Only the first chapter is playable without use of the level select before you're met with a "Game Over" message.
Menus
Title Screen
June Prototype
July Prototype
Final
The June prototype's title screen is entirely different, displaying as a menu instead of its own screen. At this point in development, the game was tentatively titled "SpongeBob SquarePants".
None of the splash screens are present, as the game launches directly to the title screen.
Main Menu
June Prototype
July Prototype
Final
Unique arrow sprites are used to select options instead of the red highlight seen in later builds.
The title screen music persists throughout all menus.
Button reminders are missing.
Inside the Options menu, the Credits and Controller Options do nothing at this point.
A Level Select takes the place of the password screen. The most recently-played level is shown by default, and you can navigate the available levels using the Left and Right buttons on the D-Pad.
Map Screen
June Prototype
Final
The stats at the bottom and the button reminders are missing, and there's a spatula counter for each level.
The names for each level are shifted far lower due to the lack of content at the bottom of the screen.
It's possible to highlight locked levels, though their names are "Unavailable", and they cannot be selected.
Dialogue
June Prototype
Final
The scenes featuring Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are missing, and the game instead cuts right to Squidward's dialogue.
Squidward and Sandy's screens are shown on a black background with no sounds or animations of SpongeBob. Once again, the button reminders are missing.
The character icons are shifted to the right and lack borders.
The uppercase "I" looks different, and commas don't display for an unknown reason.
Squidward
Early
Final
It's Sunday today
SpongeBob and no
Krusty Krab.
Whilst I am busy
here why don't you use
this net for jellyfishing
Use R to Collect up to 10
Jellyfish.
Use B to launch
them at enemies.
You know that could
be the best day ever for me
if you got as far away as
possible!!!
It's Sunday today
SpongeBob and no Krusty
Krab. Whilst I am busy
here, why don't you use
this net for jellyfishing.
Use R BUTTON to collect
up to 10 Jellyfish. Use
B BUTTON to launch them
at enemies.
You know this could be
the best day ever for
me if you got as far
away as possible!
In the final, the text would be revised to change the pronounciation of the buttons and make a bit more sense.
Sandy
Early
Final
Use the Karate Chop.
Hold on there little
square dude! If you
want to defend yourself
use your chop!!!
My Tree Dome is full of
air. Splash in the
pools and soak up water
to stop yourself from drying
out.
What are you looking here for?
Differences
General Differences
When entering levels, there's no text telling you what to get.
The title cards appear on a black background.
The HUD never disappears, and the heart pulses faster.
Enemies despawn almost immediately after they exit the screen. However, once their spawn location re-enters the screen they'll spawn again.
The underwear pick-up is the Underpants from Precipice Canyon, instead of the sponge's own tighty whities.
The text that tells you if you gained a life is missing.
Losing a life kicks you back to the title screen, regardless of how many you have.
SpongeBob
There are no waiting animations.
Sometimes (but always in Jelly Fields), SpongeBob will make the screen shake when ground-pounding.
Every other time SpongeBob stops moving, he'll switch to a wobbling animation until you move again.
There is a delay to looking up and down.
When finishing a level, SpongeBob doesn't perform a victory animation.
Jelly Fields / Jellyfields
There's an unobtainable Jellyfishing Net in the beginning of the level.
Moving platforms travel much faster.
This is the only level where SpongeBob can use his net. Pressing the L button will give you 10 Jellyfish and restore your health.
When finishing the level, SpongeBob's sprite appears behind the grass backdrop.
Sandy's Tree Dome / Sandy's Biodome
Many clumps of leaves and branches were rearranged in the final.
Fish Hooks Park
The clam and crab enemies are nowhere to be seen.
The hooks' poles don't extend as far up, and it's possible to see the top of them.
Downtown Bikini Bottom / Bikini Bottom Town
The level is very unfinished at this point; There are few enemies among other objects leading up to a line of items and a bossless ending.
The Jelly Fields theme is played if accessed without the level select. Otherwise, the music for Fish Hooks Park can be heard.
Precipice Canyon
The layout of the level is radically different, and is completely devoid of objects aside from one enemy.
There is no exit, meaning you must reset the game to leave.
The blank area underneath the background can be seen at the end of the level.
Man Ray's Lair / Polluted Seabed
You spawn far above and to the right of the final's beginning spawnpoint.
The layout is largely the same up until you're met with an impassable barrier early on in the level. Because of this, you must once again reset the game to exit.
The music for Lonely Souls is played.
Canning Factory / Canning Ship
The graphics are completely different and clearly unfinished; the level itself is simply a flat platform.
Once again, the Lonely Souls music can be heard.
"KBMAP"
"KBMAP" is the name of a level placed immediately after Chapter 1 in the level select. You can find it by going to the Level Select and selecting "KBMAP". Or, if you lost a life and used the Level Select to enter the level you were last on and then beat the game, you'd be taken here as well.
The level itself is very short and doesn't resemble any other in the final game. It uses the same music as Sandy's Tree Dome (in the PS1 version), and has only one enemy. There's no way to beat the level so the only way of exiting it is by resetting the game.
