SpongeBob SquarePants: Plankton's Robotic Revenge

"Well, this stinks."Sheldon J. Plankton 1999

***SpongeBob SquarePants: Plankton's Robotic Revenge*** is a video game based on the Nickelodeon animated series *SpongeBob SquarePants*. It was developed by Behaviour Interactive and was the first *SpongeBob* video game to be published by Activision. It was released in October 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox 360. It is the only *SpongeBob* video game to be released for the PlayStation 3 and Wii U, and also the last *SpongeBob* game to be released for the Wii and Nintendo DS.

## Why It Will Make You Want Revenge on the Game

1. Shallow and repetitive combat mechanics.
2. Bland level design.
3. There are only six different enemy types.
4. Enemies take far too many hits to kill.
5. If this game was released in October 2013, this game as well should have been released on the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 the next month on their launch dates of that year, and Microsoft Windows the same time as the other versions.
	* What's even worse is that releasing a 2013 video game for the Wii and the Nintendo DS is too late in their lifespans, as they were starting to die out of popularity.
6. Special moves make negligible differences to attack power.
7. Paper-thin story that is nothing but a rehash of *Battle for Bikini Bottom's* plot. What happens is that Plankton steals the Krabby Patty Secret Formula (again) while he makes robots attack Bikini Bottom, so SpongeBob and friends team up to ruin Plankton's evil scheme and get the formula back.
8. The Gizmos are this game's equivalent of the familiar co-op game weapons; the Pickle Blaster is a disguised assault rifle.
9. Gizmo upgrades mostly amount to increased damage.
10. Sprockets, currency needed to upgrade the Gizmos, is tied to each character, so if you collect some sprockets as SpongeBob and then switch to Patrick, you won't have the sprocket or any upgraded Gizmos.
11. The game throws extra lives at you, completely removing any sense of challenge.
12. Boss fights are repetitive and bland; all the bosses have the exact same AI with some new attacks here and there.
13. Co-op adds nothing to the experience; not even the amount of enemies changes.
14. Reviving allies is simple to the point where it basically eliminates any fear of dying.
15. The game rips off *Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One*.
16. The ending is too similar to *SpongeBob: Truth or Square.*
17. Behaviour Interactive never bothered releasing updates to add more enemies or anything to make the game less boring.
18. There is no online play unlike *Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One* (sure you had to pay $10, which is the same price as *Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One*, but at least it had online play).
19. **False advertising**: The game is advertised as a spiritual successor to *Battle for Bikini Bottom*, but it's an utterly different game.
	* On top of that, this game was released pretty close to the 10th anniversary of *Battle for Bikini Bottom*, which can very easily be considered **an insult to *Battle for Bikini Bottom's* legacy.**
20. The soundtrack is mostly hit or miss; some of it is original, while most of it, especially the opening and closing themes, is ripped right from the show.
21. Poor and cheap graphics that look like they could have been done for late sixth-generation games and/or early seventh-generation games.
	* The original DS version has frame rate issues. Even the other versions do not.
22. The original DS version has only one boss fight that is reused and the original DS version is shorter compared to the other versions (which still are short regardless).
23. Speaking of the DS version, it is a reskin of Hop.
24. Characters repeat the same voice clips often. Which can get very annoying fast.

## Redeeming Qualities

1. The voice acting is good, and the dialogue boxes even have the characters' emotions.
	* As a side note, this is the only *SpongeBob* video game to have the entire correct cast provide voices for the featured characters, as all others have at least one actor different. For example, instead of Clancy Brown voicing Mr. Krabs, he is voiced by Joe Whyte in *Battle for Bikini Bottom* and Bob Joles in *Truth or Square*.
2. Flawless hit detection.
3. Decent and fluent animation for the CG cutscenes.

## Reception

*Plankton's Robotic Revenge* received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, and generally negative by players. While criticism fell toward its slowly developed gameplay, the return of the original voice actors was praised.

Both *PlayStation Official Magazine* and *Official PlayStation Magazine* awarded the game a 5/10. *GamingBolt* rated the game a better score of 7/10.