The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (Game Boy Advance)

This page details one or more prototype versions of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (Game Boy Advance).

This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

An earlier build of the game with some minor differences. This prototype notoriously has issues running in certain GBA emulators; VisualBoyAdvance, for example, will not run it at all. Therefore, it is recommended you run the prototype in a more accurate emulator, such as No$GBA.

General Differences#

• In the prototype, boss battles have a 600 second time limit. This time limit was removed in the final, due to the superfluous nature of a 10-minute time limit in a game where boss battles last about a minute.

Cinematics#

• Photographic and Cinematics are extremely buggy in the prototype, often being corrupted, miscolored, or not displaying at-all.
• The logos at the beginning stay on-screen for twice as long in the prototype.
• The copyright information at the beginning, and the title screen are missing.

Main Menu#

Prototype	Final

The bubbles in the prototype are animated and scroll to the top right, while in the final it's just a static image. The shading on SpongeBob's pants is also different, the bamboo poles in the background are darker, and the colors are more dithered.

Difficulty Selection#

Prototype	Final

SpongeBob on the difficulty selection screen was in a pirate outfit in the prototype. It was changed to generic clip-art of SpongeBob in the final. The sign also had a thicker shadow.

Password Entry#

Prototype	Final

SpongeBob's tie was discolored as blue in the prototype, and all the icons are defaulted to Mindy instead of SpongeBob.

Continue Screen#

Prototype	Final

A proper "continue" window wasn't implemented yet, so for now it's just the pause window. Exit continues the game, and resume ends it.

Dialog Box#

Prototype	Final

The prototype uses a small, white page indentation as a continue prompt when the final uses a more fitting A button. Additionally, in the prototype, the continue prompt will not appear after a character's dialog is finished.

Thug Tug Thug#

Prototype	Final

The Thug Tug Thug actually resembles Victor, one of the thugs seen in the movie, in the prototype. In the final game, he was changed to a generic green thug. It's possible that the reason is the eye patch, which in sprite mirroring causes it to change eyes depending on which direction he is facing.

Prototype	Final

His icon on the password screen was changed too.

King Neptune#

Prototype	Final

He's missing his Chum Bucket helmet in the prototype.

Early Dialogue#

Some of the game's dialogue is different in the prototype. Most of it is a change of punctuation.

Level Differences#

To do: Check for any other differences.

Management Material#

Prototype	Final

The left side of this pit was changed, probably so that the player could use Patrick's simpler gliding ability rather than forcing the player to use the speed boost ability and jump midair with it.

Prototype	Final

Patrick's rock has a thinner outline in the prototype.