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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action Developer: Altron Publisher: THQ |
any game involving SpongeBob SquarePants is one of the best examples to can be brought up. Retailers want to guarantee sales, so
games without a brand attached to it will usually get ignored in favor of other games that have a franchise attached to it, such as
SpongeBob SquarePants. It still seems to be a little funny that THQ, after taking a risk with an original title in the form of “Drawn to Life,”
follows up that game with the franchised version of the game with SpongeBob SquarePants. No one should really be shocked or
surprised to see the cartoon attached to the game, after all companies want to make games that are going to make them money, and it
is pretty much guaranteed that “Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition” will sell much better than the original game that
inspired the new version. Luckily the game within the packaging doesn’t ruin the original game that was created. The game is a good,
solid platform game that doesn’t quite reach the creative level of the original game. Kids are going to love all the things they can draw in
the game to make it their own.
The original team moved on the bigger and better games in the form of “Lock’s Quest” when the original “Drawn to Life” title hit the
shelves. Much of what the original team put into the original game has pretty much been applied to the SpongeBob SquarePants
version of the game. The design is a traditional side scrolling platform design with a large emphasis on giving players the ability to
customize the main character, game play objects and the using a touch screen art program. Scribbles become enemies, friends,
platforms, springs, gears, and because it is all up to the art skills of the gamer, the game can either be pure or crude, which the scale
sliding heavily towards the crude.
The big difference between “Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition” and the original edition is the revolving universe the game
takes play in. Where the original game created a fantastical world, this latest edition of the game obviously takes place in the world of
Bikini Bottom. In fact, “Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition” is actually based upon specific episodes of the cartoon where
an evil drawing comes to life. DoodleBob is the nemesis in the game, and players actually play a good doodle from Patrick to stop the
babbling black and white scribble that is messing up the world of SpongeBob.
It is hard to say if “Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition” is actually using any of the technology from the original “Drawn to
Life” game, but at the very least the games share similar interfaces in their similar designs. The art program to draw up the editable
game pieces is pretty much identical between the two versions. There is a lot more to edit in this version of the game, it can be safely
assumed that this time around the game cartridge has much more save RAM than the original title, an idea that is emphasized by one
of the longest save file initializations that most players will ever experience on the Nintendo DS. Luckily this is a onetime thing at the
first power up of the game, but prepare for some lengthy pauses for when players save the game during the action of the game.
The original “Drawn to Life” was appreciated by gamers because the creators had to start from scratch with not just an original concept,
but also with its characters and storytelling. “Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition” relies on the familiar. Players already
know the characters of the popular television show because of the hundreds of episodes as well as an increased number of licensed
products that are already on the market. The original game has a much better and more fleshed out, almost Japanese RPG influenced
presentation compared to this follow up that tells the DoodleBob story through sloppy cut scenes that awkwardly bounces between 3D
models and 2D characters. The characters don’t even have voices beyond the occasional grunt or scream that don’t even sound like
they were recorded by the original actors.
It is hard not to notice that the actual game play of this version of the game feels a little bit tighter and faster paced that the original.
Neither of the two games are any special in their 2D platform style, they are both rather typical ran, jump, butt stomp designs with tons of
token collecting used to upgrade the character and lots of touch screen scribbling to get rid of ths ink blotches in each of the levels. The
SpongeBob Edition of the game has a little bit better collision detection and a faster, more energized speed to it. Since the publisher
game the game a larger amount of save RAM, players have more creative input on what shows up in the game.
“Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition” is clearly THQ’s best attempt at making the concept of the original game more
marketable to the consumers and retailers. Whether it is out of respect for the original team or because it is a better game, many
players would rather play the original game over this franchised version of the same game. It is fairly obvious that the SpongeBob
Edition of the game isn’t a bad game for kids, but it is the foundation of the game that makes this game great.
games without a brand attached to it will usually get ignored in favor of other games that have a franchise attached to it, such as
SpongeBob SquarePants. It still seems to be a little funny that THQ, after taking a risk with an original title in the form of “Drawn to Life,”
follows up that game with the franchised version of the game with SpongeBob SquarePants. No one should really be shocked or
surprised to see the cartoon attached to the game, after all companies want to make games that are going to make them money, and it
is pretty much guaranteed that “Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition” will sell much better than the original game that
inspired the new version. Luckily the game within the packaging doesn’t ruin the original game that was created. The game is a good,
solid platform game that doesn’t quite reach the creative level of the original game. Kids are going to love all the things they can draw in
the game to make it their own.
The original team moved on the bigger and better games in the form of “Lock’s Quest” when the original “Drawn to Life” title hit the
shelves. Much of what the original team put into the original game has pretty much been applied to the SpongeBob SquarePants
version of the game. The design is a traditional side scrolling platform design with a large emphasis on giving players the ability to
customize the main character, game play objects and the using a touch screen art program. Scribbles become enemies, friends,
platforms, springs, gears, and because it is all up to the art skills of the gamer, the game can either be pure or crude, which the scale
sliding heavily towards the crude.
The big difference between “Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition” and the original edition is the revolving universe the game
takes play in. Where the original game created a fantastical world, this latest edition of the game obviously takes place in the world of
Bikini Bottom. In fact, “Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition” is actually based upon specific episodes of the cartoon where
an evil drawing comes to life. DoodleBob is the nemesis in the game, and players actually play a good doodle from Patrick to stop the
babbling black and white scribble that is messing up the world of SpongeBob.
It is hard to say if “Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition” is actually using any of the technology from the original “Drawn to
Life” game, but at the very least the games share similar interfaces in their similar designs. The art program to draw up the editable
game pieces is pretty much identical between the two versions. There is a lot more to edit in this version of the game, it can be safely
assumed that this time around the game cartridge has much more save RAM than the original title, an idea that is emphasized by one
of the longest save file initializations that most players will ever experience on the Nintendo DS. Luckily this is a onetime thing at the
first power up of the game, but prepare for some lengthy pauses for when players save the game during the action of the game.
The original “Drawn to Life” was appreciated by gamers because the creators had to start from scratch with not just an original concept,
but also with its characters and storytelling. “Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition” relies on the familiar. Players already
know the characters of the popular television show because of the hundreds of episodes as well as an increased number of licensed
products that are already on the market. The original game has a much better and more fleshed out, almost Japanese RPG influenced
presentation compared to this follow up that tells the DoodleBob story through sloppy cut scenes that awkwardly bounces between 3D
models and 2D characters. The characters don’t even have voices beyond the occasional grunt or scream that don’t even sound like
they were recorded by the original actors.
It is hard not to notice that the actual game play of this version of the game feels a little bit tighter and faster paced that the original.
Neither of the two games are any special in their 2D platform style, they are both rather typical ran, jump, butt stomp designs with tons of
token collecting used to upgrade the character and lots of touch screen scribbling to get rid of ths ink blotches in each of the levels. The
SpongeBob Edition of the game has a little bit better collision detection and a faster, more energized speed to it. Since the publisher
game the game a larger amount of save RAM, players have more creative input on what shows up in the game.
“Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition” is clearly THQ’s best attempt at making the concept of the original game more
marketable to the consumers and retailers. Whether it is out of respect for the original team or because it is a better game, many
players would rather play the original game over this franchised version of the same game. It is fairly obvious that the SpongeBob
Edition of the game isn’t a bad game for kids, but it is the foundation of the game that makes this game great.
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