The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox)/Platform Differences

This is a sub-page of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox).

To do: Native hardware screenshots of Xbox differences rather than capture card captures.

Unsurprisingly, this game has some interesting differences between some platforms, some due to platform limitations and others due to time. Lots of these differences are specific to the GameCube version, interestingly enough.

Graphical Differences

• The texture filtering in the PlayStation 2 version is noticeably poorer than in the GameCube and Xbox versions, with very obvious texture cascades in certain levels.

GameCube and Xbox	PlayStation 2

• On the PlayStation 2 version, the cheese on the Patty Wagon is incorrectly colored red. This only applies for the Patty Wagon's full-health texture, as the cheese is colored yellow when the Patty Wagon is damaged.

GameCube and Xbox	PlayStation 2

• Water rendering in Google-Eyes and Smelly Knick Knacks are all handled differently between the three consoles. The PS2 version utilizes a water effect built off of a polygonal body, the GameCube version just uses a simple texture atop a polygonal body, and the Xbox version leans into (what appears to be) a shader effect to render the level's water.
  • On the GameCube version of Dennis Strikes Back!, the boat duplicates used for their water reflections were also removed.

PlayStation 2	GameCube	Xbox

• The GameCube version's textures tend to be more compressed than those of the PS2 and Xbox releases. Ironically, this has an effect on how the game handles texture filtering, where texture cascades are considerably less obvious than they are on the PS2 version.

GameCube	PlayStation 2	Xbox

• The GameCube version is missing various lighting effects, impacting the look of certain levels more than others. This tends to affect levels which large amounts of bloom the most.
• The GameCube version tends to run at a lower frame rate than its PS2 and Xbox counterparts. All of the driving levels, alongside Bubble Blowing Baby Hunt and Google-Eyes and Smelly Knick Knacks are locked to 30fps on the GameCube, with potential for drops even with those caps in mind.
• The crowds of fish seen in No Cheese! and Sandwich Driving 101 are missing their animations and remain static in the GameCube version.
• In the GameCube version, moving spotlights are turned off in levels such as No Cheese! and Turn the Tables on Plankton, likely due to bloom being compromised in this version.
• The background SpongeBob that appears after switching to Patrick in Three... Thousand Miles to Shell City is missing in the GameCube version.

PlayStation 2 and Xbox	GameCube

• There are fewer thugs in the Disco Star challenge on GameCube. They are spread out to compensate.

PlayStation 2 and Xbox	GameCube

• Lloyd's texture is compressed improperly on PS2, making him appear beige instead of green.

PlayStation 2	GameCube

Gameplay Differences

• On the GameCube version of No Cheese!, the Manliness Points for the wall jumping section were positioned higher compared to PS2 and Xbox.

PlayStation 2 and Xbox	GameCube

• On GameCube, the FLYTHROUGH_END_SCRIPT found in multiple levels starts the conversation with Mindy after 0.5s, while on PS2 and Xbox the conversation starts after 0.2s, resulting in the exchange being ever so slightly delayed on GameCube.
• On the GameCube version of Three... Thousand Miles to Shell City, the cacti damage surface (DAMAGE_SURF) has its "DamageBounce" value set to 0 instead of 3 like on PS2 and Xbox. The difference is most prominent whenever SpongeBob fails to be knocked back to safety. On GameCube, SpongeBob will get stuck while on PS2 and Xbox he will bounce upward slightly, making it possible to move around.
• On the GameCube version of Rub a Dub Dub, Slip Slide in the Tub, RING_065 has a timer of 6 seconds instead of normal 5 seconds found on PS2 and Xbox. The GameCube version also repositions the surrounding flower props, as one of them was floating in the air.

PlayStation 2 and Xbox	GameCube

• The first steam vent on the path to the Disco Star task was repositioned.

PlayStation 2 and Xbox	GameCube

• An additional Hans trigger is present on the GameCube version of I'll Let You Pet Mr. Whiskers.

PlayStation 2 and Xbox	GameCube

• The Steel Safe tutorial trigger is slightly repositioned on the GameCube version of Shell City, Dead Ahead.

PlayStation 2 and Xbox	GameCube

• On GameCube, all the Button Base SIMPs in Shell City, Dead Ahead have been changed to follow the rotation of the mechanism they are attached to. This corrects the clipping issue on the soda can stack found on the PS2 and Xbox versions.

PlayStation 2 and Xbox	GameCube

• One of the peanut shaped topiaries in Sundae Driving is oddly missing on the GameCube version.

PlayStation 2 and Xbox	GameCube

Menu Differences

• The start menu tells the player to Press the Start Button on the PS2 and Xbox versions, while it just tells you to Press Start on the GameCube version.

PlayStation 2 and Xbox	GameCube

• The Promotional Materials menu is stripped back on the Xbox version compared to the PS2 and GameCube versions, where both the Jimmy Neutron and Fairly OddParents trailers are removed possibly due to the games they're advertising, Attack of the Twonkies and Shadow Showdown respectively, not being released on Xbox.

PlayStation 2 and GameCube	Xbox

• The Options menu contains extra options in the PS2 version compared to the Xbox and GameCube versions, most likely to account for some fixed settings within the PS2's system settings. The PS2 version gains a Sound Mode setting, allowing the user to toggle between mono and stereo audio mixing, while also gaining a self-explanatory Screen Adjust setting.

PlayStation 2	Xbox	GameCube

• The Sound Mode has a unique SpongeBob voice line for it.

PlayStation 2
Oh Sound Mode, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

• The Vibration Mode option in the PS2 and Xbox versions gets renamed to Rumble Feature in the GameCube version, accounting for what the feature is called on a GameCube controller. A unique SpongeBob voice line is even used.

PlayStation 2 and Xbox	GameCube
Change the Vibration setting here.	Change the Rumble setting here.

• The GameCube version sometimes has audio skipping issues on real hardware.
• The GameCube version has a rare tendency to hang on loading screens. This issue is much more common when played on a Wii due to its lower disc read speed.

Audio Differences

• The PlayStation 2 version features lower quality audio than the GameCube and Xbox versions, utilizing the PS2-friendly (but rather limited) VAG audio format rather than the solutions that the GameCube and Xbox use. Most notably, this means that all of the music is now in mono form, rather than in stereo like the GameCube and Xbox versions.

PlayStation 2	GameCube	Xbox

• The GameCube version has higher quality sound effects than the PS2 and Xbox versions.
• The GameCube version of Drive of the Knucklehead-McSpazitron plays the engine-stopping sound effect after watching the ending cutscene.
  • RACE_1_WIN_TRIG is changed to send the PattyWagonStopEngine Event to the player with the 1st Argument set to 0 instead of 1 (PS2/Xbox).
• The GameCube version has a blank ini file named "splash.ini". This is not present on other console ports.

Xbox Enhancements

Just like Battle for Bikini Bottom, the Xbox version has some enhancements.

• Texture filtering is noticeably higher quality than on the PS2 and GameCube, while the frame rate is far more stable and the draw distance is higher.
• This version supports 480p progressive scan output, as well as a slightly higher rendering resolution of 640x480.
  • Interestingly enough, both the PlayStation 2 and GameCube versions internally render in a progressive form, albeit at non-native resolutions for their respective platforms.
• This version also features a pass of 2x MSAA, which helps in cleaning the image up in a rather significant way.
• There is now 16:9 cropped widescreen support. Strangely, this only works when the console is set to 480p, as, even with the console set to widescreen, the 16:9 mode will not work in 480i.
• There is now support for 5.1 Dolby Digital audio output, unlike the other versions, which only support stereo.
• For whatever reason, the Patty Wagon has varying speeds depending on the version, with GameCube being the fastest of all three.

PlayStation 3 Port

The game was temporarily available for download on the PlayStation Store as a PlayStation 2 classic, which meant it was a port of the PlayStation 2 version to be run via PS3's software emulator. This version, however, has several downgrades when compared to running the game on real PS2 hardware.

• 2 picture settings were added. One for 4:3, and another for 16:9. Strangely, the game defaults to 16:9, making it stretched.
• In-game cutscenes suffer from stuttering and de-synchronized voice clips.
• Noticeable input lag exists in this version.
• Some textures are blurry due to the game being output at a higher resolution via the PS3's software emulator.

It was taken off the store soon after its release, presumably because of these issues.