"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea but isn't coming to E3?" reads the message from THQ Nordic announcing SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated. The publisher has partnered with Nickelodeon to bring back one of the early 2000's most popular license games, remade from the ground up. Developer Purple Lamp isn't settling for just  a remake, however, as its also confirmed that an all-new multiplayer mode will be added in SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, for those who have never played the original, is an action adventure game with a lot of 3D platforming. Players collect three main types of items to use as currency, with Golden Spatulas unlocking new areas, Patrick's Socks which grant new Spatulas, and Shiny Objects to use as a basic currency. While exploring the world of SpongeBob and collecting its currencies, players will also battle through a variety of jellyfish and other sea creatures.

Unfortunately for excited SpongeBob fans, THQ Nordic isn't quite ready to fully unveil SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated. The announcement was made with only a short teaser video to accompany it. The teaser just briefly shows SpongeBob and otherwise offers no gameplay. However, if the teaser is representative of the visuals of the remake then that's an impressive leap forward. The original game was released for PS2, Xbox, and the GameCube, after all.

At the time of its release, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom received middling reviews. Nevertheless, its legacy has been significant given SpongeBob SquarePants' place in so many children's lives. 15 years after the game's 2003 release, many now older game players now look at Battle for Bikini Bottom in the same way older gamers might look at The Simpsons arcade game, DuckTales, or Aladdin.

The announcement of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated marks the first of three to be made this week from THQ Nordic. THQ Nordic revealed the series of announcements earlier this week, confirming one announcement a day on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Earlier leaks had people believing the three announcements were already known, being new Darksiders, Red Faction, and Destroy All Humans! announcements. Clearly, THQ Nordic has plenty more secrets left to share this E3.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated releases in 2020 on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.