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.

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.