If Battle for Bikini Bottom was not a licensed game, it would likely be an obscure cult classic. This is noteworthy because Battle for Bikini Bottom was not particularly original. The 2nd Ratchet and Clank game was also released less than two weeks later. You know, Jak II, where the developers of Crash Bandicoot saw Grand Theft Auto III and thought they should base their colorful, cartooney platformer off of it. It was released a mere two weeks after Jak II. The Base Gameīattle for Bikini Bottom was a 3D Collectathon at a time when 3D collecthons fell out of style. The rest of this review will apply to both the original and Rehydrated. It took some getting used to, but the load times were far from the worst I’ve seen. I enjoyed it because most of the game is still the same. I was disappointed with the quality of this remake, but I still enjoyed it. Purple Lamp should have had the foresight to prevent the harsh load times, and I hope they do not repeat this mistake with future titles. I don’t consider this a valid excuse because gameplay is ALWAYS more important than graphics. Some may defend Rehydrated by pointing out that the new graphics take up a lot more space, which means longer load times. Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated is far from unenjoyable, but it’s a half-assed remaster.
![spongebob pc game rock bottom spongebob pc game rock bottom](https://nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/spongebob-battle-bikini-bottom.jpg)
If pricing was not a factor, I would say to stick to the original. The second reason is because a complete copy of the original costs more than Rehydrated. I always found SpongeBob’s smile out of place in the original, so it’s nice to have that fixed. The one positive I can’t deny is that the visuals are not only beautiful, but the animations match the character’s expressions. The first is for the improved visuals and animation. There are only two reasons I could recommend Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated over the original. When you combine all these faults, you end up with an overall worse product than the original. Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated does not have the voice clip, which ruins the delivery of this gag. This sequence cleverly took advantage of the in-game voice clips that play when you take damage. The original humorously demonstrates this by dropping a safe on him mid cutscene. In the game’s tutorial, there is a sign that explains how SpongeBob loses health when hit by a dangerous obstacle. The sound effects, for example, feel detached from gameplay, when the original game did not have this problem. The load times are the biggest issue, but they are not the only problem with Rehydrated. While Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated’s updated visuals are aesthetically pleasing, they also make the in-game boundaries less clear. In the original game, the out of bounds areas were marked with red lines, which made the boundaries more obvious. This is especially egregious when you move out of bounds, and the hand from the opening picks you up. H3o9Dz9Vt2- AnnieGal (She/Her) February 5, 2021 This is the second time in a row this happened. In Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated, you will need to wait 20 seconds upon each death. This meant that you could jump right back into the game upon each death. In the original game, loading took a few seconds at most. The most noticeable downgrade upon starting up is the load times. I enjoyed my time with Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated, but I can’t say that it’s better than the original. Given the popularity of the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro remasters, it’s likely that THQ Nordic wanted to capitalize on their success. THQ Nordic published the game after obtaining the rights to re-release sixteen previously released licensed Nickelodeon games in 2018. Battle for Bikini Bottom was pretty damn good though, and it holds up surprisingly well.īattle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated is a remake that comes to us from Purple Lamp Studios, who previously co-developed the PC port of Sea of Thieves. I played it back then because I was too young to know that licensed games usually suck. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom was a 3D collectathon platformer for consoles in 2003.