SpongeBob Square Pants: Yellow Avenger – NDS – Review

Time marches
inexorably on and waits on no man, or, no Mermaidman. Alas, age has overtaken
Mermaidman and Barnacleboy, and they just ain’t what they used to be. When
Dirty Bubble hits town, they’re not able to defend Bikini Bottom adequately,
and are forced to call on additional help. Fortunately, SpongeBob Squarepants
is more than ready to save the day!

This cute
NDS game features our beloved hero, SpongeBob Squarepants, and many assorted
friends. SpongeBob’s main task is to find all the little dirty bubbles that
have been spawned from Dirty Bubble, and then eventually defeat Dirty Bubble.
Surrounding this theme are lots of quests and tasks that SpongeBob has to
fulfill for each mission.

Our hero
begins his quest to save the world in Bikini Bottom, in a tutorial that
demonstrates his various moves and the objects of the game. SpongeBob has two
basic moves of jumping and attacking, with additional moves added later during
the game via powerups. For the most part, SpongeBob spends his time traveling
around Bikini Bottom and the surrounding areas, talking to the inhabitants and
completing his tasks. These tasks are assigned during conversations with the
characters, and appear in a task list for reference. However, the explanations
for some of these tasks are less than helpful.

While there
are platforming moves, enemy hazards and boss battles, these elements take a
background seat to the adventure mode format, which is very strong. This game
plays like an adventure, more than a platform-action game. Exploration and
conversation are what players will experience the most, which is a welcomed
change from most handheld games. It’s fun to just explore with SpongeBob and
talk to his silly friends. The NDS adds a neat interactive aspect to the
adventure, with players able to act on things inside the buildings via the
touch screen. This feature doesn’t really move the game along; it’s like
clickables in an adventure game.

The graphics
are wonderful, and the world is drawn exactly like the TV show. The characters
are animated very well, and everyone looks just as he or she ought. The humor
and voice acting are nicely done, too. The effect is great.

The game
worlds are fairly large, and there’s a lot to do with SpongeBob, although
adding some mini-games would be have been nice and added to the overall
enjoyment and replayability. This game is easy enough for the kiddies, and
funny and long enough for the adults, but replayability is questionable. A
good choice for families, especially for fans of SpongeBob Squarepants.

Review Scoring Details for SpongeBob Square Pants: Yellow Avenger

Gameplay: 7.5
Playing around
with SpongeBob is a hoot, and there’s a lot to do in Bikini Bottom . However,
some mini-games or other content is needed to flesh the experience out and add
to the replayability.

Graphics: 9.0
Very good
graphics, it’s exactly like the show!

Sound: 8.0
The music and
voices are good and entertaining.

Difficulty: Easy
The game is easy,
but lasts a decent amount of time.

Concept: 7.0
There’s nothing
really new here, but the adventure aspect is different from many handheld
games of this type, especially ones for kids. A good presentation.

Overall: 7.5
A cute and fun
game that is sure to please most families, especially fans of the show.