Prerelease:SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab (PlayStation 2, GameCube, Wii)

This page details prerelease information and/or media for SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab (PlayStation 2, GameCube, Wii).

Early Pitch Document

On June 14, 2020, a YouTuber called Who Needs Normal?, who had previously done a comprehensive video about the history of BigSky Interactive and SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman, released a video about the history of Blitz Games and Creature from the Krusty Krab, and he managed to get in contact with some people who worked on it and got hold of a copy of the original pitch document for the game.

Titled SB06 - 40 Winks and dated May 6, 2005, it's about SpongeBob waking up one morning and realizing his friends are trapped in their dreams for unknown reasons, and thus he is tasked to enter each of his friends' dreams and wake them up.

Gameplay

The game is described as a story-driven action-adventure platformer with a focus on cooperative gameplay. In each level SpongeBob is accompanied by a different character, and together they would perform special actions and moves to progress through the level. While in the dream world, he could also be able to transform into different objects depending on the level, in addition to other standard transformations like a surfboard and a bowling ball, which would be used to solve puzzles and perform the aforementioned special moves.

Through the game SpongeBob would be able to alternate between the dream world and exploring Bikini Bottom in the real world, and somehow certain actions that he performs while in the dream world would alter aspects in the real world.

Various mini-games would also be available and a cross-save feature similar to the ones implemented in the PS2 versions of other Nickelodeon titles at the time, like Nicktoons Unite! and SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants!, would allow players to unlock unspecified extra content if it detected the save files from those games.

Levels

SpongeBob's Dream: in the tutorial level, SpongeBob dreams that he is a film star playing a variety of roles such as an astronaut, a cowboy and a cop. This level would feature a driving section involving a police car. The driving format for this level was utilized in the first level of the final game, Diesel Dreaming, but with the cop theme replaced by a hot rod theme. An anti-gravity section would also be available. Companion Character: Patrick.

Patrick's Dream: Patrick dreams that he's in a world full of candy and other goodies (sounds familiar?). To wake him up you need to guide Patrick to drink from various lagoons to make him want to pee. In this level SpongeBob would be able to transform into a giant Krabby Patty to better lead Patrick, and a raft to navigate various rapids. Companion Character: Patrick.

Plankton's Dream: Plankton's a giant monster and is preparing to release a clone army to destroy Bikini Bottom. This was altered and expanded in the final game as Giant Plankton became a major focus in its third act. In this level SpongeBob would be able to transform into a giant net to capture Plankton's clones, and use his bubble blower alongside Mr. Krabs to capture them in giant bubbles. Companion Character: Mr. Krabs.

Sandy's Dream: with an appearance description oddly similar to her dream level in Battle for Bikini Bottom, Sandy's relaxing in a giant golden sports trophy at the end of the level. You would partake in a series of challenges based on extreme sports. In this level SpongeBob would be able to transform into a sail and then be used by Pearl (in her 3D game debut) in a windsurf challenge. Companion Character: Pearl.

Squidward's Dream: SpongeBob and Patrick gatecrash into Squidward's School of Arts to shock Squidward and wake him up. A level mechanic involves jumping on clams to make not-so-beautiful music. In this level SpongeBob would be able to transform into a giant rubber stamp and paint the floor mural. Companion Character: Patrick.

Mr. Krabs' Dream: Mr. Krabs dreams he owns every shop and street in Bikini Bottom and lives in a large mansion at the heart of the town. SpongeBob must buy new clothes and dress up like a local aristocrat to get past the doorman and confront Mr. Krabs. Companion Character: Squidward.

Mini-Games

Snail Racing: play as Gary in a race around various arenas.
Snail Pinball: use Gary's shell as a ball in a pinball table.
Snail Maze: play as Gary in a 3D maze while leaving his snail trail behind to ensure you know where you've been.
Jellyfishing: run around with a net and capture as many jellyfish as you can.
Jellyfish Milking: keep the jellyfish happy by milking as many as possible.
Clamshell Crescendo: Squidward conducts SpongeBob and Patrick as they jump on clamshells to release notes.
Clam Catching: lasso clams with a giant plunger before the timer runs out.
Clam Riding: race your clams with your friends to get the gold.

Nintendo E3 Press Conference

An official video from Nintendo showcasing a few promising Wii launch titles at their E3 2006 press conference. At the 0:40 second mark (where the game is hilariously misspelled as Breature from the Krusty Karb) it shows some VERY early versions of It Came from Bikini Bottom and Rocket Rodeo... for about 5 seconds. Its original upload date was overwritten but using WayBack Machine reveals that it was originally posted at May 9, 2006 thus making it the earliest known footage of this game.

The fuel meter is different.
The Snooze Z's counter is different.
The font for the "Fire Away" sign is different.
Old Man Jenkins is not alongside SpongeBob on the plane.
SpongeBob's plane has a different design, looking like a red boat with wings attached to it. This design actually appeared in quite a few early promotional images and even made its way to the final back cover of the PS2 and GC versions.
The showcased area from Rocket Rodeo has no lighting resulting in it looking overly dark.
There's a ludicrous amount of rising pillars to avoid all at once at the Rocket Rodeo section, the area in the final game that closest matches it doesn't have nearly as much pillars.

Gamespot Gameplay Video

Gamespot's website has a gameplay video showing early versions of Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster and It Came from Bikini Bottom and it seems to be from the same build as the Nintendo Press Conference video. Its original upload date was overwritten but using WayBack Machine reveals that it was originally posted at May 10, 2006.

The Snooze Zs counter is different between the two levels, the final game uses the counter from Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster in all levels.
The font for the Snooze Zs counter in Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster is different.
The font for the directional arrows in It Came from Bikini Bottom are also different.
Music is nearly nonexistent and only plays during a very brief moment in the sewers in It Came from Bikini Bottom.
Also in the sewers, there's a moment where Plankton says the line "Come on SpongeBob, give up. Life is so much easier under the bucket." which is recycled from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. In the final game he instead says "Nothing can stop me now, hey Spongefool. Why don't you just give up? There's no one left to help you, no one left at all." which is ALSO recycled from The Movie.
The sound effects for collecting Snooze Z's and Plankton's "Roar" are different.
The icon below Plankton's laser meter is different.
The four pylons holding up the satellite tower that Plankton is on at the end of It Came from Bikini Bottom are different.
Plankton has 10 health points, the final game gives him 5.
The male fish 2D cutout on the drive-in movie screen has animations of him opening and closing his mouth, in the final game his mouth is permanently open.
Plankton's model has no lighting during It Came from Bikini Bottom resulting in him looking overly dark.
Near the beginning of It Came from Bikini Bottom, there's a moment where Plankton walks towards a bridge and accidentally trips over and falls on it partially destroying it, in the final game he walks towards it but, possibly due to a bug, he stops right as he's about to touch it and his tripping animation doesn't play, and yet the bridge still gets partially destroyed for no apparent reason.
Similarly, there's another moment later in the level where Plankton trips over a huge iron bar and falls flat on the ground, in the final game his tripping animation once again doesn't play and he just continues walking like normal, and yet he still says one of a set of one-liners related to either how embarrassing this accident is or how he's hurt from it.
Still in this level, there's a moment near the end of the video where an unknown meter appears in the top center of the screen separate from the fuel meter along with the messages "Bash Square!" and "! Stall !". These meter and messages never appear in the final game.

Gamespot Interview

Gamespot's website has an interview video showing a much later build of the Wii version. Its original upload date was overwritten but using WayBack Machine reveals that it was originally posted at August 16, 2006. It seems to be nearly finished minus a few differences as its date matches a comment made in a later conference with Blitz Games' co-founder saying that the game was finished at the end of August 2006.

This build seems to be running in a cropped widescreen format, the final game doesn't have any sort of widescreen support.
The Wii pointer icon is that of a pair eyes, the final game uses that of a lifeboat.
The Wii button icons are colored black, in the final game they're colored white.
The phone booths in StarfishMan to the Rescue have no glass windows.
The intro cutscene for the first platforming section in Alaskan Belly Trouble has the camera moving to a huge hole in the ceiling and then it immediately cuts to the splash screen showing the Wii controls, the final game has an additional scene of SpongeBob falling and slamming his face on the ground and then getting back up before showing the splash screen.
SpongeBob's model is the same as the PS2 and GC versions, the final Wii version specifically uses a slightly modified model with actual pushed-in holes instead of his usual dark spots.
This build still has Plankton performing his tripping animations on the bridge and the iron bar in It Came from Bikini Bottom as aforementioned.

Attract Trailer

The final game's attract trailer still contains some early footage with a few differences.

There's a Checkpoint right before the Start/Finish line in Diesel Dreaming.
The first section of Rocket Rodeo has sub-par lighting and Patrick is riding the rocket instead of being tied to it, in the final game he's tied to it during the first section and then willingly rides it in the second and third sections.
Patrick's body and the toxic gas in Rooftop Rumble still have the cel shaded outlines from StarfishMan to the Rescue, they don't have them during this level in the final game. This version with the cel shading was also shown in quite a few early promotional images.
The fourth section of Rooftop Rumble has the skybox colored red like all the other sections, in the final game it's uniquely colored purple.

Developer Interviews

There's two interviews made with Blitz Games' co-founder Andrew Oliver, one for an old Wii-focused website and another one recorded live during Game Developers Conference 2007, where he talks about the experience of making the game for the Wii and mentions certain things that were planned during development.

Originally the attack move was going to be activated by swiping the Wii Remote left or right coinciding with the movement of SpongeBob's arms. They later realized this would quickly get tiresome due to the amount of enemies in the game and instead mapped the attack move to a button.
During the racing sections, accelerating would be activated by pushing the Wii Remote forward and brake/reverse would be done by pulling it back. Due to control issues they were also remapped to buttons.
Many gameplay ideas were thought of that didn't get included, the main one being shooting mini-games that took advantage of the Wii Remote's pointer function, but they were rejected by Nickelodeon due them being uncomfortable with shooting. The idea was eventually accepted and used as two of the mini-games in the next SpongeBob game made by Blitz, SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis.

Concept Art

An early version of Hot Rod SpongeBob riding a motorcycle. This art can be unlocked on the game's shop.

An even earlier version of Hot Rod SpongeBob riding a skateboard.

An early version of Piston Patrick riding a skateboard. A VERY compressed version of this art can be found as decoration on some walls in Diesel Dreaming.

Various unused character designs for Dreaded Patrick. And Mayor Patrick is also there for some reason.

This art for the end of StarfishMan to the Rescue shows the elevator platform having several holes likely made so that Patrick can fall off and lose. Interestingly, while the holes ARE shaped inside the platform in the game, they are never open for unknown reasons. This art can be unlocked on the game's shop.

Storyboards for an early version of the ending cutscene of Super-Sized Patty. Most notably, not only it seamlessly transitions between Plankton and SpongeBob's scenes, but it shows SpongeBob apparently waking up on his room like normal while in the final game, at this point in the story, he's failing down a pit.