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Reviewed On: PlayStation 5 Pro
Also Available On: Nintendo Switch 2, PC, and Xbox Series X/S
Price: $39.99
Developer: Purple Lamp Studios
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Release Date: November 17, 2025
Please note: A review code was provided for this review, but it does not influence the opinions stated here in any way.
Sometimes there are games that are really bad based on popular IPs from television, while other times there are amazing ones. One of the IPs that, unfortunately, has had a mixture of both good and bad games is that of the fun-loving yellow sea sponge… SpongeBob SquarePants. One of the best games is Battle for Bikini Bottom, and it got a remake from Purple Lamp Studios a few years ago. Then Purple Lamp Studios created Cosmic Shake in 2023, and I gave the game an 8 in my review for it, but I definitely had hoped for it to be a bit better. Well, now comes a brand new adventure starring SpongeBob SquarePants and his best friend, Patrick Star, in Titans of the Tides. Was this game a great one or was it one of the lesser adventures from the famous Nickelodeon IP created by the late Stephen Hillenburg?
This game is actually a sequel to Cosmic Shake. The plot of the game revolves around the Flying Dutchman and King Neptune fighting one another. Why are the two Titans fighting… well, that is because King Triton cut the line at the Krusty Krab, where the Flying Dutchman was at the front of the line. The Flying Dutchman gets mad and starts using his magic, causing destruction all across Bikini Bottom. He also accidentally hits SpongeBob and transforms him into a ghost. The two titans then leave, and you have to find out where the Flying Dutchman went and have him hopefully fix the mess he caused. Throughout your adventure, you meet a bunch of characters that will help you on your path, from main cast members to those of side characters.
In this game, you play as both SpongeBob and Patrick, taking turns between the two characters. They each have their own abilities that you will unlock over the course of the game. For SpongeBob, your abilities include a magical bubble wand that can hit objects and enemies. There is also a powerful kick attack that can hit enemies or use balloons to close the gap, just like in Cosmic Shake. Patrick can pick up items, grapple enemies or objects, and also burrow into the ground. They also have shared abilities, including that of a doge roll, an air dodge, a double jump, a glide, a ground slam attack, and a regular standard attack. You also have to share your health bar between the two characters (by way of underpants again), but thankfully, that can be upgraded over time by buying the pieces in the shop once they are unlocked by finding them in the world.
In the game, you will be solving puzzles, platforming around different areas, completing side and main missions, and battling ghostly enemies. Battles are pretty basic as a whole and enemy variety isn’t great, but the bosses available in this game are fairly good, and they don’t last too long or feel too boring. The puzzle solving on the other hand is quite good, although sometimes I wished for more variety of puzzles. This includes activating correct switches at the right timing, changing the dimensions of either blue or green to see different objects or find different paths to take, and more. There are loads of obstacles during platforming that include things like blistering winds, dangerous goo, ice, and more! One of the biggest parts of the game, maybe even way too big a part, was the sliding areas. In Battle For Bikini Bottom, there were some slide levels, but not too many to overstay their welcome. There were a few in Cosmic Shake as well, but nothing that was super overpowering. In this game, there were a tad too many moments where they sometimes felt like padding out the overall game.
In terms of the collectables in this game, there are a bunch of things you can get. One thing you can find is yellow golden balloons that you can pop. Another set of collectibles are the mysterious TVs that you can find throughout the map, and then once you get all 10 of them, you can watch a unique clip that is just amazing. There are also treasure chests that you can find. These sometimes will have just coin and metal parts in them, while other times they will also have items that are now able to be purchased within the shop. Yes, you don’t just get the item once you complete a quest or find the chest in the world; rather, you get the right to purchase the item with coins you found in the world.
In a way, I like the concept of it, and thankfully, getting enough coins in this game is extremely easy; however, I also felt a little upset the first few times it happened, as though my exploration or completing the side quest wasn’t rewarded with really anything other than the right to then purchase said item. There are things such as costumes for the two heroes, and then there are also things like underpants parts, photo mode filters, and more. Collectables besides chests and completing side quests are not marked or shown on the map of the game at all, so make sure to look everywhere you possibly can to find things.
The music in this game is pretty solid as a whole. From the sounds of Jellyfish Fields to those of the Palace of King Neptune. There are little nuances and slight differences to the music and audio depending on whether you are playing as SpongeBob or Patrick in most of the levels. I think that is a nice twist to have, so it shakes the game up so it isn’t stale. The voice acting in the game is amazing since they once again brought back the original voice actors of the TV show, including Tom Kenny, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, and more! The sea shanty sung by David Hasselhoff was also great and a pleasant surprise to see and hear. Occasionally, there were audio bugs that plagued the game, unfortunately. These included things like no sound during a battle or overworld for a bit, and missing vocal dialogue when there was text that was on the screen. You could fix these issues by resetting the game or occasionally fast-traveling to another world.
The art in the game was great in terms of the character models. Not just for SpongeBob and Patrick, but also every other character, from Krabs, Sandy, Larry, and everyone else, looked really well-crafted. The world designs are very bright and diverse, from the darker and spooky feel of the dungeons in Atlantis City, to the bright and colorful Jellyfish Fields. The colors match the show correctly with the artistic style of the game to that of the show. One small gripe with the game for me, regarding the art, is that I wish there were more worlds than we had because, as nice looking as they were, the replayability of them isn’t as fun compared to that of some of the original PS2 games like Battle for Bikini Bottom, with how many bright and colorful worlds there are.
One of the best things I can say about the performance and quality assurance in the game was that I had no crashes during my 15-hour adventure. There were some frame rate issues in the later levels of Jellyfish Fields and Bikini Bottom at the end of the game. I did play the game on quality mode, so maybe if I changed it to performance mode, it would have been smoother, but I am not sure. I had a few UI/UX bugs where boss health bars would stay when moving to another area, my underpants health bar not always showing up, and a couple of smaller issues that were slight annoyances but never something that blocked anything or ruined my experience. In terms of bigger issues, there wasn’t much I had a problem with besides not knowing how to unlock certain costumes, but with enough exploring, you can eventually get all of them.
Overall, I liked the progression here more than I did during Cosmic Shake from Purple Lamp Studios. The enemy variety still isn’t to the level of Battle for Bikini Bottom (BFBB), and the number of worlds is also a heck of a lot smaller than of BFBB, but the worlds that are on display are nice enough to explore and run around in, but they don’t scream for you to replay them at all either once you get everything. The story may not be amazing, but I wasn’t expecting a powerhouse of one from this game. The gameplay of switching between the two characters on the fly was fun and was better than just having one playable character. The audio was pretty good all around, the art and visuals were bright and felt like SpongeBob, but the bugs and issues hurt the game a bit, and the lack of how many worlds there were definitely hurt my overall opinion of the game. SpongeBob SquarePants games aren’t always amazing, and Titans of the Tide isn’t at the level of BFBB, but it also isn’t at the level of Revenge of the Flying Dutchman… if you know, you know. This one is worthy of your time and money if you are a fan of the IP and 3D collect-a-thon platformers, but don’t expect it to be super long.
Review Score: 8/10
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