Demolish or be demolished!
SpongeBob: Are you saying I should destroy things and drive recklessly?
Seymour: Absolutely not. Why, D.R.I.V.E. will teach you what a poor driver is so that you can use that knowledge to help become a better driver!
SpongeBob's Boating Bash is a video game developed by ImPulse Games and published by THQ for the Nintendo Wii in 2010. The game is a Driving Game loosely based on the various Boating School episodes from the SpongeBob SquarePants animated series, but does not directly follow any of their specific plots. A second version was released for the Nintendo DS at the same time, developed instead by Firebrand Games.
Despite the best efforts of both himself and his boating instructor Mrs. Puff, SpongeBob has failed his driving test for the umpteenth time. As he mopes around in the aftermath, he is approached by Seymour Scales, a self-proclaimed driving instructor who introduces him to his patented "Learn To D.R.I.V.E." course, offering students a chance to get a drivers' license by learning how not to drive in just five easy classes. SpongeBob, ever the expert in crashing boats, decides to take this class in hopes of finally obtaining his license.
The D.R.I.V.E. course consists of five different classes, with each correlating to a different game mode, all with the same recurring theme of driving around and smashing other boats.
- Destruction: Drivers ram into each other's boats until pieces start to break off, and collect pieces from their rivals to score points. The event ends when all but one of the driver's boats stops running, and whoever has the most points wins.
- Recklessness: Drivers score points by damaging the boats of their opponents. In Group Play, the player with the most points when time expires is the winner, while the events that appear in story mode challenge the player to reach a specific score threshold in order to pass.
- Impairment: One player is tasked with defeating all of the other drivers by pushing their boats out of the arena. When they bump one of their opponents, stars temporarily appear over their heads, during which they are unable to move, leaving their opponent an opportunity to push them around. In group play, players take turns being the solo player across a series of rounds.
- Velocity: Drivers race around a short track to be the first to complete a prerequisite number of laps. Along the way, racers can still damage each other by ramming into their boats, and if a racer's boat breaks down before they complete the race, they are disqualified.
- Escape: One player must survive a series of rounds in which their opponents are all chasing after them to destroy their boat. The solo player must defeat all of their opponents while making sure their own boat doesn't break down. The player's boat will be repaired after each round they complete, but they have to finish quickly in order to get the most complete repairs. In Group Play, players take turns being the solo player between rounds.
- There's an additional mode called Reckless Velocity, which combines the rules of the Recklessness and Velocity modes. Players race laps around a track while scoring points by ramming into their rivals and damaging the terrain.
D.R.I.V.E. school acts as the game's story mode, in which players control SpongeBob through a series of lessons based on each of the five main components of D.R.I.V.E. with different conditions. The game also include quick play and multiplayer modes, which allow the player to select any mode and stage they wish, and gives them a choice from the game's other playable characters. As the player progresses through D.R.I.V.E. school, they can unlock more features, including characters, boat types, and stages.
SpongeBob's Boating Bash contains examples of:
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Accidental Innuendo: The line that Patrick says to convince Squidward to join in the D.R.I.V.E. events.Patrick: (singingly) You can smaaaash [SpongeBob]...!Squidward: (almost immediately) Where do I sign? - All the Worlds Are a Stage: The final exams of the D.R.I.V.E. course consists of one stage dedicated to each of the five main components of D.R.I.V.E.
- Amusement Park: Certain stages take place at Glove World. While none of the amusement park features appear within the arenas themselves, you can see various carnival rides and stalls in the backgrounds.
- Anti-Frustration Feature: If you fall into a pit too many times in one exam, Seymour will deactivate them so falling into one won’t end the exam.
- Big Bad: Seymour Scales, the D.R.I.V.E. instructor.
- Big Damn Heroes: Had it not been for Mrs. Puff, SpongeBob never would've realized that his 'license' was a fake, and Seymour would've gotten away with scamming him and his friends out of their money.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Seymour initially appears to be a kindly old boating instructor, but he's actually tricking SpongeBob into taking phony classes so he can con him out of his money.
- Bittersweet Ending: After Seymour is exposed as a fraud, SpongeBob stops him from escaping and gets him sent to jail, but this unfortunately means his new license is completely worthless. He's at least thrilled that he can keep taking classes with Mrs. Puff, but she isn't exactly looking forward to it.
- Boss Banter: Seymour will deliver many quips towards SpongeBob during the Final Boss fight. SpongeBob will fire back sometimes when you manage to hit them.Seymour: This is the final part of your lessons, SpongeBob; avoidance!SpongeBob: Come on! Lemme hit you again, you crook!
- Boss-Only Level: The last level, aptly named Final Battle, after finishing the final exams.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Two of the event types are Recklessness, where the player scores points by damaging their opponent's boats, and Velocity, where they race laps around a track. There is also a mode called Reckless Velocity, where players score points by damaging the other boats while racing around a track.
- Canon Foreigner: Seymour Scales is a new character introduced in this game, who has never appeared in the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon proper.
- Cutscene Incompetence: Before SpongeBob's driving test at the beginning, Mrs. Puff guides both him and the player through a short practice session in which she explains the basics of the game's driving mechanics. Unfortunately, no matter how well the player does during this part, the test itself takes place in a cutscene where SpongeBob, as is tradition, immediately floors it and crashes into the lighthouse, failing the test.
- Damage-Sponge Boss: SpongeBob has to ram into Seymour's boat enough times before the latter can get too far away.
- Defeat Means Playable: Seymour is the final unlockable character, and is unlocked after defeating him in the final boss fight of story mode.
- Electric Jellyfish: Jellyfish appear as enemies in later rounds of Escape events. Any drivers that run into them will be hit with an electric shock that damages their boat.
- Fragile Speedster: Boatmobiles in the Dinghies class have among the highest speed and handling stats of the selectable boats, along with the smallest bodies on average, but they suffer from having among the worst durability.
- Gameplay Grading: Each test in the D.R.I.V.E. courses awards the player with an A, B, or C, grade if they achieve a great enough score. In order to move on to the next course, the player must achieve high enough grades across each of the tests.
- "Get Back Here!" Boss: The final battle with Seymour has him driving away in his boat, and SpongeBob has to damage him by chasing him down a linear track, but if Seymour gets too far ahead, SpongeBob instantly loses the fight. Complicating matters, Seymour throws various attacks behind him to slow SpongeBob down, such as random junk SpongeBob can crash into, or bubbles that mess with his controls.
- Go-Karting with Bowser:
- Series main antagonist Plankton is an unlockable driver, and can take part in destruction derbies alongside the heroes.
- After being revealed to be the game's villain at the end, Seymour can be unlocked as a driver after defeating him.
- High-Speed Battle: The final battle with Seymour Scales.
- Interface Spoiler: Whenever the player makes enough progress in the D.R.I.V.E. classes to unlock a new character, the game shows an unlock prompt showing who the new character is before the subsequent cutscene, which shows them joining the story, is played.
- I've Heard of That — What Is It?: When Patrick is introduced to the D.R.I.V.E. classes, Seymour tells him that the classes will be just like bumper cars. Patrick is initially excited, only to state that he doesn't know what bumper cars are.
- Jack of All Stats: The Cruiser boats have the most balanced stats of all the boat classes, with middling speed, handling, and durability.
- Mighty Glacier: The Cabin Cruiser and Tug Boat class boats are the most durable and have the largest bodies, but have poor movement and handling stats.
- Racing Game: The Velocity events challenge drivers to be the first to complete a prerequisite number of laps around a short track. These events are straightforward races with no weapons or items, but racers can still decommission their opponents if they damage their boats enough over the course of the race.
- Recycled Soundtrack: Many of the music tracks that play during events are reused from SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab, such as the tracks for the Starfishman to the Rescue and Super-Sized Patty levels.
- Reformulated Game: The DS version of the game forgoes the behind-the-driver view of the Wii version in favor of a top-down perspective racer, where you touch the DS touch screen to guide your driver in the direction you want to go.
- Ring Out: Certain arenas have pits that the drivers can fall into due to the lack of any barriers on the edges. Falling into one instantly removes that driver from the event. Pushing opponents out of the arena is the most effective way to eliminate opponents in the Impairment events.
- Shows Damage: As the boats take damage throughout each event, pieces of them will break off and reveal the body underneath. This is actually a gameplay mechanic, as attacking the sections of boat where the outside has already been broken off will damage the center of the boat, which is how the drivers can decommission their opponents.
- Timed Mission: The Escape missions have a timer for how long the solo player can take to eliminate all of the opposing drivers. They do not instantly fail if they run out of time, but the amount their boat will be repaired before the next round will be diminished.
- The Unfought: While the other playable characters join the D.R.I.V.E. events after they are unlocked, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy never take part, even after they are unlocked for the Free Play modes.
- Ultimate Final Exam: After finishing the Escape lessons, SpongeBob will have to partake in one last challenge in each of the D.R.I.V.E. courses before his license can be acquired.
