SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab (PlayStation 2, GameCube, Wii)

This page details pre-release information and/or media for SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab (PlayStation 2, GameCube, Wii).

Early Pitch Document#

Watch on YouTubeOn June 14, 2020, a YouTuber called Who Needs Normal?, who had previously done a comprehensive video about the history of BigSky Interactive and SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman, released a video about the history of Blitz Games and Creature from the Krusty Krab, and he managed to get in contact with some people who worked on it and got hold of a copy of the original pitch document for the game.

Titled SB06 - 40 Winks and dated May 6, 2005, it's about SpongeBob waking up one morning and realizing his friends are trapped in their dreams for unknown reasons, and thus he is tasked to enter each of his friends' dreams and wake them up.

Gameplay#

The game is described as a story-driven action-adventure platformer with a focus on cooperative gameplay. In each level SpongeBob is accompanied by a different character, and together they would perform special actions and moves to progress through the level. While in the dream world, he could also be able to transform into different objects depending on the level, in addition to other standard transformations like a surfboard and a bowling ball, which would be used to solve puzzles and perform the aforementioned special moves.

Through the game SpongeBob would be able to alternate between the dream world and exploring Bikini Bottom in the real world, and somehow certain actions that he performs while in the dream world would alter aspects in the real world.

Various mini-games would also be available and a cross-save feature similar to the ones implemented in the PS2 versions of other Nickelodeon titles at the time, like Nicktoons Unite! and SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants!, would allow players to unlock unspecified extra content if it detected the save files from those games.

Levels#

SpongeBob's Dream: in the tutorial level, SpongeBob dreams that he is a film star playing a variety of roles such as an astronaut, a cowboy and a cop. This level would feature a driving section involving a police car. The driving format for this level was utilized in the first level of the final game, Diesel Dreaming, but with the cop theme replaced by a hot rod theme. An anti-gravity section would also be available. Companion Character: Patrick.

Patrick's Dream: Patrick dreams that he's in a world full of candy and other goodies (sounds familiar?). To wake him up you need to guide Patrick to drink from various lagoons to make him want to pee. In this level SpongeBob would be able to transform into a giant Krabby Patty to better lead Patrick, and a raft to navigate various rapids. Companion Character: Patrick.

Plankton's Dream: Plankton's a giant monster and is preparing to release a clone army to destroy Bikini Bottom. This was altered and expanded in the final game as Giant Plankton became a major focus in its third act. In this level SpongeBob would be able to transform into a giant net to capture Plankton's clones, and use his bubble blower alongside Mr. Krabs to capture them in giant bubbles. Companion Character: Mr. Krabs.

Sandy's Dream: with an appearance description oddly similar to her dream level in Battle for Bikini Bottom, Sandy's relaxing in a giant golden sports trophy at the end of the level. You would partake in a series of challenges based on extreme sports. In this level SpongeBob would be able to transform into a sail and then be used by Pearl (in her 3D game debut) in a windsurf challenge. Companion Character: Pearl.

Squidward's Dream: SpongeBob and Patrick gatecrash into Squidward's School of Arts to shock Squidward and wake him up. A level mechanic involves jumping on clams to make not-so-beautiful music. In this level SpongeBob would be able to transform into a giant rubber stamp and paint the floor mural. Companion Character: Patrick.

Mr. Krabs' Dream: Mr. Krabs dreams he owns every shop and street in Bikini Bottom and lives in a large mansion at the heart of the town. SpongeBob must buy new clothes and dress up like a local aristocrat to get past the doorman and confront Mr. Krabs. Companion Character: Squidward.

Mini-Games#

Snail Racing: play as Gary in a race around various arenas.
Snail Pinball: use Gary's shell as a ball in a pinball table.
Snail Maze: play as Gary in a 3D maze while leaving his snail trail behind to ensure you know where you've been.
Jellyfishing: run around with a net and capture as many jellyfish as you can.
Jellyfish Milking: keep the jellyfish happy by milking as many as possible.
Clamshell Crescendo: Squidward conducts SpongeBob and Patrick as they jump on clamshells to release notes.
Clam Catching: lasso clams with a giant plunger before the timer runs out.
Clam Riding: race your clams with your friends to get the gold.

SpongeBob SquarePants '06 February 2006 Early Development Trailer#

Watch on YouTubeOn June 25, 2025, a development trailer showcasing assorted gameplay of a VERY early version of Creature from the Krusty Krab was posted on the Internet Archive. It is dated February 21, 2006, making it the earliest known footage of the game. Notably, the game was still titled SpongeBob SquarePants '06 at that point (the early title can still be found on an unused title screen inside the files of the final game). Only Alaskan Belly Trouble, Rocket Rodeo, Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster and It Came from Bikini Bottom are shown in this video, with a slew of differences from the final game.

The music that plays at the start of the trailer (which is used for the beginning of the attract trailer, the cutscene after the first race in Diesel Dreaming, the Super-Sized Patty loading screens, and the final cutscene of It Came from Bikini Bottom in the final game) is a lower pitch.
Alaskan Belly Trouble is different, featuring different objects, layouts, darker stomach acid with a rippling texture, smaller, preliminary bouncing platforms, and looking darker overall. There is also a platform above Old Man Jenkins that isn't there in the final game.
- A different entrance to the Inventor's lab is showcased; it can still be found in the final game, but it is inaccessible without hacking.
The Snooze Z's counter had a completely different design. This counter can also be seen in other pre-release videos and promotional screenshots.
Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster looks radically different, with different building layouts, as well as some larger ones not seen in the final game, a different skybox, and a completely different laser meter with a generic 2D image of Plankton. Mr. Krabs' house is also absent from the starting area, as well as the clock tower in the middle of the rotary.
- Giant Plankton has weaker lighting and his attacks are unfinished, especially his Super Roar, which lacks the tornado and reused the stomp effect on Plankton's neck as a placeholder. His laser also looks slightly different.
  - There are no icons at the side of the screen that allow Plankton to unleash his Super Roar. This implies that Plankton could originally do it at any time without the need of megaphones.
- The AI for the boats was also preliminary and broken, with one being seen driving into a building.
SpongeBob looks smaller during the freefall segment at the start of Alaskan Belly Trouble, and the Snooze Zs are the usual green instead of the red that is exclusive to this segment in the final game.
SpongeBob's plane has a different design, looking like a red boat with wings attached to it, and Old Man Jenkins was sitting in front of him instead of behind, poorly inserted into the hole at the front of the plane. This design actually appeared in quite a few early promotional images and even made its way to the final back cover of the PS2 and GC versions, as well as the American GameCube banner.
Patrick is riding the rocket at the first section of Rocket Rodeo instead of being tied to it. In the final game, he's tied to it during the first section and then willingly rides it in the second and third sections. The rocket itself also looks darker.
- The level in general lacks proper lighting, making it look dark. The hoops that Patrick flies through also have a different design without rockets at the side of them.
Several different camera angles are showcased in the flying levels that aren't possible in the final game. While the third and sixth sections of It Came from Bikini Bottom have the camera locked at the front of SpongeBob's plane, Rocket Rodeo and Patrick's section of Hypnotic Highway never have it face the front of Patrick's rocket at any point.
The fuel counter was different, being represented as a gauge instead of a slowly decreasing meter. This early gauge can also be seen in other pre-release videos and screenshots.
The sound for collecting Snooze Zs was different.
Instead of "Fire Away!", the prompt for shooting in It Came from Bikini Bottom simply said "! Shoot !". The font is also different.
SpongeBob's jumping sounds were recycled directly from Battle for Bikini Bottom, and the bouncing platforms propel him slightly higher.
The parasite enemies in Alaskan Belly Trouble had no lighting, making them stick out, and the shields for the Armored Parasites had a different design.
The animation for SpongeBob's Sand Slap attack was unfinished, with his arms not fully wrapping around his body at the end of it.
The drawbridge in Alaskan Belly Trouble was pale green with stripes instead of red.
The buttons had a placeholder design, and didn't seem to make a sound when pressed.
The helicopter net in Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster looked much brighter.

Nintendo E3 Press Conference#

Watch on YouTubeAn official video from Nintendo showcasing a few promising Wii launch titles at their E3 2006 press conference. At the 0:40 second mark (where the game is hilariously misspelled as Breature from the Krusty Karb) it shows some early versions of It Came from Bikini Bottom and Rocket Rodeo... for about 5 seconds. Its original upload date was overwritten, but using WayBack Machine reveals that it was originally posted at May 9, 2006.

The fuel meter and the Snooze Z's counter have their old designs.
"Fire Away" was still "! Shoot !" at this point.
SpongeBob's plane is in its early design, but without Old Man Jenkins at the front, implying that this footage, alongside some other promotional images, might be even earlier than the February 2006 development trailer footage.
The showcased area from Rocket Rodeo has no lighting resulting in it looking overly dark.
There's a ludicrous amount of rising pillars to avoid all at once at the Rocket Rodeo section, the area in the final game that closest matches it doesn't have nearly as much pillars.

Gamespot Gameplay Video#

Watch on YouTubeGamespot's website has a gameplay video showing early versions of Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster and It Came from Bikini Bottom and it seems to be from the same build as the Nintendo Press Conference video. Its original upload date was overwritten but using WayBack Machine reveals that it was originally posted at May 10, 2006.

The Snooze Zs counter is different between the two levels, the final game uses the counter from Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster in all levels.
The fuel counter still had its old design.
The font for the Snooze Zs counter in Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster is different.
The font for the directional arrows in It Came from Bikini Bottom are also different.
Music is nearly nonexistent and only plays during a very brief moment in the sewers in It Came from Bikini Bottom.
Also in the sewers, there's a moment where Plankton says the line "Come on SpongeBob, give up. Life is so much easier under the bucket." which is recycled from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. In the final game he instead says "Nothing can stop me now, hey Spongefool. Why don't you just give up? There's no one left to help you, no one left at all." which is ALSO recycled from The Movie.
- Said line is also missing a reverb, unlike the final game where all of Giant Plankton's dialogue has a reverb to it.
The sound effects for collecting Snooze Z's and Plankton's "Roar" are different.
The icon below Plankton's laser meter was changed to an early screenshot, before being replaced by another 2D image of Plankton firing his laser. Otherwise, the meter is in its final design at this point.
The four pylons holding up the satellite tower that Plankton is on at the end of It Came from Bikini Bottom are very clearly placeholders.
The buildings and the layout of them in Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster are slightly different, and there is a very large building seen at the start of the level that doesn't appear in the final game. The Krabs residence and the clock tower have still not been implemented in the starting area at this point.
Plankton has 10 health points, the final game gives him 5 just like every other character in the game.
The male fish 2D cutout on the drive-in movie screen has animations of him opening and closing his mouth, in the final game his mouth is permanently open.
Plankton's model has no lighting during It Came from Bikini Bottom resulting in him looking overly dark.
Old Man Jenkins (albeit hard to see due to the poor quality of the footage and rapid movement of the player) is riding in front of SpongeBob in the plane instead of behind him.
Near the beginning of It Came from Bikini Bottom, there's a moment where Plankton walks towards a bridge and accidentally trips over and falls on it partially destroying it, in the final game he walks towards it but, possibly due to a bug, he stops right as he's about to touch it and his tripping animation doesn't play, and yet the bridge still gets partially destroyed for no apparent reason.
Similarly, there's another moment later in the level where Plankton trips over a huge iron bar and falls flat on the ground, in the final game his tripping animation once again doesn't play and he just continues walking like normal, and yet he still says one of a set of one-liners related to either how embarrassing this accident is or how he's hurt from it.
Still in this level, there's a moment near the end of the video where an unknown meter appears in the top center of the screen separate from the fuel meter along with the messages "Bash Square!" and "! Stall !". These meter and messages never appear in the final game, but it seems like if the plane got damaged, the player would've had to bash the Square button to prevent it from stalling.

Gamespot Interview#

Watch on YouTubeGamespot's website has an interview video showing a much later build of the Wii version. Its original upload date was overwritten but using WayBack Machine reveals that it was originally posted at August 16, 2006. It seems to be nearly finished minus a few differences as its date matches a comment made in a later conference with Blitz Games' co-founder saying that the game was finished at the end of August 2006.

This build seems to be running in a cropped widescreen format, the final game doesn't have any sort of widescreen support.
The Wii pointer icon is that of a pair eyes, the final game uses that of a lifeboat.
The Wii button icons are colored black, in the final game they're colored white.
The phone booths in StarfishMan to the Rescue have no glass windows.
The intro cutscene for the first platforming section in Alaskan Belly Trouble has the camera moving to a huge hole in the ceiling and then it immediately cuts to the splash screen showing the Wii controls, the final game has an additional scene of SpongeBob falling and slamming his face on the ground and then getting back up before showing the splash screen.
SpongeBob's model is the same as the PS2 and GC versions, the final Wii version specifically uses a slightly modified model with actual pushed-in holes instead of his usual dark spots.
This build still has Plankton performing his tripping animations on the bridge and the iron bar in It Came from Bikini Bottom as aforementioned.

Attract Trailer#

Watch on YouTubeThe final game's attract trailer still contains some early footage with a few differences.

There's a Checkpoint right before the Start/Finish line in Diesel Dreaming.
The first section of Rocket Rodeo has sub-par lighting and Patrick is riding the rocket instead of being tied to it.
A couple of clips from It Came From Bikini Bottom still show the plane's old design, implying that each bit of footage was recorded with different builds.
Patrick's body and the toxic gas in Rooftop Rumble still have the cel shaded outlines from StarfishMan to the Rescue, they don't have them during this level in the final game. This version with the cel shading was also shown in quite a few early promotional images (albeit only on Patrick and not the gas).
The fourth section of Rooftop Rumble has the skybox colored red like all the other sections, in the final game, it's uniquely colored purple.

Developer Interviews#

There's two interviews made with Blitz Games' co-founder Andrew Oliver, one for an old Wii-focused website and another one recorded live during Game Developers Conference 2007, where he talks about the experience of making the game for the Wii and mentions certain things that were planned during development.

Originally the attack move was going to be activated by swiping the Wii Remote left or right coinciding with the movement of SpongeBob's arms. They later realized this would quickly get tiresome due to the amount of enemies in the game and instead mapped the attack move to a button.
During the racing sections, accelerating would be activated by pushing the Wii Remote forward and brake/reverse would be done by pulling it back. Due to control issues they were also remapped to buttons.
Many gameplay ideas were thought of that didn't get included, the main one being shooting mini-games that took advantage of the Wii Remote's pointer function, but they were rejected by Nickelodeon due them being uncomfortable with shooting (the flight levels would feature shooting, but in a different way). The idea was eventually accepted and used as two of the mini-games in the next SpongeBob game made by Blitz, SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis.

Concept Art#

Various unused character designs for Dreaded Patrick. And Mayor Patrick is also there for some reason.

This art for the end of StarfishMan to the Rescue shows the elevator platform having several holes likely made so that Patrick can fall off and lose. Interestingly, while the holes ARE shaped inside the platform in the game, they are never open for unknown reasons. This art can be unlocked on the game's shop.

Storyboards for an early version of the ending cutscene of Super-Sized Patty. Most notably, not only it seamlessly transitions between Plankton and SpongeBob's scenes, but it shows SpongeBob apparently waking up in his room like normal while in the final game, at this point in the story, he's falling down a pit on his hot rod bed-car from Diesel Dreaming.