SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game [PlayStation 5] | REVIEW

I enjoyed watching SpongeBob SquarePants when I was younger, and now, as an adult (and a parent), I get to enjoy watching it with my little one too. She’s also just found her way into gaming, which makes the launch of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game feel particularly special to me. Don’t get me wrong, the game is far from perfect, but from the perspective of a five-year-old? It’s wonderful.

Check out some screenshots down below:

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game isn’t really a story-driven experience, with players simply stepping into the… uh… flowery lime green shorts of the titular Patrick Star as he goes on a zany escapade across Bikini Bottom. There is no clear objective to complete here that necessarily sees you progress through the adventure, but rather a myriad of silly tasks that focus on having a good time.

There’s a lot of fun to be had completing these tasks too, with most taking the form of mini-games that help add variety to the experience. Players get to work an Overcooked-style shift in the Krusty Krab, blast coconuts to destroy targets, use a pressure washer to clean up the landmarks of Bikini Bottom, race using the boatmobile, and complete sky diving challenges, just to name a few mini-games, with SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game certainly keeping players busy with its quirky yet enjoyable tasks.  

What complements these are the feats, which essentially act as challenges for players to complete. Sometimes, completing a feat might simply require you to complete a mini-game or earn a specific score on them, but other times they require the player to be more inventive or interact with the world in unusual ways. Feats like climbing to the top of Squidward’s house, throwing a basketball in a hoop, or taking treasure chests to Plankton will probably come naturally, but some will require players to look at the feat menu to see what they need to do. It adds a satisfying sense of progress to the game that gives more objective-driven players something to work towards – and hey, they earn you sand dollars too, which can be spent to unlock new outfits for Patrick.

“SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game offers a silly sandbox to explore that’s packed with fun mini-games and challenges to complete.”

Of course, a lot of players will probably have fun simply navigating Bikini Bottom, with it offering an open sandbox for players where they’ll be able to cause hijinks, search for collectibles, or interact with the familiar faces that are wandering around. Patrick is fairly nimble as far as platforming goes, whilst he can even fall asleep and be rolled around in a surprisingly effective (though often destructive) manner. A lot of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game’s charm comes with the physics driven-nature of its world and how it can often respond in an unpredictable manner, so believe me, there’s plenty of room for silly experimentation when navigating it as Patrick. It’s kind of like Goat Simulator in a way, but a little bit tamer.

That’s probably because SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game is aimed at kids, with the simplistic yet accessible nature of its gameplay loop making it ideal for youngsters who are new to gaming. My little one had a ton of fun simply rolling around as Patrick and causing trouble for everyone who got in her path, though the mini-games were all simple enough for her to enjoy too. But most of all? She just liked getting to explore Bikini Bottom without the stress of enemies or fail states holding her back. She was free to be creative and have fun whilst working out what EXACTLY she could do in the world, and when this often resulted in her completing some feats along the way, it made for a delightful little experience that kept a big smile on her face.

If you’re playing as an adult, though? Well, it’s easy to see the charm of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game, but it’ll be a short-lived experience that you’ll easily be done with in around two-hours (and that’s even after digging out most of the hidden collectible jars of mayo too). You’ll probably notice that the visuals can be a little rough around the edges too, whilst there’ll also be times where the physics act erratically and will see objects go out of control. I also encountered one or two bugs where I got stuck in the environment, whilst I had to reset the game at one point because a feat seemed to glitch out. Don’t get me wrong, there aren’t any issues that make it a bad or broken game by any stretch of the imagination, but these are the sort of things that older players are more likely to notice. And let’s be honest, there are still PLENTY of older SpongeBob SquarePants fans who are going to be playing this game…

Check out some screenshots down below:

Still, I’d be lying if I said didn’t have fun playing SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game, whilst it’s the first game in a while that has distracted my little one from playing Astro Bot, so it’s clear that it’s doing something right to appeal to younger players!

Developer: PHL Collective
Publisher: Outright Games
Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
Website: https://outrightgames.com/games/spongebob-squarepants-the-patrick-star-game/