SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game Review

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game reviewed by Sarah Thwaites on PC, also available on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game is obviously geared more towards kids than those of us who grew up loving SpongeBob, but so are things like Astro Bot and Super Mario Wonder, and those games are brilliant. By contrast, the lack of exciting puzzle solutions or meaningful challenges offered across this six-hour adventure is bad enough that it feels like an underestimation of that audience. Propped up by the iconic and playful world of Bikini Bottom, it makes a strong first impression that quickly wears thin. Its physics-heavy sandbox can briefly be a joy to explore if you’re a fan of the TV series, however the slew of monotonous minigames and host of on-loop conversations within it fail to fully capture that show's spirit. Without an engaging goal or overarching story to latch onto, the end result is a repetitive and uninventive adventure that does a disservice to Patrick’s protagonist potential.