SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game interview – making a star out of the starfish

To observe the motorboat of Patrick Star’s archetypal ever pb relation successful a video game, we talk to its steadfast to larn much astir however it made the oversea star’s imagination travel true.

This twelvemonth saw kids amusement SpongeBob SquarePants somehow observe its 25th anniversary. However, though his sanction mightiness besides treble up arsenic the title, adjacent a casual instrumentality can’t contradict that the kind-hearted quadrate wouldn’t person gotten anyplace adjacent arsenic acold without the eclectic formed of characters who situation him. Patrick Star is main amongst them, of course, who this week yet cemented a quarter-century of chaotic relationship by starring successful his precise ain game. Developed by workplace PHL Collective and published by Outright Games, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game offers players aggregate ways to wreak havoc passim Bikini Bottom successful appropriately hectic fashion.

Not to beryllium confused with the semi-open levels recovered successful SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated oregon 2023’s The Cosmic shingle much recently, The Patrick Star Game alternatively opts to marque Patrick’s surroundings a physics-based sandbox, with iconic locations specified arsenic The Krusty Krab and Glove World serving arsenic an inventive playground for madness. To observe much astir the process of gifting Patrick Star his precise ain game, I sat down with Chris Rose, accumulation decorator astatine Outright Games.

Can you archer maine a small spot astir the inheritance of the PHL Collective, and wherefore was it a bully prime of workplace to marque the archetypal Patrick Star game?

So PHL Collective… I judge this is the 5th rubric they've made for us. They're a distant improvement squad based successful Philadelphia and New Jersey. A truly talented squad of radical who person each worked astatine the accustomed suspects, similar the Ubisofts, the EAs, and [some] adjacent worked astatine Neversoft backmost successful the time erstwhile they were inactive a thing.

We said to them, ‘hey, bash you privation to bash thing a spot antithetic to the level-based platformers? We've got this physics crippled and we're reasoning of doing it successful the satellite of SpongeBob and playing arsenic Patrick’. They latched onto it immediately. A mates of them really person bully connections with Paramount anyway, truthful they understood what we were trying to do.

Was it ever a pre-requisite that the crippled diagnostic Patrick arsenic the lead?

We already knew we wanted to beryllium a physics-based game. There was a speech – it wasn't a precise agelong speech – of, ‘do we privation to beryllium SpongeBob oregon what bash we privation to do?’. Then instantly we said, ‘well, wherefore wouldn't we beryllium Patrick?’. Obviously, we already person SpongeBob games. We cognize astir Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated and immoderate different ones successful the past, and they're each truly cool. If you're doing a physics-based game, you privation to usage Patrick due to the fact that evidently he's rather rubbery successful himself, due to the fact that of that oversea prima quality of him. He's each arms and legs anyway, and he's got that rotund waistline. It made much consciousness to beryllium him due to the fact that he's rather flexible and wobbly arsenic it is.

No-one's ever truly done thing conscionable with Patrick arsenic the pb formed subordinate successful a video crippled format. You’ve had the show, you've had the movies, and the small bits of um TV work. We said it'd beryllium truly amusive conscionable to conscionable beryllium Patrick. The much we thought astir it, the much it really made consciousness due to the fact that Patrick is chaotic successful ways that helium doesn't adjacent recognize he's chaotic. The thought of barrelling done picnic tables and explosives. He's conscionable wholly oblivious to the information that he's causing Mayhem. So determination was a conversation; it conscionable wasn't a precise agelong 1 wherever everyone consecutive distant went, ‘yeah, this should beryllium a Patrick game’.

Being much of a physics sandbox crippled than unfastened world, however does this mentation of Bikini Bottom disagree from those we’ve seen before?

The main happening we had to see was what tin beryllium messed with successful that benignant of environment. So, we've got tons of vehicles driving around, the citizens are around, but past evidently we’ve got objects. We've got things similar broomsticks that you could expanse things and radical distant with. We've got basketballs to propulsion into hoops oregon motorboat astatine people. Then evidently we've got explosive barrels. ‘Okay, what does that do? What does that bash to the interaction of the environment?’. It conscionable kept evolving from there.

It was 1 of those situations wherever we said, however acold are we allowed to propulsion it wrong respect of the IP itself?’. We don't privation to beryllium blowing up SpongeBob's location due to the fact that that's conscionable not chill [laughs]. But past astatine the aforesaid clip Patrick and SpongeBob, of course, origin rather a batch of harm to the metropolis successful the show. We said, ‘maybe we won't bash l gathering destruction, but what if we could bash things similar situation objects and operation tract objects…’ Things could past behave successful a precise comic way. It was unsocial successful we had to marque definite we thought of what tin beryllium destroyed versus not destroyed. What tin beryllium painted versus not painted? What tin beryllium messed with without wiping retired the full map?

What was the process similar for selecting which Patrick Star costumes would look successful the crippled and which retired of the galore are your favourites?

I deliberation we watched thing similar 150 hours of SpongeBob SquarePants to find the things helium wears. My favourite one, the 1 I thin to conscionable tally astir with the most, is inactive the operation one, which is fundamentally erstwhile he's conscionable nailed aboard to his head. That one's beauteous funny. We besides person got the 1 wherever he's dressed up successful spandex, He’s besides got 1 with an crystal pick cone connected his caput and he's moving astir successful that form; they're each truly funny. It was conscionable 1 of those things wherever we said to the guys astatine Paramount, ‘are determination immoderate that we can't messiness with?’ and they said, ‘no. If you privation to bash them each conscionable spell for it’.

When you spell done it, helium has really got rather a wide scope of costumes, and we realised similar it's astir apt excessively galore for america to grip due to the fact that it's conscionable you excessively many. They get mislaid a small spot successful in the shuffle. It was 15 successful the extremity that we came up with. Naturally, we said they should go the unlockables due to the fact that radical emotion seeing Patrick successful his antithetic outfits and costumes. That was conscionable portion of the process. We conscionable watched hundreds of hours of SpongeBob successful the pb up to deciding what we wanted. It was virtually conscionable 1 person’s job: ‘Can you constitute america a database of each costume you spot and which occurrence they’re from?’. Then they broke it down and benignant of gave america the list.

What was it similar moving with Bill Fagerbakke connected this game, and was helium excited by the imaginable of Patrick being thrust into the spotlight?

He loved it! When we worked with Bill we explained that Patrick was the pb feline and helium was obviously, helium conscionable gets into the portion arsenic Patrick. These guys conscionable evidently loved doing this stuff, inactive aft each his time. Tom Kenny, too, was conscionable fantastic. Diving betwixt voices and having a speech with himself astatine 1 constituent successful each voices, Mr. Lawrence… Quincy was amazing. They're conscionable truthful into it and they truly bash bask it arsenic well.

Then Bill, successful particular, arsenic soon arsenic you said, ‘hey we've got similar a clump of lines and we conscionable privation to get similar 10 antithetic versions of them’, helium conscionable gave america 10 wholly antithetic versions of them. Seeing the dependable was really, truly cool. It was it was amusive to bash it with him.

Finally, bash you anticipation that Patrick has much opportunities to ‘take the lead’ arsenic it were, pursuing this game’s release, and bash you person immoderate ideas for a imaginable sequel?

We're waiting to spot wherever things rotation connected this one. To person thing that's acceptable successful the SpongeBob Universe and not beryllium astir SpongeBob, it tin beryllium rather a daunting happening to explicate to people, but I deliberation due to the fact that Patrick is evidently conscionable truthful progressive successful the bid and has had his ain worldly connected the broadside arsenic well, I deliberation Paramount person besides benignant of realised successful the past that they had perchance Patrick that they ne'er got to benignant of afloat realise. I deliberation it past became little of a hazard for us.

We bash enactment connected games that others don't needfully deliberation of conscionable due to the fact that we think, ‘well, it mightiness beryllium rather amusive for kids to acquisition thing different’. We privation to bash a physics sandbox game. We privation to bash it wrong the satellite of SpongeBob. Let's bash it with Patrick due to the fact that Patrick is the main feline that makes sense. He's got tons of popularity to the constituent wherever it wasn't truly a interest due to the fact that he's conscionable chill dude. Working past with Bill to marque the quality travel to life, you get to play and tally astir and perceive him saying truly comic things. Things similar picking up the telephone and him going, ‘this is Patrick’. Things similar that marque definite we've truly understood the character.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game is disposable to play and download present connected PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.