SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated is a game for fans of the show. The game doesn't do anything groundbreaking but it still holds up today. With the presentation overshadowing many of the mediocre elements. The updated visuals and animations are truly amazing, showing how far games have come since 2003. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated isn't a ground-break or distinguished title. It is a fun and funny adventure that will leave you smiling.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated may be the same game from 2003, albeit wrapped up in a pretty package with some extra, slightly frivolous bells, but it’s delightfully nostalgic. It’s a solid execution on a game that has only grown with popularity since its release. For those ‘90s kids out there, it offers a moment of relaxation, a short break to slip back to a time that was a bit easier than now. Much like SpongeBob, I need it.

Republished on Wednesday 30th March 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of April 2022's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows.

Even with its many imperfections, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated ultimately succeeds as an attempt to spruce up a 17-year old game. It doesn’t stand alongside the 3D platforming greats, but it’s a fantastic, humour-filled tribute to a beloved show. People less familiar with the yellow sea sponge’s exploits will find it harder to overlook the creaky, PlayStation 2-era quirks. It looks better, but that doesn’t mean it plays better than it did 17 years ago.

Whether you have nostalgia for the original or not, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated is a genuinely worthwhile game to pick up in 2020 and enjoy. It offers enough to do to warrant the price tag and is certainly a step-up in terms of presentation compared to the original. While it doesn’t offer much new, what it does offer is a great looking, smooth playing action-platformer from the tail-end of the Golden Age of Collectathons.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated hits you with nostalgia, but that's not enough to carry it forward in 2020.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated still feels like the classic version – for better and for worse. The voice actors for SpongeBob, Patrick, Sandy, Mrs. Puff and more help to bring the game to life and, with its wonderful new graphics, Bikini Bottom has never looked better. Due to its issues, though, it isn’t likely to pull in a new wave of players. It barely managed to keep me invested – and I’ve been incredibly excited to get my hands on it. For those who played it as kids, it’s a joy to see it looking so shiny and new, but don’t go in expecting to get too much fun ...

Originally released 17 years ago, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated is a remaster of the classic 2003 licensed platformer, accurate to a fault. Perhaps “remaster” is an unfair term. Watching comparison videos, it’s clear that Rehydrated is a remake, with new character models, animations, and environments that better capture the spirit of the beloved TV show—but while many things were remade and improved, still more elements on the gameplay side were left the same, creating a pretty looking, yet dated adventure into a nostalgia-inducing cartoon franchise.

A clunky adventure that will only appeal to hardcore fans thanks to its antiquated gameplay and ho-hum additions.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated makes an argument that, if you’re going to remake something beloved, it’s not worth taking any half-measures. Rehydrated’s revisit of the iconic SpongeBob platformer often does just that. Rather than addressing any of the real issues with Battle for Bikini Bottom that could have been tweaked without ruining the spirit of the original, it leaves history intact at the cost of making this a better game – and its problems have only become more noticeable with age and increased competition. There are bright spots that remain fun almost tw...

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.

A nostalgia trip that nobody should pack their bags for.