On a cargo ship on the surface of the ocean, a shipment of batteries is accidentally lost overboard and sinks to the ocean floor, landing right in front of the Chum Bucket. The evil Plankton harnesses the power of theses batteries and uses them to not only produce a new army of battle robots, but a giant robot suit to drive himself. He uses this new mecha to trash the Krusty Krab and steal the ultra-secure safe containing the Krabby Patty secret formula. In order to open this safe, he will need one of the three keys that Mr. Krabs hid in three secret locations, so SpongeBob and the gang race off to secure the keys before Plankton finds them first.
The majority of the game's versions are 3D beat-em-ups with platforming and shooting elements. Up to four players (five in the Wii U version) control the character of their choice through a series of stages battling Plankton's robotic minions. In addition to a basic three-hit melee combo, throughout the game, players can obtain a variety of long-ranged weapons to fire at the robots from a distance. Players collect machine parts from the defeated robots, and can use these to purchase upgrades for their weapon, or new weapons entirely, each having slightly different modes of fire.
Plankton's Robotic Revenge contains examples of...
- All for Nothing: At the end of the game, it's revealed that the gang's quest wasn't even necessary, as the safe Plankton stole only contained a note for Mr. Krabs, reminding him that the formula is in his pocket. Squidward isn't too happy with this revelation, though the others don't seem to mind.
- Big Bad: Plankton, as per the norm.
- Book Ends: The first and last boss fights are against Plankton and his battle robot. The first battle occurs in the first stage, while the last is the final gameplay portion of the game.
- Canon Discontinuity: Like all other SpongeBob games, this is considered non-canon according to
Vincent Waller. - Continuity Nod: At one point, Plankton mentions his cousins from Plankton's Army and One Coarse Meal.
- Co-Op Multiplayer: All four (five in the Wii U version) characters can be played at once. Averted with the DS and 3DS versions.
- Damage-Sponge Boss: The bosses all have sizable health bars that go down slowly as the players unload on them.
- Edible Ammunition: The weapons in the game include guns that fire food items like pickles, condiments, bubble gum, exploding pies, and more.
- Equipment Upgrade: By using machinery, you can upgrade your weapons.
- Ghost Ship: The first level of the game is a shipwreck yard!
- Glad I Thought of It: After Plankton steals the map leading to the keys, Sandy suggests that they band together to race to find the keys before Plankton does. Krabs then takes credit for the idea, much to Sandy's annoyance.
- It Was with You All Along: The Krabby Patty Formula was in Mr. Krabs' pocket the whole time, and he completely forgot about it.
- Non Sequitur: After Plankton steals the map to the keys, SpongeBob's first suggestion as to what they should do about it is to throw a barbeque picnic. Squidward acknowledges that this isn't going to do anything to help.
- Playable Menu: The level select menu is a small stage where you can move SpongeBob into one of three portals to access a list of all the unlocked levels in that world.
- Power-Up Food: The players can heal by eating boxes of Kelpo they find in treasure chests.
- Recycled Soundtrack: Reuses music from the series, and even SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom.
- The Smurfette Principle: Sandy is the only female character in the game, playable or otherwise.
- Spoof Aesop: After it's revealed that Mr. Krabs had been hiding the Krabby Patty Formula in his pocket all along, SpongeBob proceeds to deliver the game's "valuable lesson":SpongeBob: We learned that before you fight a giant robot army, always remember to look in Mr. Krabs' pocket.
Patrick: Words to live by.
- Weird Currency: This game's currency is random machinery.
