This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
Atlantis Squarepantis, does that even sound exciting? It's a game made for one the most lackluster Spongebob specials and yet...this game does everything in its power to try and surpass it. I mean, its Atlantis Squarepantis! And this game attempts to turn it into an epic adventure by adding to the story. And the final result, it's somewhere in between the worst and best of the Spongebob video game line. It's the kind of game you play while you're waiting for food to be prepared. The game starts off in Bikini Bottom, I walk over to see Patrick and it sounds like someone is trying to break into his house! I swear there's a few creepy things about some these old DS game designs. When I was little I discovered a glitch in the first level where Spongebob and Patrick are trapped in some void after I quit the game and and came back. No wonder I was scared of playing through this game when I was little. As for the gameplay, I find it strange that Spongebob is beating the crap out of people with a bubble wand, seriously he swings it around like Link's Master Sword. I must say though the combat is the best thing about this game. Each character as a unique set of powerful fighting moves. And powerful combo attacks, like using Patrick as a throwing star. Its actually a pretty cool scene from the TV special. After collecting all of those annoying Atlantis coin fragments, we head the art museum and...oh wait, Spongebob and Patrick first have to battle a swarm of Ghost Jellyfish. Man these mini games are annoying, they're not the worst I've played, but they're as annoying as the songs from the special. Speaking of which, you need to use the power of song in order to power the bus & your combo attacks. And that means collecting Melody Shells, irritating that we have to pay in order to go back to Bikini Bottom just to check out the Jukebox and the Arcade. When are characters run out of songs we crash land into the best part of the game, the continent of Mu. In order for Squidward to power the bus with his Clarinet music, we need to gather some sheet music for him. So we head back to Bikini Bottom...or take are chances with the deadly ruins...OK. We need to get the Red & Blue Jewels in oder to unlock the temple that contains the legendary sheet music. The volcano and coral cave levels give the creators more freedom for level design, but it's strange how the developers are obsessed with Jellyfish even more than Spongebob. I mean, about every single enemy in this game is a recolored Jellyfish. Even the ghost ship is full of solely Jellyfish! The lava levels are really fun, carefully carrying your friends to safety, while Patrick makes a creeper face, and then escaping a storm of magma meteors that explode like grenades! It's pretty fun. After angering the Atlanteans, we have to go through some arena challenges and some of the most annoying puzzles in the game, most kids will reset the level in order to see if they missed anything important when stuck on a tough challenge. But you can't return to individual levels in this game, when you quit a level your resetting the whole world! There's plenty of check points in the game! Why can't I just warp to them? The enemies in this game are just OK, the bosses are pretty good for a Spongebob game. I say the last giant Atlantis Guard is the best boss in the game. He swallows the gear we need to activate are escape, so Spongebob and Patrick attempt to tickle him so he'll cough it out. And when I mean tickle, I mean beat the heck out of him. Afterword, Plankton appears, & Spongebob and Patrick ready their kill faces for the final battle.While I was trying to figure out what to do, the tank strangely self-destructs, and the ending cutscenes roll.Apparently I activated a glitch on accident and the final boss killed itself.I would replay the level, but I've already collected all of the hidden treasure and rather not go through an hour of frustrating timing challenges again.Especially that level where you have to carry battery to a laser cannon while getting shot by everything.I must say, the developers had some good ideas, but most of these levels are full of empty space and puzzle challenges that are almost as annoying as the ones in Sticker Star.And the mini games ruin any chance of actual enjoyment for this game. This game is a lot better than the episode though, because it has more creativity. But even though the developers have good ideas they were never fully executed into the game design. Strange can become brilliant if enough heart is put into it. It's just like the special, having the Spongebob explore Atlantis is a great idea, but its not meant to be a generic musical.It's should be a crazy adventureWith completion you can play the game at Invincible difficulty, somehow making you take no damage at all from enemies. Even with that I won't replay the levels.It's hard to get motivated to play this game, the developers tried...but they didn't try hard enough. It's a just OK handheld.… Expand