THQ Nordic Hyped Us Up For New Games; The First Is A SpongeBob Remaster

When we got word yesterday that THQ Nordic had three game announcements to make in the coming days, we speculated about which long-forgotten properties might see a return. Never in a million years did we think to put SpongeBob Squarepants on that list. Now we know how Squidward feels.

According to Game Informer, SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom is set to get a remaster, with the game getting a Rehydrated! label tacked onto the end of it. In case this title is before your time, the original Battle for Bikini Bottom was released on PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance back in 2003. Fast forward to today, and the remastered version of the game is now coming to PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. All the platform holders are the same, it turns out.

The only difference this time around is that the THQ publishing this version of the game hails from Austria.

We have to be honest: we figured that, due to the grand announcement on Twitter, THQ Nordic might bring a real heavy hitter to the table. But despite our fun at the expense of Battle for Bikini Bottom, this game actually didn't review all that badly when it released two console generations ago. IGN gave it kudos for feeling "like playing through an episode," and in a world where licensed games can be a real crapshoot, that's about as high an honor as you can bestow upon one.

There's no word yet on when we might see SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated! release, though it's probably not crazy to think it'll be out sometime this year or early next year. But with that title out of the way, THQ Nordic now has two remaining, with one announcement scheduled for tomorrow, and one more slated for Friday. If you saw a Battle for Bikini Bottom remaster in your crystal ball, give yourself a pat on the back. We're not even going to try to guess what's coming next.