SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman
| SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Vicarious Visions, BigSky Interactive, Inc. |
| Publisher(s) | THQ |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance |
| Release date(s) | Game Boy Advance PlayStation 2 GameCube |
| Genre(s) | Platform |
SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman is a SpongeBob SquarePants video game developed by Vicarious Visions and BigSky Interactive, Inc. and published by THQ. It is the last game to be developed by BigSky Interactive, Inc. to date. The game was released in North America in late 2002, while in Europe it was released in 2003.
Plot
One day, SpongeBob wakes up and begins with playing fetch with Gary, leading the snail to dig up a treasure chest. SpongeBob opens the chest and finds a magic bottle, which upon rubbing it, the bottle releases doubloons all over Bikini Bottom and releases The Flying Dutchman. The Flying Dutchman tells SpongeBob that he will take Gary to work on his ship for all eternity. However, he decides to give SpongeBob some time before then.
SpongeBob proceeds to travel across 7 different worlds to recover the nine letters of his name in each area that will lead to treasures to defeat The Flying Dutchman. Over time, more of SpongeBob's friends are hypnotized and come under control of The Flying Dutchman. After collecting all of the seven treasures, SpongeBob rescues his friends and fights The Flying Dutchman. After defeating him, he is imprisoned back in his bottle. The gang escape on a flying boat to the Krusty Krab to celebrate.
Worlds
- Bikini Bottom, the main hub
- Jellyfish Fields
- Chum World
- Goo Lagoon
- Treedome
- Downtown Bikini Bottom
- Dutchman's Graveyard
Game Boy Advance version
The GBA version was released in North America on September 10, 2002. This version is a typical platforming game with five worlds: SpongeBob's Home, Jellyfish Fields, Krusty Krab, Tea at the Treedome, Doubloon Bonus World, and a final world on The Flying Dutchman's ship. It differs dramatically from the console versions and features a slightly different plot. SpongeBob is giving Gary the Snail a walk through Jellyfish Fields. Gary then smells Kelp Nip and runs off. After SpongeBob finds Gary with the help of Patrick Star, he finds a chest. Gary opens it, and SpongeBob finds a big sack of coins (which he tosses) and a bottle. SpongeBob then opens it. The Flying Dutchman appears, and is a boss enemy. Once the player has almost beaten the Dutchman, he tells SpongeBob to find his dining sock and the coins that got scattered around Bikini Bottom. Then, Gary runs off again. While looking for Gary, SpongeBob runs over Plankton. Plankton later finds Gary. He sends a message to the Krusty Krab telling SpongeBob that he found Gary. After SpongeBob looks all over Bikini Bottom, he finds the Dutchman's Ship and climbs up to it. SpongeBob then falls down saying "I'll ask Patrick at Jellyfish Fields". When the cutscene is over, the player can choose between Jellyfish Fields, Krusty Krab, Tea at the Treedome, and replay SpongeBob's Home. All levels have SpongeBob looking for Gary, the Dining Sock, and the coins. After the player beats all the levels (except The Flying Dutchman's Ship), the Dutchman takes Gary, Patrick, Squidward, Sandy, and Plankton. The Dutchman then tells SpongeBob he has 9 minutes left to find it. After the player finds the last of the coins and the dining sock, SpongeBob fights waves of minions created by the Dutchman. After that, SpongeBob battles the Dutchman himself. After The Flying Dutchman is defeated, the player is given a list of wishes to choose from, one of them involving giving SpongeBob his own TV show. When chosen, a screenshot of the show's original logo appears. Then the player can replay all the levels and play as SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs, Gary, Sandy, Squidward, Patrick, and/or Plankton.
Critical reception
Reviews of the GameCube version of the game was met with generally positive reviews upon release. It currently obtains 66 out of 100 on Metacritic indicating "mixed or average reviews" and an even better 73% on GameRankings. GameZone wrote a favorable review, mainly citing the use of a checklist calling it motivating and helps to keep the user on track, but criticized it for its crude background designs and fairly generic music tracks; GameZone ended the review by exclaiming that it was great fun for kids but older fans may just want to rent.
The Game Boy Advance version of the game was the best received out of the three consoles the game was released on. It currently obtains 71 out of 100 on Metacritc indicating "mixed or average reviews" and 73% on GameRankings. GameZone wrote a generally positive review, saying that it was an excellent game for the kiddies but thought that it was too short and easy to appeal to its older audience.
Despite the GameCube version being fundamentally the same game as on the PlayStation 2 version, (with the exception of an inconvenient loading glitch) the PS2 version was met with mixed reviews. It currently does not have a rating on Metacritic and has a 53% rating on GameRankings. IGN.com wrote a rather harsh review, giving it a mere 4.0 "poor" rating and hardly saying anything redeeming about the game, criticizing it for its sluggish controls, annoying music tracks, Nintendo 64-style graphics, frequent and obnoxious loading screens, simplistic game play, somewhat tedious fetch quests, and the unnecessary use of a checklist which made the game feel like a chore. IGN.com ended their review saying: “...Yes, pre-school-aged kids will probably get a kick out of the game, though they'd likely be more entertained mowing down prostitutes in Grand Theft Auto.” Play magazine also wrote a generally negative review, giving the game 2 out of 5 stars, citing its mediocre and sparse levels, bad models, and the fact that there are loading times where there should not be any.