Prerelease:SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman (GameCube, PlayStation 2)

This page details pre-release information and/or media for SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman (GameCube, PlayStation 2).

The game initially started as a pitch to THQ around 2000-2001, originally being developed at Kalisto Entertainment USA, later BigSky Interactive after Kalisto France went under in April 2002. Created by fans of the series, it was rocked by both issues with the game engine and conflict with THQ over budget and ownership of the company; eventually, THQ blacklisted the entire company, causing the staff to be slowly laid off and the final product being rushed out the door before BigSky would finally shut down in March 2003.

Timeline

2000-2001

• Unknown date - Kalisto Entertainment USA pitches a SpongeBob game to THQ.

2002

• April - Kalisto France, the parent company of Kalisto USA, shuts down.
• May - Kalisto USA reforms into BigSky Interactive to continue development.
• May/June - THQ proposes that they purchase BigSky Interactive, which declines. In response, THQ blacklists the entire company from other publishers.
• November 5 - final build date internally.
• November 21 - Revenge of the Flying Dutchman releases in North America on the PlayStation 2.
• December 17 - Revenge of the Fyling Dutchman releases in North America on the GameCube.

2003

• March 14 - Revenge of the Flying Dutchman releases in Europe on the PlayStation 2.
• March 28 - Revenge of the Flying Dutchman releases in Europe on the GameCube.
• Late-March - BigSky Interactive shuts down; management manages to find everyone new jobs before a party is held with the remaining money.

Photos

Seen on the right is the earliest known photo of the game, featuring SpongeBob in an early version of Jellyfish Fields.

• It has a debug print-out on the upper-right, while the upper-left has a very unfinished HUD.
• Judging from the HUD, Krabby Patties are used in place of doubloons.
• Spongebob has no costumes.
• Jellyfish Fields is set at sunset rather than at daytime.
• The bridge has less of a curve than the final game.
• Few platforms are visible.

SpongeBob Halloween DVD Trailer

A trailer that was included in the 2002 SpongeBob Halloween DVD, this seems to be a later build than what the photo above has, though still has a large number of differences.

General

The main collectible for the game in the trailer is Krabby Patties, as opposed to the doubloons used in the final game.

HUD

There are two different HUD layouts used in the video, suggesting the footage was not recorded at the same point in development.

The first HUD is more different to the final one: it stacks the Jellyfish and collectible counters vertically in the top-left of the screen, and the collected letter tiles are shown in the top-centre of the screen. None of the collectible counters display leading zeros, unlike both the second HUD in the trailer and the final HUD.

The second HUD is more similar to the final one in terms of layout: like the final game's HUD, the collectible counters now have leading zeros and each collectible is now spread out across the screen.

Goo Lagoon

• The Goo Lagoon pier lacks objects.
• Goo Lagoon has much simpler lighting and seems to also lack a background.

Chum World

• Chum World is set at evening instead of night.
• The level looks much more... bland.

Oddities

• SpongeBob is seen wearing his Karate outfit on the Goo Lagoon pier, which not possible in the final game.

Video Detective

A strange video that was uploaded to videodetective.com. It seems to be a much later build of the PS2 release (indicated by the brightness of the skybox), but still not complete.

• The effect used for collecting doubloons are a star effect, in the final, it's a shine.
• There's a fence around SpongeBob's backyard that was removed in the final.
• A pinwheel behind Squidward's house is missing.
• At 0:25 in the video, SpongeBob is hit 4 times by a Jellyfish, but does not lose his pants. SpongeBob normally loses his pants when he has 1 health remaining, suggesting either a higher health cap in this build (the final game has a cap of 5), that an invincibility cheat was being used, or that this feature was not present in this build.

Hints Videos

There are two hints videos for this game released. One has been featured on the 2002 DVD SpongeBob SquarePants: Sea Stories, and another on the game itself. Both videos use an earlier version of the game.

• Chum World is still set at the evening, though the skybox seems more orange.

Artwork

Some concept art for the game can be found on Darrin Leblanc's website, including what may be an early design of the Chum World clownfish and a few alternate versions of the Eel enemy.