SpongeBob SquarePants Employee of the Month Review

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            SpongeBob SquarePants Employee of the Month

Review by JenJanuary 2003

Who Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea?

I was browsing through my local EB the other day and saw SpongeBob SquarePants Employee of the Month. I picked it up, expecting it to be just another package of minigames with no übergame like so many TV cartoon-to-game adaptations seem to be. But as I perused the back of the box, I saw no mention of “zany levels” or “wacky races” but rather words like “gather clues” and “map SpongeBob’s quest.”  “Hmm,” I thought to myself, with fond memories of the Rugrats Adventure Game dancing around in my head, and I took a chance and plunked down the $30 to buy it.

So … yes, indeedy, boys and girls, it is in fact an adventure game … but it’s kid stuff. Now it just so happens that I love the cartoon SpongeBob, which appears on the cable channel Nickelodeon.  I watch it alongside my kids on a regular basis, often enough that I’d think it safe to say I’ve seen every episode at least once. The game is pretty true to the TV show in terms of humor and presentation, even down to employing the same TV voice actors for the game’s main characters.

Absorbent and Yellow and Porous Is He

However, the game’s animation is markedly different than the show’s. I don’t know the right terminology, but the show is just your standard, run-of-the-mill medium-grade 2D cartoon animation, two or three steps below the efforts of Disney or Don Bluth but about 20 steps above, for instance, a Pokemon episode.  The game retains the exact same style of scenery, probably even drawn by the same artist(s), but the characters and some other objects are 3D superimposed on these 2D backgrounds. Which is fine. But weird. In the cutscenes, however, the characters appear to have been rather hastily drawn by someone new to computer animation.  The lines are choppy and sloppy, and these scenes are far below the quality of the TV SpongeBob cartoons, visually speaking.

No matter, though, Employee of the Month is still a lot better than I had expected. Gameplay is standard point-and-click, third-person inventory puzzles. The game plays out over the course of four chapters, and each chapter takes place in its own little world—there is no traversing back and forth between them.  Each chapter has four or five locations that are unlocked on a map as you uncover the necessary information.

If Nautical Nonsense Be Something You Wish

Basically, you talk to a character to find out what he/she wants in exchange for the item you want, then you go to another location and get that item, then you carry the new item to a different character, until you have satisfied everyone and move on to the next chapter. Instead of 20 or 30 steps a la Monkey Island, though, at most you will be faced with two or three steps for any given puzzle.

Employee of the Month is not at all a difficult game, which is to be expected given that it is aimed at kids. But I don’t think it would even be overly challenging for your average eight-year-old. The only other Nickelodeon cartoon-based game I’ve played is the Rugrats Adventure Game, and although it was no Schizm that one gave this adult adventurer a run for her money in terms of brain-busting puzzles. I wish this SpongeBob game had been of that caliber; the Rugrats game was such that playing it could be enjoyed by both kids and their parents. Not so with Employee of the Month—I didn’t even get a little bit stuck, not once, ever.

This is not to say I didn’t enjoy it—I did—but I think only because I am a fan of the show. If you don’t like SpongeBob, you will not like this game. And if you’ve never heard of SpongeBob, you probably won’t appreciate this game’s charming weirdness that requires some degree of familiarity with the show’s overarching premise, the life of a fry cook in a small-town undersea world that eerily mirrors its overland counterparts.

Then Drop on the Deck and Flop Like a Fish

Most of the show’s recurring characters put in an appearance in the game: Plankton, Patrick, Sandy Cheeks, Mr. Krabs, and of course Squidward, among others. Plus there are several new characters that were fun to see. And thank God there was no Patchy the Pirate outside of the opening sequence! I just loathe Patchy the Pirate!

Anyway, I do recommend Employee of the Month to parents who are hoping to mold their children into future adventure gamers and, of course, to the SpongeBob aficionado of any age, but I don’t think it’s quite worth the $30 that I paid—it only lasts about four hours maximum and it has zero replayability.  Wait for it to hit the ol’ bargain bin and then have at it! The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Awe Games Publisher: THQ Release Date: September 2002

Available for: Windows

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Screenshots

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System Requirements

Windows 98/ME/XP (I played under Win2K with no problems) 200 MHz (400 MHz recommended) 32 MB RAM (64 MB recommended) 4 MB video card (8 MB 3D accelerator recommended) 8X CD-ROM drive 16-bit Soundblaster-compatible sound card 500 MB free hard disk space

Where to Find It

Gogamer 19.90

Prices/links current as of 12/28/02Links provided for informational purposes only.  FFC makes no warranty with regard to any transaction entered into by any party(ies).

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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