SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox)/Hidden Objects & Triggers

This is a sub-page of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox).

There are many obscured objects hidden throughout the game. These were usually placed for functionality purposes, although occasionally some of these objects were simply misplaced.

Hidden Button

A weird button hidden inside the second hole in Robo-SpongeBob's brain. It is internally named BRAIN_BUTTON_1. No attack is able to activate the button and there are no links or events associated with it, so whatever function it once served seems to have since been removed.

Hidden Checkpoints

A group of ten checkpoints, all in exactly the same position, can be found directly underneath King Jellyfish in Spork Mountain. The first three checkpoints are actually used by the game, but the other seven all take you to seemingly random locations on the map. These checkpoints can be exploited via a well-timed glitch to skip the entire level, as shown in the video to the left.

A very similar group of checkpoints can be found underneath the beginning of the Sand Mountain slide. The first four checkpoints are used in-game, but the other six all take you to seemingly random locations on the map. As shown in the video to the right, it's possible to activate the sixth checkpoint without cheatcodes using a precisely timed glitch; it sends you near the top of a mountain around the center of the level.

A very similar group of checkpoints can be found underneath the beginning of Defeat King Jellyfish.

Hidden Duplicatotrons

A Duplicatotron can be found in the large left-most fountain in Jellyfish Lakes' "Drain the Lake" task, which is used to summon the Ham-Mer's you fight during that challenge.

A Duplicatotron can be found underneath the one above it during the Downtown Rooftops level in the section with the purple trampolines. Because it is within the other Duplicatotron's radius, it explodes when the one above it is destroyed, giving the player 100 shiny objects instead of the normal 50.

A Duplicatotron can be found underneath a stalactite on the bottom of the Rolling Ball room in the Mermalair. Its only functionality is to summon a single Fodder. It's normally rendered invisible in-game; the screenshot to the left has modded the game to make the Duplicatotron visible.

A Duplicatotron can be found underneath a hill in Sand Mountain... right under another Duplicatotron. Although a link within the other Duplicatotron attempts to "pause" this one after it is destroyed, it doesn't appear to work in-game. This means that destroying the Duplicatotron on the surface won't stop the flow of robots being summoned, as they seemingly come from the side of the hill.

A Duplicatotron can be found under the one above it in Sandy's Dream during the "Swinger's Ahoy!" task. Like the Duplicatotron in Downtown Rooftops, this one also explodes when the one above it is destroyed.

Hidden Signs

An unused sign can be found inside the lighthouse in Downtown Rooftops. It has text detailing an unused game mechanic, where the player would have gotten more height out of a trampoline if they bubble bounced onto it. This mechanic only seems to work on the trampoline behind the vendors in Goo Lagoon Pier.

Hidden Shiny Objects

Underneath the entrance in Rock Bottom is a purple shiny object. Interestingly, this shiny object is linked to Mrs. Puff and instantly sets her mission's success value when collected, suggesting it was a debug tool used by the developers. Speedrunners use a floor clip to collect the shiny object so they can get the spatula from Mrs. Puff without collecting any of the paintings that are usually required for the mission.

Behind the ski lodge in Guppy Mound are several shiny objects, including a purple object underneath a rock.

Hidden Tikis

A Thunder Tiki can be found underwater in Goo Lagoon, near the giant sand castle. It's possible to access this tiki by using a glitch which involves freezing the rising water in the giant sand castle area at a certain depth. The purpose of this tiki, however, is clear; directly above the tiki is an gap between a row of Thunder Tikis on the bridge leading to the Goo Lagoon Caves. It's very likely that the developers slightly misplaced the tiki, and simply forgot about it.

These two tikis can be found behind one of the ski lodges in the first Sand Mountain area. There's no other Floating Tikis or Shy Tikis in the level itself, which makes their existence rather odd.

Two tikis can be found just off the northwest section of the Kelp Forest Slide. It's possible to access these two tikis using a glitch called the "Bubble Bowl Boost" (jumping and bubble bowling just one frame after Hans brings you back).

Miscellaneous Objects

In the Poseidome, one of the crowd signs, reading "whisk", is hidden behind the bleachers. It's animated like the other signs.

A "nozzle" can be found in the second Mermalair level at coordinates 0,0,0. It's not clear at all what its purpose might've been. It's normally very difficult to see in-game as it's very small and outside of the normal boundaries of the level. The screenshot to the right has modded the game to have it appear next to SpongeBob.

In the second Mermalair level, you can use the camera to clip (Or if you hit the Mermalair Computer with a attack, Barnacle Boy's head can be seen slightly clipping through it while doing the pain animation) inside the Mermalair Computer to find... Barnacle Boy? Believe it or not, he's what you actually talk to when you speak to the computer. The developers likely did this so they didn't have to spend time making the Mermalair Computer its own NPC. He's still inside the computer in the game's remake, only now he's completely untextured and stuck in a T-pose.

Some flags can be found near the starting area of Flounder Hill. They can't be accessed without cheat codes.

Underneath the Flying Dutchman's Graveyard level is a shipwreck that's never seen at any point, not even when the lake is drained. It's identical to the teetering shipwreck above it, but it appears to be programmed slightly differently; it tilts by itself when the level is loaded, before stopping and staying immobile for the duration of the level.

In the level "The Small Shall Rule... Or Not", you can use the moonjump code to go underneath the Robot SpongeBob boss and find these texture-less platforms. They resemble the walkways used to get to the fuses, but with another platform underneath them. The bottom platform casts a weird light that you can actually stand on from the top. None of these platforms seem to have any purpose within the level itself.

Triggers

Bikini Bottom (Hub)

The hub has 2 disabled triggers.

Warp Trigger

Above the player spawn point at SpongeBob's house is a warp trigger named AAA_EXIT_TO_TL01_DELETEME. When enabled, it tries to warp the player to the Test level, but since the level was removed, the game freezes. The text for the trigger refers to the level as "the Playground", and says in all versions to press R1 (the actual button to enter it varies between versions).

Cheat Trigger

Also above the player spawn point at SpongeBob's house, there's a cheat trigger named AAA_THEATRE_CHEAT_TRIG. When enabled, it allows the player to enter the movie theater without having to pay any shiny objects.

Jellyfish Fields

There are 2 disabled triggers in Jellyfish Fields.

E3 Demo Trigger

A trigger named E3DEMO_TRIG_01 can be found in the files for Jellyfish Fields (jf01.HIP). It's placed far away to the right of the player's spawn point, behind a purple rock. When enabled, a textbox appears that says:

E3 Demo Feature.  Press the {i:button_pickup_text} button to Pick up the Freezy Fruit, and then again to throw the Freezy Fruit onto the Goo.

Additionally, when inside of the trigger, the character changes to Patrick. It goes back to SpongeBob when leaving the trigger.

Test Trigger

A test trigger is present in jf03.HIP named TEST_LAKE_DRAIN. It's placed on the right side of the cutscene trigger at the start of the area, high in the air. While it doesn't do anything when enabled due to its events being removed, the name makes its purpose fairly obvious: it would've drained the lake.

Rock Bottom

Rock Bottom has 5 disabled triggers, all of which are present in rb03.HIP.

Test Triggers

• TEST_ARTWORK_COND - This trigger is placed to the left of Gary, above the 2 sleepy robots. When inside the trigger, it gives the player artwork. It can also go over the 6 collectible artworks in the level.
• TEST_CHEAT_TRIG - This trigger is placed south of the bus stop near Plankton, high in the air. It automatically clears the lasers, allowing the player to collect the golden spatula from Plankton. It can be triggered multiple times (minus the spatula), but the laser sound will keep playing infinitely.
• TEST_CLAM - This trigger is placed above the clam near the hook. When inside the trigger, it gives the player the exact amount of shiny objects that the clam needs.
• TEST_LASERS - This trigger is placed a little more south of TEST_CHEAT_TRIG. While this sounds like it would also clear all the lasers, it actually tests the dark cloud/dust effect that comes from the rocks that the lasers hit.
• TEST_SPONGEBALL_WALL - This trigger is placed under the floor near the gate for the Spongeball. It automatically opens the gate.

SpongeBob's Dream

There's a single unused trigger in SpongeBob's Dream that warps to the unused Patrick's Dream, EXIT_TO_DB05. It's placed in the exact same spot as the used warp trigger for Patrick's Dream, EXIT_TO_DB06. If this trigger is enabled (and the used one disabled or moved), it still functions as intended in the GameCube and Xbox versions, but causes the PlayStation 2 version to crash. This is because the unused level was removed entirely from the latter version; despite this, the warp trigger leading to it remains present but disabled, as in the other two versions.

Boss Fight Triggers

Certain boss battles have invisible debug triggers that instantly end the battle upon the player touching them, which were used by the developers for testing purposes. Unlike the other triggers, these are still enabled in the game, and are reachable through some trickery (typically by using a speed-boosting exploit called a "Cruise Boost," which works by using both the Bubble Bowl and the Cruise Bubble powerups on the same frame).

Prawn

A debug trigger named TEMP_KILLPRAWN can be found above the entrance. The trigger is out of bounds and requires the use of the "Cruise Boost" trick in order to reach it.

Flying Dutchman

A debug trigger named TEMP_KILLDUTCHMAN_TRIG can be found above the player spawn point. The trigger is out of bounds and requires the use of the "Cruise Boost" trick in order to reach it.

SpongeBot SteelPants Phase 1

A debug trigger named TEMP_KILLBOSS_TRIG can be found above the starting platform. This trigger can be accessed in normal gameplay by having SpongeBob on the opposite side of SpongeBot's karate-chop attack, which will make him shoot up into the trigger and end that stage of the fight.

No such triggers exist for King Jellyfish, Robo-Sandy, or Robo-Patrick.