Given the original game's cult following and large speed-running presence, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated seems like a no-brainer. It sounds even more promising on paper, as this remaster even includes an all new multiplayer mode and content cut from the first game, and was heavily requested by fans. These requests were answered with the game's announcement at E3 2019, but the game itself is less than an answer and more of an appeasement.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated features a complete graphical overhaul from the first game, and this is what the game does best. There's no denying the game looks good; the first game is notably dull, dark, and can be off-putting to some as a result. This remaster brings the game to life in true SpongeBob fashion, with light-hearted touches, an overall warm feeling, and a tendency for the absurd. Side by side, there's almost no comparing the two because of how much better it looks now.

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As players go through the game as either SpongeBob, Patrick, or Sandy (with the latter to much less of a degree), there's plenty of eye-catching details not just in the graphics but the level design as a whole. Locations like Goo Lagoon, Downtown Bikini Bottom, and the Kelp Forest maintain their original aesthetics but are brought to life in ways the original just couldn't. That said, one location takes a bit of a hit: the Flying Dutchman's Graveyard. In the 2003 version, this area was particularly creepy because of the graphics, and this overhaul loses some of that nuance. It instead becomes as flamboyant as the rest of the game. Herein lies the greater complications of SpongeBob SquarePants' latest outing: instead of bringing 2003 to 2020, the game takes 2020 to 2003.

At its core, much of the game feels untouched. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated is a simple collect-a-thon, with players being tasked to collect Golden Spatulas, Patrick's Socks, Shiny Objects, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's crystals, Ship Wheels, and so much more in each area. And while each area is visually distinct, there's an easily discernible pattern in the way each presents the collection of these items.

The various boss battles found in SpongeBob SquarePants feel uninspired and untouched, with bosses big and small following a simple dodge and hit pattern. Battle for Bikini Bottom's core gameplay loop of jump, hit, dodge, and collect remains the same, but that's not the real criticism here. Instead of genuinely revamping the game, making something from 2003 feel like it belongs in 2020, Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated slaps a fresh coat of paint on the original and calls it a remaster. By definition, it does this with the graphics—it's never going to change the core gameplay—but its attention doesn't really go elsewhere.

For example, there is no new voice acting in Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated. With exceptions of previously cut content, everything is word for word and sound for sound. The issues of Mr. Krabs' voice stay the same, which many could expect, but the audio lines actually feel like a step backward from the original 2003 version. When picking up collectibles like Underwear in the original, there was a simple audio cue of a whistle; now, there's one, maybe two, audio lines for each of the playable characters. As players may need to pick up a lot of underwear in some areas (or even if not), hearing the same exact line/joke from SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy about underwear over and over again is a detracting experience.

It doesn't stop there, either, as the audio seems incredibly lackluster. Several times throughout our playthrough, there were various audio issues including a few times where the entire game sounds like it was a scraping disc. The only solution was to leave the area behind, but given that many of the levels including returning to the same spot, that isn't as easy done as said sometimes. Compound this with the non-game breaking but semi-occurring glitches like getting stuck or clipping through an item, and it took away from the Battle for Bikini Bottom's fun factor tremendously.

Another area where the fun factor dipped is one of the game's biggest selling points: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated's multiplayer. The game promises gameplay variety with new playable characters, ranging from Gary to Robo Plankton, but that is a very, very loose definition of variety. The animations for each character are different, but there's no discernible difference from playing one character to another.

mecha squidward boss

This, again, is worsened by the multiplayer design. It's a horde mode where players travel from island to island beating wave after wave to defeat the multiplayer's boss, despite never actually fighting the multiplayer's boss (and there's only one). And while there's something occasionally interesting like an island made of ice cream and onions or the defeated remains of a boss from Battle from Bikini Bottom's main campaign, that's it. The rest of the islands are generic islands or metal platforms, and that's the entire mode. It doesn't change from playthrough to playthrough and is an experience that, at best, adds nothing to Battle for Bikini Bottom. At worst, it's a drab experience that takes away from the game.

In short, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated is anything but "Rehydrated." Nostalgic fans may want to check it out and may have a moment or two, but otherwise, most will find that it falls short compared to the giant that is the 2003 version. Fans who want to re-experience the game and can deal with the lackluster graphics may instead want to play the 2003 version. As wild as it sounds, 2003's SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom may just be the superior version.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated releases June 23 on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Game Rant was provided an Xbox One code for the purposes of this review.

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