While the Nintendo DS has been home to many SpongeBob games over the years, this latest outing attempts something a bit different. As fans of the show are well aware, SpongeBob is the greatest short-order fry cook this side of Bikini Bottom. Yet how often do we, as game players, actually get to test those skills firsthand? Not nearly often enough, right? SpongeBob vs. The Big One: Beach Party Cook-Off tosses players right into the middle of a cartoon culinary throwdown, complete with nauseating nautical-themed foods and perspiring plankton sous chefs.

The core gameplay mechanics are centered around a variety of kitchen techniques using the stylus and touch screen. Memory-based games require players to stack ingredients on a burger in the correct order, while reflex-based games will have players flipping patties and swooping basket strainers through deep fryers. Some, such as the circular flattening of dough (or meat) require little skill, while stirring and whisking viscous fluids at a steady speed can be a bit trickier. Either way, your abilities will improve rapidly as you complete each challenge, as will those of your plankton staff. There are a set number of dishes to prepare in each “shift”, giving players the chance to take a break and control the pace of a generally frantic gameplay experience.

Progress and experience in the game earns currency, which can be used to purchase new recipes (algae fritters, anyone?) and new decorations for the Krusty Krab restaurant. Increased skills for the plankton allows them to perform tasks with greater quality, which is a good thing, because players will be tasked with running from station to station wherever assistance is needed. This provides an interesting “short order cook” simulation, where honed techniques must be applied in a fast paced, somewhat chaotic environment. The contrived design of the “cooking techniques” can be easily overlooked – this is a cartoon cooking game, after all – but the choice of characters to serve as kitchen staff is questionable, at best. If you owned a restaurant, would you hire a clinically depressed cephalopod to work on your kitchen staff? Or hand a bunch of sharp knives over to a dim-witted starfish?

Running between stations performing these “technique” games has an element of undeniable fun, with variability in each one making the elements pleasantly unpredictable. Still, there are only a limited number of these tasks to perform and unlock, and this can make the game rather repetitive. The developers seem to have forgotten that repeating a task over and over, even at elevated speeds, does not make it more enjoyable for players. Going through each recipe in steps to produce a final result might have given some better context to each game, and given them a better sense of control over the quality of the final dish. The challenge mode offers this element of persistence, but it appears only sporadically. Quality brings in greater tips, and the game ultimately rewards players with that currency. Unfortunately, the game’s currency seems to suffer like that of so many other games; there just isn’t enough to do with the money awarded to you. Hiring a more competent kitchen staff would have been at the top of my priority list.

As expected for a SpongeBob game, this cook-off is full of vibrant color and distinctive artistic design. The characters themselves alternate between two dimensional forms to three dimensional figures, but they look great in both forms. Of particular note are the voice-overs, where all the cast of the show perform with full gusto. SpongeBob himself narrates much of the story as well as the tutorial, though some of his one-liners during gameplay can be a bit grating. He even ridicules the legal messages that display when the game first loads. The sound and music are also excellent, with the classic show theme music alternating instrumentals as the player passes from one menu type to another. There’s a fair amount of activities to keep players busy, but the multiplayer mode is surprisingly bland. All things considered, SpongeBob vs. The Big One should offer plenty of material to keep the kids entertained, with just enough depth of management to keep mainstream players coming back for more.

Gameplay: 8.0
Scrambling to perform kitchen techniques while managing an underwater restaurant. Doesn’t get much better than this.

Graphics: 8.0 
Pretty good for a DS game, with excellent use of color and detailed character animations.

Sound: 7.5
Nice music and effects, but it’s really all about SpongeBob’s lame jokes, right?

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Most of the challenges are straightforward, but things can get pretty intense as you progress.

Concept: 7.0 
Despite it being part of a franchise, this is really one of the more memorable titles on the DS.

Multiplayer: 7.0
Wireless play is available, though it doesn’t make the game much better.

Overall: 7.3
Simple gameplay is accessible, frantic and fun. There’s a bit of depth to it, but the overall repetitiveness puts a damper on the whole game.