dream. It is then revealed that this entire dream was neither SpongeBob's, Patrick's, nor Plankton's dream, but rather Gary's dream where three small dream clouds float around his head. He wakes up and finds he has eaten part of a Krabby Patty. That caused all the strange dreams he had. After the credits, Gary wakes up and sees SpongeBob pretending to drive to work, then he sees Patrick on a pay a rocket ride machine, and a small cloth flowing behind him on a laundry line, like a cape, and Plankton knocking down small boxes, similar to the matter of him smashing buildings in his dream. When Gary comes home SpongeBob says that Gary should not eat Krabby Patty before bed or it might give him nightmares. Gary sees SpongeBob in the kitchen about to eat a Krabby Patty, but Gary sees the patty move its mouth. Then the bullworm rushes through, eating SpongeBob again. Then Gary goes to sleep.

Development

Developer Blitz Games had a meeting with staff from THQ during the 2005 E3 trade show, where they were asked to oversee and develop the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise. THQ staff revealed that they had an "intimate" business relationship with Nintendo, and that Nintendo had expressed an interest in having a SpongeBob game published on their new console, the Wii, which at that point was still known by its development name Revolution. Blitz came up with several styles of play during development, some of which did not become part of the finished product. In particular, shooting sections using the wiimote had been considered, but license holders Nickelodeon were uncomfortable with them due to SpongeBob SquarePants being a cartoon.^[6] Due to Blitz developing their own middleware with a focus on providing cross-platform compatibility, the main sections of the game such as driving and platforming are the same for each console version of the game. The mini game controls work differently on the Wii version of the game, the Nintendo console was the main focus of development. Extra development time was spent configuring the control methods for the wiimote and the standard controllers used on the other consoles.^[6]

The game was announced prior to the 2006 E3 show, and was first shown to journalists at that event.^[7]

Reception

The game was nominated for an Annie Award for best animated video game in 2006.^[15] It also won the award for favorite video game at the 2007 Kids' Choice Awards.^[16] The game received average reviews in addition to some more positive or negative ratings. The game has been referred to, by Nintendo Power as being the "most ambitious and most successful SpongeBob game to date", in their December 2006 issue.

Several reviewers noted that the fictional world does not resemble Bikini Bottom or the cartoon itself, that the game does not "feel" like a SpongeBob SquarePants title.

Key points brought out in the above reviews include:

• The ease of navigating through each level.
• The play control is both "perfect" and "responsive".

And key flaws brought out in the reviews include:

• Bad graphics.
• A continuous racing and 2D levels.

References

External links

• Official website