Friday, March 3, 2023

Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade - SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit - The First Hour

This thirteenth video in the new Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series is on SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit. I Played this as part of my Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series, i think this game is exclusive to the service.

Last week i played Simon's Cat: Story Time, https://youtu.be/SJtlwaqB-KI, as i was curious how a game typically associate with mircotransactions and limited playing opportunities was going to be adapted to a free game on the Apple Arcade service. that was the same reason why i chose to play SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit.

i went in thinking it was just a runner but after the first level i was wrong. i thought it was an endless runner like Sonic Dash, Minion Rush, and Temple Run. but it turned out to be an Auto Runner like Super Mario Run and Rayman Mini, which i looked at in this series 9 videos ago, https://youtu.be/65ZdmAz0GfE. Once i knew what type of game this was, it was easier to understand how it worked as an Apple Arcade game with no microtransactions. much like Simon's Cat: Story Time, the limit is your own time.

It starts with an introduction to the story. it's not animated, but it's voiced. then it puts you straight into the first level. what tutorial there is is done by telling you what to do in game and letting you try it. the first few levels are fairly easy but they don't feel overwhelming even tho the game is introducing the mechanics.

In this video i completed the first couple of locations, and throughout the game slowly showed different things that can happen in a level. whether that's different layouts, different things to navigate, and the idea of different paths you yourself can take or your companion can help you take. we get Patrick first and he's able to bust down brick walls. near the end of the video we get Squidward and he's able to tell us where the Spatulas are and use jellyfish to create platforms. The levels are designed in such a way that it's probably not possible to complete them in one try. it'll take 2 or 3, or more, play throughs of them with different characters and taking different routes to get the 3 Spatulas and all the coins.

Once the second location was finished, the game opened up 3 other play style options. i finished this video by trying them out, but again it's another example of the game getting continued support and being full of content. Like Simon's Cat last week, this would be a fun commuting game to play on the phone as each level is only a few minutes long, but because it's dense with content it could be played for a long time on a Mac or AppleTV.

I'm not a fan of SpongeBob SquarePants, not because i don't like it but rather because it's not something i grew up watching. i missed it when it came out. this means i've not played any of the games, tho i have now downloaded SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated. but i would still recommend this game for Apple Arcade Subscribers. it looks fantastic on my phone's screen and there's no issue with the Dynamic Island. it's a game targeting a wide audience age and ability level and does a great job in doing so. i feel that it's something causal gamers can play but also having depth and replayability for those looking for a challenge. especially when the daily challenges and shorter F.U.N sized levels are available after completing the second location.