SpongeBob's Atlantis Squarepantis (2007). Play online

Summary

SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis on the DS lets you control the crew in paired teams, swapping between any two when you hit a change station. Each duo unlocks a quirky combo move – think Sandy’s explosive karate chop when SpongeBob picks her up – that’s triggered by a simple button press and adds a fun puzzle‑like twist to the platforming. Altron’s hand‑held take keeps the charm of the TV movie alive with familiar voices; Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Carolyn Lawrence, Rodger Bumpass and Doug Lawrence return to voice their characters, though Plankton is left mute.
Critics were split: Metacritic labels the version “mixed or average,” and GameRankings averages it out at 66 %. IGN famously quipped that “SpongeBob actually managed to be boring,” reflecting the lukewarm reception despite the inventive two‑character system. Still, for anyone nostalgic for early‑2000s Nickelodeon adventures, the DS’s cooperative mechanics offer a nostalgic splash of under‑sea silliness.

Storyline

The game opens with SpongeBob, Patrick, and friends fleeing Atlantis while Plankton roams the city in a borrowed tank. A flashback shows SpongeBob and Patrick blowing bubbles, getting trapped in a giant bubble that drops them into a cavern. They dodge ghost pirates, find ladders, and discover the missing half of the Atlantean Amulet. They bring the piece to the Bikini Bottom Museum, battling tourists and security, where Squidward is shocked to see the other half. Squidward joins the halves, revealing a flying, song‑powered bus that will take them to Atlantis.

After repairing the crash‑landed bus, the crew arrives at Atlantis and meets the Lord Royal Highness (LRH). LRH gives a palace tour filled with traps; Mr. Krabs hunts treasure with Sandy’s bubble‑catching gun, while Squidward poses for artists. Meanwhile Plankton, hidden in the bus, plots to use the city’s advanced weapons. Patrick accidentally pops a historic bubble, angering LRH, and the group must evade guards, collect paper clips, and use Squidward as a makeshift gun.

Plankton’s tank ramps through the city, firing a weapon that only shoots ice cream. LRH captures the clueless Plankton and displays him as a replacement bubble and national treasure. A soldier discards the amulet into a dumpster, preventing the heroes from returning, so the gang hops back onto the bus and heads home to Bikini Bottom.