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Introduction

Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated is a third-person action-adventure remaster of the original game released way back in 2003 for the Xbox and Playstation 2 era. The remake stays true to the formula of the original game in nearly every aspect, but with significantly more polish added to bring it into the new era.


🟩 Positives
🟥 Negatives


🟩 Loads of levels to play through.
🟩 Plenty of fun challenges to test your skills.
🟩 Cute characters in a beautiful and vibrant game world.
🟩 The main collectible manages to control game progression quite nicely.
🟩 Gorgeous soundtrack that is perfect reworked from the original.
🟥 The controls and movement are still a little clunky from the original.
🟥 Most collectibles aren’t limited, meaning you can farm them, instead of exploring.
🟥 Boss fights are too easy, and mostly underwhelming.



Story

Deep under the waves, in a place called Bikini Bottom, an evil genius named Plankton has devised a new devious way to cause chaos. He has designed a machine called the Duplicatotron 3000 and is using it to build a robot army that he will use to take over the world.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2818760366
But things went horribly wrong!
Plankton forgot to pull the obey switch, and now the robots are out of control and causing havoc across all the regions of Bikini Bottom. It is from here you meet (or re-meet, if you're familiar with the TV show) the hero, Spongebob (with the occasional help of Patrick and Sandy), who is tasked with destroying the robot menace and once again bringing peace to his home.
The story, for the most part, is actually sensationally written, filled to the brim with entertaining comedy and interesting plot points. It isn't designed to not be taken too seriously and pokes fun at itself, and things from the show and even other games without remorse. How the story unfolds is probably the strongest point of the game and it kept me sufficiently entertained for the entire time.

Gameplay Analysis

Swab the poop deck!
I had initial hesitation with playing this game, as I loved the original so much and remakes don’t always capture the same charm. Thankfully these concerns were uncalled for, as Rehydrated does nothing but improve upon the formula of the original game, while keeping the best parts intact.
While the game is very much the same and this is mostly considered a good thing, much of what plagued the original is back as well, such as clunky control mechanics and general janky gameplay elements such as, but not limited to; no option to efficiently change characters, no way to restart levels and falling off platforms into liquids tends to just bounce you back to the last place you were, which is not always a good or safe location to return to.
Like a boss.
Boss and arena fights are quite challenging here, as you can only take four hits before fainting and having to start from the last checkpoint, as both a blessing and a curse, the game checkpoints phase transitions in boss fights. This works in benefit as you won’t have to restart a long fight if you die close to the end, but also removes a lot of the challenge from the game. Most arena battles don't have a checkpoint at all, however, and occasionally are complete bullet hell scenarios making them the opposite of how boss fights play out and actually legitimate challenges.
A collectathon without many collectibles.
Many of us will remember games such as Banjo Kazooie and Spyro for what they were, true level-based collecting games and that is what Spongebob BfBB was always trying to be. Unfortunately it missed this mark altogether as the amount of collectables is insignificant or irrelevant, and the true allure here is the story, with collection taking a secondary role. The main collectible is an item called “Shiny Things” and they are essentially farmable, meaning you won’t need to clear a level fully to find them all, and you can just kill the same enemies over and over instead of having to explore. Another significant collectible that will determine your progress in the game are the “Golden Spatula”; these unlock new regions and are unlocked by completing challenges in levels.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2818760433

Audio and Visual

As mentioned above, this is simply a gorgeous game. From the moment you boot it up to the moment it's over, you will be entirely enthralled by its beautiful scapes and vistas. Enemies are stylised too, to look very imposing without being too scary, especially for little kids who are interested in playing. Overall an impressive remaster to say the very least.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2818760281
Music falls into the same submarine, while I can’t quite remember the original soundtrack clearly, it felt very nostalgic to hear it again at a higher quality. Perfectly symbiotic with the atmospheric and environmental audio that is seemingly always around you.

PC Performance and Specifications

At the highest settings, the game ran impeccably, sitting at a steady 60 capped FPS without dropping at all, set at a resolution of 2560 x 1440.
🟨 A few texture and clipping issues with the environment.
RAM: 32GB (Under Load Usage: 37.6%)
CPU: i9 10900KA 3.70GHz (Under Load Usage: 41.1%)
GPU: MSI Ventus RTX 3080 (Under Load Usage: 42.4%)

Final Thoughts - Very Good

Review chart here.
I thoroughly enjoyed this experience for the most part. The remaster stays true to what made the original so great and I think that’s important for any developer to keep in mind. The gameplay is still fun, the story is entertaining and the overall atmosphere is just chill and very child friendly. I have one stipulation to this rated review though, and that is that, if you aren’t a fan of the Spongebob series you might not be as invested in this game, much of the humour is related to inside jokes from the television series and having some experience with it will make your overall experience far more enjoyable. If you aren’t a fan though, it might be worth waiting for a sale.
If your time spent at the depths of Bikini Bottom, isn't adventure enough for you, click the link to reach the highest peak of quality. Summit Reviews