SpongeBob SquigglePants
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''SpongeBob SquigglePants'' (also known as ''SpongeBob SquigglePants 3D'' for the Nintendo 3DS port) is an action video game based on the ''
SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character ...
'' television series, developed by
WayForward Technologies WayForward Technologies, Inc. is an American independent video game developer and publisher based in Valencia, California. Founded in March 1990 by technology entrepreneur Voldi Way, WayForward started by developing games for consoles such as ...
and published by
THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initi ...
. The game was first announced on March 23, 2011, and was released for Wii in North America on April 12, 2011, in Australia on April 14, 2011, and in Europe on April 15, 2011. The Nintendo 3DS version was released in North America on May 17, 2011, in Australia on May 26, 2011, and in Europe on May 27, 2011. It is the fourth game to use the
uDraw GameTablet The uDraw GameTablet is a gaming graphics tablet released by THQ for the Wii in 2010, and for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011. It has a pressure-sensitive stylus which allows users to draw and view their creations on screen. The tablet is ...
accessory and borrows its concept from the ''WarioWare'' series, consisting of a series of
minigames A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than th ...
. ''SpongeBob SquigglePants'' also features appearances from Patchy the Pirate, the president of the SpongeBob fan club, as its live-action host.


Overview

''SpongeBob SquigglePants'' consists of over 100 mini-games (or Nanogames) which require using the
uDraw GameTablet The uDraw GameTablet is a gaming graphics tablet released by THQ for the Wii in 2010, and for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011. It has a pressure-sensitive stylus which allows users to draw and view their creations on screen. The tablet is ...
. Each game has a time limit of a few seconds and can only be tried five times before failing. Examples include "Flying Disc of the Deep", where the player flicks the stylus to toss a flying disc to Larry the Lobster; "That Takes the Spongecake", where the player tilts the tablet to help SpongeBob blow out all the birthday cake candles; and "A Bridge Abridged", where the player draws a quick line between two cliffs to create a bridge for Plankton to cross and grab his coveted Krabby Patty, which it's mini-games borrows its concept from the
WarioWare is a video game series, a Spin-off (media), spin-off of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise. It comprises various video games created by Nintendo, starring the character Wario. The series began with ''Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3'', th ...
series. ''SpongeBob SquigglePants'' also features appearances from Patchy the Pirate, the president of the SpongeBob fan club, as its live-action host. Patchy guides players through the game and makes surprise appearances and interacts with players as they play the Nanogames. SpongeBob SquigglePants also lets players digitally draw, paint and color with a free-form drawing function, or choose from several SpongeBob-themed stamps. With the uDraw's exclusive ability to export art to the Wii system's
SD card Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanDis ...
slot, players can also put their drawings aworthy of a place in Patchy's own collection of SpongeBob art – or their own refrigerator. The SD card capability also makes it possible to share artwork with friends via e-mail or save it to computer desktops.


Development

The Wii version was first announced on
THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initi ...
's official press release on April 12, 2011. Manuel wanted players to capture "the fun and excitement of SpongeBob and his friends and gives fans a new way to experience the world of Bikini Bottom". The game was also designed to treat fans to styles from the Nickelodeon vault, including "B-Movie", inspired by the days of drive-in movies and stylish horror films; "Sketch Bob", which gives the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom a freehand style look; "Simply Bob", a stylized and abstract interpretation of life under the sea; and many others. The 3DS version was originally announced in late March 2011.


Reception

''SpongeBob SquigglePants'' received "mixed or average reviews" according to
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
. Christopher Healy reviewed it for ''
Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.
'', giving the game four out of five stars. Healy warned parents about the cartoon violence in few of the mini-games but praised the game for its ease of play and messages about art. In a review for ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
'' on April 25, 2011, Jinny Gudmundsen awarded the game three out of four stars and said that the game was worthwhile because of its novel gameplay. In Atomic Gamer's review on May 10, 2011, it was awarded an overall score of six out of ten and said "''SpongeBob SquigglePants''" is a great game to showcase this device, especially with the huge number of ways it uses the tablet and even pokes fun at other, more "mature" video games now and then. It won't be terribly engaging for an adult, but this is a fantastic gift for a little SpongeBob fan." In contrast, ''Cheat Code Central'' gave a score of 2.9 out of five and criticizing the game's repetitive music and average play value, stating "this mini-game doesn't work at all, most of the games in ''SpongeBob SquigglePants'' at least work, but the trouble is that the controls just aren't that intuitive." Dave Rudden of GamePro gave the 3DS version 3 stars, stating "THQ and Wayforward Technologies both deserve some credit for making a game that feels as close to a first-party effort as anything seen on the 3DS yet, as ''SpongeBob SquigglePants'' is the closest any game has ever come to matching the ''WarioWare'' formula. Unfortunately, the game's lack of new ideas, content, and worthwhile 3D effects sap any value out of this sponge."Rudden, Dav
Spongebob Squigglepants (DS) review on Gamepro
May 20, 2011 14:50 PM PT


See also

* List of ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' merchandise


References

{{SpongeBob SquarePants video games 2011 video games Action video games Wii games Nintendo 3DS games SpongeBob SquarePants video games THQ games Video games scored by Jake Kaufman WayForward games Single-player video games Video games developed in the United States