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> Results: SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants!
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You play as SpongeBob in this point and click adventure game based on the Nickelodeon cartoon, trying to save the filming of an episode of "The New Adventures Of Mermaidman and Barnacleboy" after the entire population of the casting call goes missing.
When you start, you are given the choice of playing the main adventure or playing one of four mini-games. The mini-games consist of a checkers game, a simple "Jelly fish Roundup" game that is difficult to control, "Freezem" which is a slightly more sophisticated homage to Atari 2600 Kaboom, and "It's a Drag", a vertical scrolling Dodge 'Em game with SpongeBob on water ski's. All these games have the look of the TV show, but the irreverent feel is missing. Better SpongeBob action games are available for free on the internet. It's good then, that these mini-games are not the heart of SpongeBob: Lights, Camera, Pants. Instead, you will find a nice little adventure waiting within the main game. You start a new main game as SpongeBob, on your way to audition for "The New Adventures of Mermaidman and Barancleboy". You soon find out that the show has been cancelled and you must try to locate all the supporting actors so it can be revived. Like most point-and-click adventure games of this type, you use the mouse to rollover and click hot spots to activate the game and keep the story moving.  When you find a hot spot, a message at the bottom of the screen will tell you what action SpongeBob will take if you click there (i.e. "Talk To Receptionist", "Open Door", etc.). After watching a few introductory sequences, you are thrust into the main task of the game: collecting people for the cast of the show, collecting props, and playing mini-games. You collect cast members by playing mini-games. You find yourself watching a lot of this game. Long sequences of exposition unravel as you wait for something to do. The game is more like a Choose Your Own Adventure book with a few mini-games thrown in for good measure. You talk to people by clicking on them, choose from some dialogue choices, and then click around again to see what has changed. If a mini-game has been unlocked you know that you have really made some progress. The game play is simple and straight forward but bland, and very easy. I must confess, I'm not a huge fan of SpongeBob Square Pants, but from what I have seen, the show thrives on its Gen-X sense of irony to move the episodes along. The main problem with this game is that the sensibility from the show is not entirely present. The 3D rendered graphics (mixed with 2D) look nice and the voice acting is serviceable. The game attempts many inside jokes (including a swipe at producers early in the game that had me chuckling at bit) but more are of the "crack a smile "variety, rather than the "roll on the floor" kind. Installation is quick and painless unless you think that using 700 MB of hard drive space for SpongeBob isn't worth the sacrifice. The game is DirectX 9.0c compatible, and includes the installation on the disc if you require it.  The game options consist of simple volume controls for music and sound effects, captions on/off and a high/low graphic detail option. There are no options to configure controls whatsoever. Mouse control is the only available option. This should clue you in to what this title has in store as far as game play is concerned. I did not want to like this game. Even though the game is easy and obviously aimed at kids, I found it easy to digest. There is very little challenge here, but for some reason, I was charmed by the world of SpongeBob. I wanted to see what happened next, and help SpongeBob succeed. While this is by no means a great game, it did manage to win me over. When the game tries to match the tone of the TV show, it falls just short of success. However, it does succeed at being a slightly amusing adventure game. While it's linear, and slow at times, the game is a good beginning adventure for parents to play with their young kids, or for slightly older kids to play alone. 
Younger kids will probably enjoy playing this game through to its conclusion. They will enjoy the animated sequences, and when they get to interact, the game moves along pretty quickly. It's easy for kids to learn and the mini-games aren't too challenging. For kids who have been begging to play PC games, but are not ready for the relatively more difficult games like the Harry Potter series, this could be a good place to start. For older kids who desire more challenge and depth in their games, there is too little here to keep their attention.
This review edited by Dave Long Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! |
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