Historically, licensed games and in particular licensed platformers have not tended to be of the finest quality. Leaning a little too heavily on the characters, and not enough on well-implemented play or compelling level design, I think people’s expectations for them have been worn down by too many disappointments. The thing is, when you instead get one that’s well-utilized, featuring gameplay that compliments the property in question rather than falling asleep in the hopes that it will take the wheel, that can make for quite a bit of fun. Given the kid-friendly nature of SpongeBob SquarePants and his friends, that makes Titans of the Tide all the more of a pleasant surprise.

What first works pretty well is that for the most part the story, its transitions, and the general feel of the game all lend themselves to making this feel like you’re playing through the show itself. That means you’ll run into plenty of characters, some silly dialogue and antics, and even the odd well-themed mini game every once in a while for a little variety. Alternating between controlling SpongeBob and Patrick is effortless, and while they have some common core moves for getting through combat and general platforming, each of them also have special skills that will have you switching between them often. Whether that’s using SpongeBob’s karate kick to cross some pretty large gaps to hit a target, or burrowing under the ground as Patrick, and more, the game does plenty to keep you looking for new opportunities to get around and find more areas to explore and stuff to collect.

In terms of downsides, outside of some periodic hitches and glitches, the game performs well, but also isn’t perfect by any means. Mechanically the controls do generally work well, but for less seasoned gamers the need to quickly transition between characters in some spots may be a stumbling block. On the flipside of that issue is that veteran gamers will likely find it all to be a bit tame, though given the license and rating, the game is obviously geared more towards younger or more casual players. I will say that though I appreciate how large the stages tend to be, they can also take quite some time to complete, so people who are looking for something to enjoy in bursts may worry about losing progress when they need to take a break while still feeling stuck in the middle of things. Overall, it’s absolutely a good time when you take into account its target audience, but even if you just enjoy mascot platformers there’s fun to be had here.