SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide Review (Switch 2)

Developers Purple Lamp Studios are single-handedly keeping the dream alive for the continuing adventures of everyone's favourite sentient sponge.

2020’s Battle for Bikini Bottom: Rehydrated was a fine update to a cult classic and a huge success to boot. The studio followed up with a solid sequel in The Cosmic Shake, making good on the promise to continue the franchise.

We now have another adventure from that same template with Titans of the Tide, a familiar adventure that is fun for all ages and preserves the universal appeal of its source material.

The story is about as simple as an average episode of the show. King Neptune and the Flying Dutchman get into a seismic squabble in the Krusty Krab, and the denizens of Bikini Bottom end up caught in the crossfire. Undersea inhabitants are turned into slime-throwing spectres and Squidward has something else to complain about. SpongeBob and Patrick must team up to battle the Dutchman's army of monsters and save the day. How else is Mr Krabs going to turn a profit?

Although this title is not a huge leap from The Cosmic Shake, it is a clear step up from PHL Collective’s The Patrick Star Game. Where that title was more of a kiddy-friendly puzzler, this is an expansive collectathon platformer.

As a proud member of the multi-generational legion of SpongeBob fans, I always look forward to these. The presentation is flawless, Bikini Bottom and its inhabitants are lovingly rendered. Levels are full of NPCs, most of which have a quip to throw your way, and some have genuinely funny dialogue that’s worth discovering. It's fun to explore the levels (with the help of a handy surfboard), finding all the fish people tucked away in every corner.

Titans of the Tide lets you play as both SpongeBob and his dim starfish buddy. Through the magic of a BFF Ring, both characters are with you throughout the game. Each of them has a unique ability set that helps solve platforming and environmental puzzles across the levels.

You can swap between them with the push of a button, with the non-controlled character floating around as a ghost. This spectral companion acts as an objective guide and lights a path to the next goal within the generously sized environments.

Special abilities are fun to mix and match. SpongeBob utilise his karate experience, while Patrick can burrow underground and grapple with a spectral whip. Levels often encourage using this character-switching mechanic, and it is satisfying to swap between the two for traversal and combat.

Battling the spectral minions of the Flying Dutchman is a bit thin. You get simple melee combos and the occasional light environmental puzzle during boss encounters. Some enemies require the use of a newly discovered ability, although most encounters are little more than punch and move on.

Between quests, you'll head to the Floating Patty, a hub area where you can chat with NPCs and pick up side quests from the likes of Plankton and Sandy. There's a lot of content here, with a broad variety of locations and a ton of side content. Collecting everything doesn't have quite the same challenge as flagship 3D platformers, but what's here could easily fill a giant-sized Krabby Patty.

While not a graphical powerhouse, Titans of the Tide plays like a dream. Quality (30fps) and performance (60fps target) modes are both viable thanks to a motion smoothing slider. I always enjoy the stretchy animations and physics ripped straight out of the cartoon.

Audio is also great, with the cast of the show on hand to provide voice work; this alone will be worth the cost of admission for fans. It's worth noting that barely a second of gameplay goes by without a cheesy quip, dumb Patrick-ism, or signature laugh from Tom Kenny, so mileage may vary on your tolerance for that.

The only real gripe I have with Titans of the Tide is that it doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from the other two titles in Purple Lamp’s series revival. Aside from the ghostly enemies and ability switching mechanic, this game is no different from Battle for Bikini Bottom or Cosmic Shake. Even the in-game store, which contains a generous amount of skins for SpongeBob and Patrick, is basically the same as it was in the previous game. The format is reliable, but three games in and it's starting to creak.