SpongeBob Squigglepants (WII AND 3DS)

SpongeBob Squigglepants has players tilt, flick, tap, and draw through more than 100 Nanogames set in six zany worlds.

Release Date: Apr 12, 2011

In SpongeBob's most crazy, creative adventure yet, be prepared to laugh your SquigglePants off as you tilt, flick, tap and draw through more than 100 Nanogames set in six zany worlds. SpongeBob SquigglePants puts you in the driver's seat for a dizzying series of lightning-speed Nanogames, giving you mere seconds to finish one before moving right on to the next. Within this rapid-fire succession of challenges, SpongeBob SquigglePants exposes players to never-before-seen SpongeBob art styles from the Nickelodeon vault. SpongeBob SquigglePants also lets players digitally draw, paint, color and choose from dozens of SpongeBob-themed stamps, using the uDraw to create a masterpiece worthy of a place in Patchy's own collection of SpongeBob art, or their own refrigerator, thanks to the uDraw's exclusive ability to export art to the Wii's SD card slot. The entire game is hosted by SpongeBob's biggest fan, Patchy the Pirate, in a never-before-seen live action experience for an added level of under-the-sea silliness.

We'll be honest here. When an early copy of SpongeBob SquigglePants showed up at the office, we weren't sure what to expect. After all, it sported an "E" rating, was based on a kids' cartoon, and the PR sell sheet listed "endless creativity" as a bullet point. Then, with a group of 30-somethings gathered around the TV, we fired up the Wii and promptly had a blast.

SpongeBob SquigglePants is more or less a SpongeBob take on WarioWare. The game is packed with more than 100 minigames (dubbed nanogames by the developer), all of which are designed to last an average of five to seven seconds each. Of course part of the fun is figuring out exactly what you're supposed to do, as the games aren't big on instructions. You're often given a single word only moments before the game loads and expected to figure it out from there.

Because the minigames all make use of some sort of drawing motion, THQ's uDraw GameTablet peripheral is required if you want to play the game on the Wii. Essentially a video game version of a Wacom tablet, the uDraw attaches to a Wiimote and provides a stylus-based input for the console. It's simple, direct and easy to understand, which makes it accessible to both gamers and non-gamers alike.