SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! could well be a game for everybody. But that could be the weakness in its strength right there. The last SpongeBob game I played scored very well with me. Why? Because it was aimed at kids, but it had an intriguing innuendo ridden vibe that ran through to entertain older players too. Lights, Camera, Pants! doesn't reach out to one audience, entertaining other audiences along the way - instead, it tries too hard to grasp every audience known to man, and fails in each category.

Mini-game games are always a tricky genre to master. Mario Party is one example of a good game that's popular with the kids; however, I never warmed to the slow paced, turn based board game romp. LCP does a great job of getting you into the action rather quickly and the story mode ties in the mini-games rather funnily, with cut scenes involving a reality TV fish guy, who wants to put contestants through their paces for Bikini Bottom's viewing pleasure. So this is where you and your friends come in. You can play as one of the contestants (and all the characters are here, from Bob himself to Mr. Krabs) - all mini games supporting up to four players, some mini games having two of you working as a team on a 2vs2 scenario, and others having you battle it out in a four way battle.

The game only packs in 30 mini games, as opposed to 75 from the latest Mario Party title. Out of these 30, there aren't many that actually stand out. There's a good football one, where it's two aside and you play football on a seahorse's back, and another cool one where you have to serve people in the Krusty Krab - one of you sticking orders on the tray and the other one actually taking and dispatching orders. But the lasting appeal for most of these games is zero to none. There are mini games that I'm glad to see the end of, like one that sees you and another teammate bounce things in sequence (to me, to you) to the other side. This lasts a good five minutes and I wouldn't play it again if I could avoid it.

The game experience greatly increases if you have friends around; if four of you are around a TV and you're all playing against each other for points, well, then it can get interesting. But if you're playing on your own, expect a sub-par time. The reason why I've pulled up the fact that this game hasn't got a specific audience in mind is relatively simple. For me, there isn't enough SpongeBob - this game could use any party game engine, with any characters, and it would pretty much play the same. There is no wacky, over the top kiddy humour, which makes the game somewhat drab and dull when it comes to cheap laughs. Come to think of it, I don't think my sisters even enjoyed what was on offer when they played it. Part of Bob's charm is that he really is a children's icon, but adults love him too. If this game was aimed at kids, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more. That might not make much sense, but SpongBob lovers will know exactly what I mean.

Of course, like I mentioned before, the mini games really take off when you have friends around. The game will keep the kids quiet, providing they are really die-hard SpongeBob fans (and won't be bothered at the lack of Sponge) - or providing that they have friends or siblings to compete against.

Graphically the game doesn't really excel. Simple, almost (for the most part) 2D mini games and no over the top satire, which I would expect from a game like this. 3D cut scenes are done relatively well, but most things don't really do the whole SpongeBob licence much justice. The game comes into its own with sound though. With superb voiceovers for every character, it's great when certain characters come out with certain phrases from the cartoon. Cut scene voiceovers all sound original and the mini game music provides the ear with something to hum along to. If ears could hum. The music takes the laidback approach I prefer in a game like this. It's sometimes nice for older audiences to play a kids' game, as it stimulates certain memories and triggers certain feelings.

But of course, SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! is universal, so anybody can enjoy it. Anybody except everybody, that is, but I'm sure kids with friends will enjoy this game to some extent. Just don't expect to let the AI make up for the lack of friends, because they don't really react very well. Easy makes them dumb, and hard turns them into frenzied generic robots that make no mistakes. Medium? Well - a blend of the two, but there is really no intelligence here. Of course, the odd SpongeBob appearance and the odd wisecrack from Mr. Krabs makes up for the otherwise abysmal tasting Krabby Patty of a game, but unless you really have an itch for a Sponge game, this probably should be avoided.

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).