Sponge Bob Square Pants - Xbox review

10 November 2003 16:31 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Any one with young kids will know Sponge Bob Square Pants is big stuff at the moment in the world of under 5's. It was only a matter of time therefore that the sponge that lives under water was going to make it to the world of videogames.

The game, a 3D platform styled affair is very much aimed at children and similar in vein to the Toe Jam and Earl venture by Microsoft. Like Toe Jam and Earl you get three characters to play with: Sponge Bob, Patricj and Sandy Cheeks. All have there own moves and the game sees you using those strengths to fight off the evil Plankton and his plot to take over the world and therefore the fate of Bikini Bottom (that's Sponge Bob's home for the over 5's among us).

As you would expect all the characters from the cartoon series are here all keen to help or hinder and with 16 levels this is sure to keep the little ones happy.

Verdict

However to anyone over 6 this game will soon bore. Like Toe Jam and Earl, it suffers from being yet another platform game where you have to collect tokens, free troubled spirits and stop the bad guy destroying the world. Too many of these games at once is also the sign of a fading format, which happened with the Mega Drive, so here's hoping history doesn't repeat itself with Xbox.