Xbox Game Pass Adds Charming Game With 'Very Positive' Reviews

gamerant.com:

Xbox Game Pass has added SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom — Rehydrated to its vast content library. The remake of Heavy Iron Studios' 2003 cult classic is the fourth title to reach Xbox Game Pass in March 2024, as well as the 31st overall addition to the service since the turn of the year.

July 17 will mark the 25th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants. Nickelodeon's beloved animated series had a strong gaming presence for nearly as long, having been used as the basis for nearly 50 video games since 2001. And while that kind of volume has inevitably resulted in some quality variance, it has also yielded no shortage of highly regarded titles. Of those, the original Battle for Bikini Bottom is still widely considered as one of the best SpongeBob SquarePants games ever made.

Its 2020 remake that just made its way to Microsoft's subscription service has mostly been met with approval from critics. It also boasts «Very Positive» reviews on Steam, based on more than 12,000 user ratings. Going by the raw number of player recommendations on Valve's storefront, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom — Rehydrated is so far the most celebrated title to have reached Xbox Game Pass in March 2024.

Much like most other games that find their way to Microsoft's subscription library, the Battle for Bikini Bottom remake is a cross-platform release, available on both PC and the last two generations of Xbox consoles. It also supports achievements; 32 of them, to be exact. Earning all of them will net Xbox users 1,000 Gamerscore points. Such a completionist run will take around 15 hours, or likely less for those who played the original, not least because the 2020 game is a fairly faithful remake. Even so, Rehydrated still manages to improve SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom in some major ways, especially on the quality-of-life front.

This release adds to the already sizable number of high-quality action platformers on Xbox Game Pass. Apart from some