Mitchell Van Morgan & SpongeBob SquarePants

North American cover artwork with the RP rating.

### Release date(s)

**Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows PC & Steam PC*** WW=December 3rd, 2020
* INT=December 12th, 2020

**iOS, Android & Google Stadia**

* WW=March 14th, 2021
* INT=April 3rd, 2021

### Rating(s)

* ESRB (Beta)=RP
* ESRB (Official)=E 10+
* CERO=A
* PEGI=3
* OLGL=G
* USK=0

### Platform(s)

Nintendo Switch
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Microsoft Windows PC
Steam PC
Google Stadia
iOS
Android

### Requirements

Windows 10

***Mitchell Van Morgan & SpongeBob SquarePants***,Known in Japan as ***Mitchell & SpongeBob RPG MIX*** (ミッチェル＆スポンジボブRPGミックス, *Mitcheru& suponjibobu RPG mikkusu*?) known in Europe and Australia as ***Mitchell & SpongeBob***, is a role-playing video game developed by Gunfire Games, LLC, published by THQ Nordic and distributed by Nickelodeon Interactive Games for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows PC (Steam PC). The iOS and the Android versions of the game is developed by HandyGames, published & distributed by Nickelodeon. The Google Stadia port of the game iteslf has the same gameplay as it's handheld mobile & home console versions of the game with cloud-gaming ideas and technology will be released on Spring 2021. The game itself serves as a crossover between *SpongeBob SquarePants* and *Mitchell Van Morgan*. It will be released internationally sometime in Winter 2020, and in North America the on the same month. This crossover takes place after the events of *SpongeBob: Battle for Bikini Bottom-Rehydrated* and *Mitchell Van Morgan: Battle for Raleighopolis*.

## Gameplay

The gameplay for *Nickelodeon's Mitchell & SpongeBob* is mostly based on Nintendo's Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam video game. The story of *Mitchell & SpongeBob* crosses together the universe series of *Mitchell Van Morgan* and *SpongeBob SquarePants*, the aftermath of *SpongeBob: Battle for Bikini Bottom-Rehydrated* and *Mitchell Van Morgan: Battle for Raleighopolis* (and right after the SpongeBob season 12 episode *"Escape from Glove World"* and finally *Mitchell Van Morgan 11: Episode 2*), resulting in the underwater bikini bottom residents of one universe meeting their on-land anime-based human counterparts from the other one. As such, players control a team consisting of Mitchell, Gavin, SpongeBob and Patrick Star. In addition to the moves Mitchell and Gavin can perform in their series, SpongeBob can use his Spongey body to perform his own actions, such as squeezing through tight gaps or turning into a spongey airplane in battle to help Mitchell, Gavin & Patrick. Like previous games, battles incorporate various mechanics, such as timing attacks or using "Mitchell & Gavin Attacks". During battle, SpongeBob can make copies of himself, allowing him to deal extra damage or attack multiple enemies at once, as well as use special techniques called "Quartet Attacks" that involve him with his buddy Patrick, Mitchell, and Gavin to attack together. There are also sections where players control giant papercraft versions of Mitchell, Gavin, Carolyn and SpongeBob to fight other papercraft enemies.

## Plot

While Gavin is attempting to fix a hole in his Laboratory, Gavin trips himself and Gavie saw something strange is going on at the pacific coast by watching the Orange County News on monitor. Later, a strange mysterious light glowing in the pacific ocean containing the SpongeBob SquarePants world, causing the Bikini bottom residents within it to spread across the city of Raleighopolis. Afterwards, Doctor Marquessa combines his evil Marquessanik robot army with that of SpongeBob's arch-nemesis, Sheldon D. Plankton, and they kidnap Carolyn and Sandy Cheeks. Mitchell & Gavin must now team up with SpongeBob & Patrick to set everything right, defeat both Doctor Marquessa & Plankton, and bring all the SpongeBob fish people back into SpongeBob's Bikini Bottom world.

During their journey, the quartet learns several new moves and attacks to assist them in battles. Battle cards replace the badges from the previous games in the series. The quartet makes their way through locations such as Bermuda Plains, Jockey's Ridge Dunes, The Outer Bank Tropics, Deep Dark Woods, and Mount Mitchell to reach Marquessa's Castle, where the heroines Carolyn & Sandy are being held captive. After the quartet rescues the princesses, Marquessa and Plankton send their castle high in the sky while banishing the quartet to a now-destroyed city of Raleighoplis. The trio traverses Bermuda Plains (now with bikini bottom terrain scattered across it to hinder their progress), Deep Dark Woods, and Mount Mitchell to access Neo Marquessa Castle. After fighting their way through the castle, the quartet starts down a long corridor where the evil duo of plankton & Marquessa sends all their minions to stop them, to no avail. The quartet then defeats the Marquessa duo once and for all, sending Plankton back in the Bikini Bottom before embarking on a victory parade where they banish the rest of the plankton's minions. SpongeBob, Patrick, and the Bikini Bottom residents return to their world before Marquessa suddenly attacks the city of Raleighopolis, sending Mitchell and Gavin to stop him once again.

## Development

During their journey, the quartet learns several new moves and attacks to assist them in battles. Battle cards replace the badges from the previous games in the series. The quartet
(The Development of the game took some time for their districts the videogames primarily used two buttons, but the developers wanted to break new ground by making a third and fourth buttons active in combat. Characters were brainstormed until the developers thought of a second Mitchell, where the character of SpongeBob would fit the third character role neatly and Patrick star as the fourth character role. This implementation has then turn the idea of a crossover. According to one of the game's director, RaeQuon Tunstall, the trickiest thing to implement in a crossover was to make Mitchell & SpongeBob stand out.

Though the first draft of the story involved the characters going back and forth between the on-land city of Raleighopolis and the underwater city of Bikini Bottom with many twists to the narrative, the developers thought it was too complex and that no one will enjoy it, so that it was rewritten many times to be simplified, where greater emphasis was placed on the character interactions between each other.

## Trivia

* This is the fifth *Mitchell* game to feature a crossover of two different *Nickelodeon* franchises.
* This game is considered a combination of *SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom* and *Mitchell & Gavin videogames.*
* This game has achieved several milestones:
	+ This is the first time that *SpongeBob SquarePants* crosses over with it's sibling franchise Mitchell Van Morgan.
	+ This is the third Mitcell crossover game, where two main villains from different Nickelodeon franchises from the SpongeBob & Mitchell franchises appear in the same game.
	+ This is the second time in a Mitchell RPG videogame where four characters are playable (as Mitchell, Gavin, SpongeBob and Patrick Star). The first was in *Mitchell Chronicles: The Constant Payne Drive* (as Mitchell, Gavin, Martin and David).
	+ This is the twentieth *Mitchell* RPG.
* This is the first RPG in the *Mitchell* series to feature save points where they can save whenever he or she wants to.
* During the point at Gloomy Woods of NC, where King Spook kidnapped the Mitchell, SpongeBob & Patrick, While Gavin is left in a scared state. This first happened in *Mitchell & Gavin: Superstar Saga* where Gavin was too afraid to go to Guffawha Ruins, due to being told there is a monster there.
* Thage breaks the fourth wall by saying Gavin had a whole year dedicated to him (the Year of Gavin) and mentioning that they are in a RPG.
* This is the first Mitchell RPG crossover videogame where the first fight in the game isn't against a boss. Although it is a tutorial battle, it's against a couple of Marquessaniks and Plankton's robot pawns from SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom.
* This is the first Mitchell RPG crossover videogame where the entire plot doesn't revolve around collecting certain key items.

## References

1. ↑ Nickelodeon Transforms two of their Iconic Series to Give Players Unique Gaming Experiences (June 17, 2020). Retrieved on 22 June 2020.
2. ↑ Good, Owen S. (June 16, 2015). The next Mitchell & SpongeBob RPG is Mitchell Van Morgan & SpongeBob SquarePants for Consoles, PC and Mobile. *Polygon*. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 16, 2015. Retrieved on June 16, 2020.

 ***Mitchell Van Morgan* role-playing video games**

 Other Role-playing games | *Mitchell Van Morgan RPG: The Legend of the Seven Power Stones* (2000, multi-platform) • *Mitchell Van Morgan: The Brotherhood Of Redheads* (2008, multi-platform) • *Mitchell & Zoey* (2012, multi-platform) • *Mitchell RPG Maker* (*Mitchell RPG Maker* (2012, multi-platform) • *Mitchell RPG Maker 2* (2019, multi-platform)) • ***Mitchell Van Morgan & SpongeBob SquarePants*** (2020, multi-platform) • *Mitchell Van Morgan: The Brotherhood Of Redheads HD* (2020, multi-platform)