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SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the Lost Spatula
SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the Lost Spatula
	North American cover art
Developer(s)	Vicarious Visions; Engine Software;
Publisher(s)	THQ
Director(s)	Chris Degnan
Designer(s)	Chris Degnan; Brent Boylen;
Programmer(s)	Jan-Lieuwe Koopmans; Ruud van de Moosdijk; Ivo Wubbels;
Artist(s)	Jorge Diaz
Composer(s)	Manfred Linzner
Series	SpongeBob SquarePants
Platform(s)	Game Boy Color
Release	NA: March 5, 2001; EU: May 4, 2001;
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single-player

SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the Lost Spatula is a 2001 platform action video game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by THQ for the Game Boy Color handheld game console. It is the first video game to be based on SpongeBob SquarePants. The game's story centers on SpongeBob SquarePants, a sea sponge who lives in the undersea town of Bikini Bottom and works for Mr. Krabs as the fry cook of the Krusty Krab fast food restaurant. SpongeBob is destined to become the ocean's greatest fry cook, and must embark on a quest to retrieve a golden spatula from the Flying Dutchman, a pirate ghost. The game features platforming-style gameplay, as well as many characters from the television series.

Gameplay

As SpongeBob, the player embarks on an undersea quest to find the Flying Dutchman's Golden Spatula in order to become the ocean's greatest short-order cook. If SpongeBob gets hit, his clothing falls off. If SpongeBob is wearing a jacket power-up, he loses it when he is hit. If he takes a hit with no jacket, his pants fall off, leaving him to run around in his underwear. If his underwear falls off, he loses a life. Along the way, SpongeBob meets and interacts with many of the show's popular recurring characters like Mr. Krabs, Squidward Tentacles, Sandy Cheeks, and Patrick Star. The game uses elements of adventure and side-scrolling gameplay.

Story

While riding his bike, Spongebob discovers a statue which has a base that resembles a stove. Informing this to Mr. Krabs, he explains that the statue is used to dedicate a legendary fry cook who wields a golden spatula, which is in the ruins of a collapses civilization that the Flying Dutchman now controls. He urges Spongebob to find it just so he can make a fortune. Spongebob begins his journey to search for the missing stove dials that will open the way to the spatula. Once he finds them all, he uses them to open the statue's base and enters the Flying Dutchman's domain. There, the Flying Dutchman challenges Spongebob, who prevails and claims the golden spatula. As Spongebob begins serving up a large supply of Krabby Patties with the golden spatula, Mr. Krabs is able to gain a large amount of money in turn.

Reception

The game has received mixed reviews. Frank Provo of GameSpot said "One could argue that SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the Lost Spatula is geared toward the younger audience of the TV series, which would explain the game's simplified gameplay and lack of variety. However, while the plot is endearing and the characters will no doubt appeal to the series' fans, there is no evidence to suggest that children would actually enjoy playing a game this unremarkable – let alone adults".^[3] Provo criticized the game for its "simplified gameplay" and "lack of variety", but gave praise to the graphics, saying the game "at least looks decent".^[3] Jon Griffith of IGN complimented the game as a "decent platformer" with "large levels, multiple objectives, and amusing characters" but criticized it for its password saving system, confusing level design, and difficulty in certain aspects of gameplay.^[4]