SpongeBob SquarePants has enjoyed widespread success on Nickelodeon for over a half-decade. Its satirical humor, out-of-this-world scenarios, and innuendo-laden one-liners have made it an instant classic to viewers of all ages. For the past few years, video games based off this popular television series have abundantly been popping up on consoles and handhelds. Some of these releases were actually quality titles, believe or not, with my favorite being SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom in 2003. When I first heard of Creature from the Krusty Krab for the Nintendo DS, I was immediately anticipating its release.

Going into SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab, I was expecting a simplistic platformer with even more simplistic objectives. Both of these facets are indeed intact, but there remains one agonizing issue with the gameplay: the controls. In lieu of giving the player the option to either use the stylus or d-pad, gamers are forced to undergo an all-stylus control layout. And for the record, it ain’t pretty.

When controlling your character with the stylus, stroking left or right on the touch-screen will enable you to move. An upstroke will carry out a jump, and a downstroke stops your player in his tracks. This may appear simple enough, but sadly the formula doesn’t work in the least bit. One of the primary issues is how you’re continually moving throughout the level, hence why you have to down stroke to bring yourself to a halt. During platforming elements, this can be a real pain, especially when trying to maneuver up clouds or other precision-heavy positions. Another problem is the sheer slowness of the gameplay due to the inability to run, rather only gain speed down slopes. Why not let us double-tap forward to speed up? To be frank, I will never understand the reasoning behind this decision

Playable characters include SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star, and Plankton. Levels place your prearranged character in a dream state where you will have to complete barebones objectives, mainly consisting of collecting items, to progress. There are mildly amusing flying stages, but they represent such a small portion of the game they’re not even worth talking about.

Enemies (and foliage) are not killed in Creature from the Krusty Krab, but instead tapped, sliced and bopped away. However, if you come into contact with a jellyfish, you must blow on the microphone of the DS to shoo it away from invading your dream.

The musical score is a major strongpoint, with a mostly upbeat and uncanny soundtrack. However, concerning audio in general, there are only a few lines of dialogue spoken by the characters. Additionally, the actor voicing SpongeBob SquarePants sounds completely off, making me wonder if it’s even the real voice from the show.

Visually, the 2D worlds are nothing to write home about and their landscapes come across fairly generic. The animations are fluent, though, and the cutscenes between levels are a nice touch, but at the same time could use a little more pizzazz. Overall, Creature from the Krusty Krab is purely mediocre in the graphics department.

Out of all the SpongeBob SquarePants games I’ve played, this is without question the worst of the bunch. The premise showed a ton of potential, but alas, the control scheme is a complete and total mess. Add in mundane gameplay and mediocre presentation, and you’re looking at a rental at the absolute best.          

Gameplay: 5.4
If the developers would’ve implemented an option to use the d-pad and face buttons, I’d have an entirely different outlook on this game. As it stands, the controls put a damper on any good Creature from the Krusty Krab may have offered.

Graphics: 6.6
The visuals are something you’d expect out of an attractive-looking GBA title. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sound: 7.2
A good soundtrack, but gamers will be left hoping for more dialogue. Sound effects are so-so.

Difficulty: Medium
Those in the target audience will probably get frustrated – and even if you’re above the age of 10, you’ll most likely have a hard time adjusting to the awkward control layout.

Concept: 5.5
There’s absolutely nothing innovative about Creature from the Krusty Krab. All-stylus games have been done before on the DS, and done much better.

Overall: 5.3
Creature from the Krusty Krab will prove to be a stale patty even to hardcore SpongeBob fans.