SpongeBob SquarePants: Plankton's Robotic Revenge

SpongeBob SquarePants: Plankton's Robotic Revenge
Generic North American cover
Developer(s)	Behaviour Interactive
Publisher(s)	Activision
Distributor(s)	Nickelodeon Interactive Games
Series	SpongeBob SquarePants
Platform(s)	Wii U Wii Nintendo 3DS Nintendo DS PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
Release date(s)	EU 20131011October 11, 2013 NA 20131022October 22, 2013
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, platformer, third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

SpongeBob SquarePants: Plankton's Robotic Revenge is an action-adventure video game based on the hit television series, SpongeBob SquarePants. It was released in October 2013 for Wii U, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS,^[1] PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The game was developed by Behaviour Interactive and published by Activision, who took over the license from previous SpongeBob SquarePants video game publisher THQ after the company's bankruptcy and liquidation. This is also the first SpongeBob SquarePants game to be released for the PlayStation 3 and Wii U thus far, as well as the first SpongeBob SquarePants game to be rated E10+ by the ESRB.

Gameplay

Plankton's Robotic Revenge was developed to be a third-person shooter, similar to Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. Players can purchase and upgrade their weapons of choice. Home console versions of the game feature four-player co-op, whilst the Wii U version will allow for an additional fifth player when using a GamePad with four other controllers. Portable versions are solely single-player games. The confirmed playable characters include SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star, Squidward Tentacles, Sandy Cheeks, and Mr. Krabs.

Plot

Despite having a similar plot, this game is not connected in any way to SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom released a decade before this game. A cargo ship drops batteries into the ocean. Plankton finds them and uses them to power his giant robot and robot army and takes the safe with the Krabby Patty secret formula. He also takes the map to the key and the two copies of it that opens the safe. SpongeBob and his friends have to stop him, defeat his robot minions and family members, retrieve the batteries, and find the three keys before he does to get the formula back. They fight Plankton in the Dutchman's Triangle, but he survives his defeat and retreats. The gang then fight two of Plankton's family members, who also have giant robots, in other areas. After getting the first two keys and batteries, they go back to the Krusty Krab and fight Plankton again. After he is defeated, they retrieve the last battery and find the last key under the doormat and use it to open the safe. In the bottle was a note saying the formula is in Mr. Krabs' pocket the whole time and it is. Squidward was shocked that they've been through this for nothing. That night, when SpongeBob and Patrick were watching TV in Patrick's house, SpongeBob wonders where the batteries went and was amazed that Patrick's TV is working so well. It is then revealed that the batteries were powering the TV from the outside.

Reception

Reviews

Plankton's Robotic Revenge received mixed to negative reviews from critics. According to aggregating review website GameRankings gave the PlayStation 3 version 35.00%, the Wii U 40.00%, and the 3DS version 60.00%. While the game was panned for its slowly developed gameplay, the return of the original voice actors were praised.

IGN panned the game with a score of 3.5 out of 10. Both PlayStation Official Magazine and Official PlayStation Magazine awarded the game a 5/10. GamingBolt rated the game 7 out of 10.

Sales

Plankton's Robotic Revenge was not a great success, with 421,000 copies sold across all platforms.

References