SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants!

SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! is a surprisingly well-made party game that successfully captures the style and humor of the popular Nickelodeon franchise. The title's wealth of colorful cinematics easily tops those in the Mario Party franchise and its removal of board movement (and emphasis on mini-games) creates a speedier party experience. Meanwhile, many of the mini-games present in the project are enjoyable, if shallow, for a variety of different reasons. The biggest oversight is closely related. The truth is that there just aren't enough minis to keep most players satisfied for an extended period of time, especially since the challenges are inherently shallow. Diehard SpongeBob fans and younger gamers will still get a kick out of what's there, and general audiences looking for a multiplayer option could do worse. But with titles like Mario Party 7 in mind, there are deeper alternatives readily available.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! is a surprisingly well-made party game that successfully captures the style and humor of the popular Nickelodeon franchise. The title's wealth of colorful cinematics easily tops those in the Mario Party franchise and its removal of board movement (and emphasis on mini-games) creates a speedier party experience. Meanwhile, many of the mini-games present in the project are enjoyable, if shallow, for a variety of different reasons. The biggest oversight is closely related. The truth is that there just aren't enough minis to keep most players satisfied for an extended period of time, especially since the challenges are inherently shallow. Diehard SpongeBob fans and younger gamers will still get a kick out of what's there, and general audiences looking for a multiplayer option could do worse. But with titles like Mario Party 7 in mind, there are deeper alternatives readily available.

But of course, SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! is universal, so anybody can enjoy it. Anybody except everybody, that is, but I'm sure kids with friends will enjoy this game to some extent. Just don't expect to let the AI make up for the lack of friends, because they don't really react very well. Easy makes them dumb, and hard turns them into frenzied generic robots that make no mistakes. Medium? Well - a blend of the two, but there is really no intelligence here. Of course, the odd SpongeBob appearance and the odd wisecrack from Mr. Krabs makes up for the otherwise abysmal tasting Krabby Patty of a game, but unless you really have an itch for a Sponge game, this probably should be avoided.

Les amateurs de Bob L'Eponge auront nécessairement un élan de sympathie pour ce party game qui sait tirer parti de la licence et lui rester fidèle dans ses cinématiques ou son esprit. Pourtant, la licence n'éclipse pas le faible nombre de jeux ou l'équilibre bancal qu'il y a entre eux : des bons à ceux dépourvus d'intérêt, des jouables aux chaotiques.

But of course, SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! is universal, so anybody can enjoy it. Anybody except everybody, that is, but I'm sure kids with friends will enjoy this game to some extent. Just don't expect to let the AI make up for the lack of friends, because they don't really react very well. Easy makes them dumb, and hard turns them into frenzied generic robots that make no mistakes. Medium? Well - a blend of the two, but there is really no intelligence here. Of course, the odd SpongeBob appearance and the odd wisecrack from Mr. Krabs makes up for the otherwise abysmal tasting Krabby Patty of a game, but unless you really have an itch for a Sponge game, this probably should be avoided

The games themselves are centred around test-of-skill-style auditions for the new Mermaid Man And Barnacle Boy movie (a favourite of SpongeBob's if you don't already know) and are, generally speaking, a varied bunch, wedded to nicely simple control setups. For our money, the farting inflatable-pants obstacle course deserves top honours, but then again, we're deeply childish. Bottom line? Unapologetically aimed at pre-teens, and about as deep as a crabby patty - this, nevertheless, packs enough mental charm to keep a quartet of gamers hooked.

The world of Spongebob is rife with plenty of videogame potential. While the story driven journeys released of this little porous sponge haven’t been the most captivating as of yet, they are all leaps and bounds ahead of this newest party game released. SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, PANTS! is a poor use of a license, and a party game that is sure to end any get together rather quickly. This is an experience that would be hard for younger gamers to get into, and the older gaming set should steer away from as well. As a fan of the yellow one, it is a shame to see such humorous characters and story material going to waste.

Unfortunately, the game isn't all that much fun and it won't keep junior quiet for all that long. The mini-games are, for the most part, too long, tedious, have shoddy controls and are a complete bore. Sure, the youngest of the young will adore this no matter how bad it is, but the rest of us should just walk on by.