SpongeBob SquarePants: Employee of the Month is a 2002 video game based on the SpongeBob episode of the same name (though its plot is nothing like the episode), and like its predecessor, Operation Krabby Patty, it was released only on the PC.
Story[]
The story focuses on SpongeBob "winning" two tickets to Neptune's Paradise, a theme park. But along the way many unexpected things happen, such as a storm hitting while on the bus to Neptune's Paradise and sending them into Rock Bottom.
Intro[]
SpongeBob wins the 'Employee of the Month' award again, making him 'Employee of the Year'. As a prize, he receives two tickets to Neptune's Paradise, a local theme park which Mr. Krabs had won free tickets to in the mail.
Chapter 1: Employee of the Year[]
SpongeBob and Patrick have to get a bus to Neptune's Paradise which requires SpongeBob to search the town for bus tokens. But first, SpongeBob must finish his shift at the Krusty Krab where a hungry customer, later named the Familiar Guy, demands his order of a Krabby Patty be fulfilled. After making a Krabby Patty, the costumer then tells him to take the bus to Nepture's Paradise. Only problem is he doesn't have money to buy bus tokens. SpongeBob then returns to the town and Patrick tells him that the Flying Dutchman hid a buried treasure at the local beach, Goo Lagoon. Once there, he finds that Larry the Lobster has a shovel and pail but will not let SpongeBob use them since he likes them so much. SpongeBob goes to his grandmother's house to get a home made pie that will distract Larry long enough for SpongeBob to grab the shovel and pail. SpongeBob's grandmother, believing him to be Patrick, tells SpongeBob that she is making a pie but has no Sea Urchin Chips to put in it. SpongeBob then travels to Barg N' Mart where Mr. Krabs is moonlighting as a salesmen and has sold his own clothes. After cleaning the cashier's car, SpongeBob gets the chips (also borrowing cooking oil from Mr. Krabs) and completes the pie. He brings it to Larry to eat, even though he's not suppose to eat it and after eating it, he is forced to go for a jog on the beach and this allows SpongeBob to take the shovel and pail. SpongeBob searches Goo Lagoon with the bucket and shovel and discovers that the Dutchman's Treasure is actually a chest full of bus tokens. Returning to the bus stop where Patrick has been waiting, SpongeBob meets the irritable bus driver who says he will not leave Bikini Bottom because there is a cloud in the sky and he fears rain on the trip. To calm him, SpongeBob gets a parasol (in which he mistakes it for an umbrella) from a tourist from the English Channel, however she needs the parasol to protect her skin, so SpongeBob trades the cooking oil he got from Mr. Krabs to a sunbathing guy for his sunscreen and trades the sunscreen for the parasol. The two set off for Neptune's Paradise but what they did not expect was...
Chapter 2: Hitting Rock Bottom[]
SpongeBob and Patrick end up in Rock Bottom, a town previously seen in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, due to heavy rain. Stuck at the bus station, SpongeBob gets information from the Information Desk lady and is told that there is a weather station down the street called WSEA TV (but not before getting a kelp bar for her). Outside the bus station, SpongeBob runs across a man who looks vaguely familiar, but the man denies ever having met SpongeBob. After taking the Kelpsi can he was kicking, SpongeBob sets off to the weather station. SpongeBob is told by the secretary at the weather station that unless he has business within that he can not walk around the station since the tours are closed and must have tools if he's here for business. SpongeBob meets a repairman named Jojo (who is trying to fix the antenna which isn't broken) behind the building who is willing to trade some of his tools for a Kelpsi soda. SpongeBob goes to a nearby restaurant and finds Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in the parking lot. Mermaid Man is in pain on the ground after having had a cola drinking contest with Patrick, and SpongeBob and Barnacle Boy are not strong enough to lift him into the invisible boat mobile. SpongeBob walks inside and informs the owner, who is a very strong fish, of the situation outside. While he goes to help Mermaid Man, SpongeBob grabs a mug (also noticing a picture of Patirck and Mermaid Man on the wall) and uses it to gets Jojo's drink, which is actually lemon soda in the Kelpsi can he found. SpongeBob gets the tools and, now looking official, gets inside the station. He talks to a weatherman named Gary Gulper, who is stressed because he is sure his machinery is broken (at least he thinks it's broken) after displaying an area nearby that had perfect weather. He also boasts of building a machine that will control the weather and tells SpongeBob of rumors that the current rain is being created by Marlin the wizard. SpongeBob looks at the machinery and discovers the area of perfect weather is a local sea cave. SpongeBob takes his adventure there and finds this cave to be the home of Marlin the wizard. Marlin is causing the rain because he is upset at what Gary is doing. He feels threatened by the weather controlling machine since controlling the weather is his job. Marlin asks SpongeBob to destroy the machine (also giving him a wand that he sealed the door to the machine with) and SpongeBob retrieves Patrick, who is sleeping in Marlin's hammock, and returns to the weather station. The two destroy the weather machine! But not before SpongeBob helps Plankton make an advertisement for the Chum Bucket under the impression that Plankton was making a public service announcement (promising a reward if he helps him). Now satisfied, Marlin stops the rain and the pair continue their travel to Neptune's Paradise, but before that SpongeBob must face...
Chapter 3: Back to Square One[]
SpongeBob and Patrick get kicked off the bus for their antics, and are back in Bikini Bottom. They find out that Sandy is building a rocket that can take them to Neptune's Paradise leading SpongeBob to tackle numerous challenges so as to prepare for the flight. After delivering Sandy's lunch from a local diner, SpongeBob realizes he must first return home for his water helmet before boarding the rocket inside Sandy's treedome . When he return's home, he finds a sea snake resting in the helmet and SpongeBob decides to use Squidward's clarinet to lure it out. However, Squidward is in a deep sleep so SpongeBob visits a local knick-knack store and grabs a pair of free Dream Glasses that allow him to travel to the dreams of a nearby sleeping friend. At the store, SpongeBob again sees the Familiar Man and, now certain the two have previously met, demands to know the man's identity while the man again denies ever meeting SpongeBob. He returns to Squidward's home and enters his dreams where he is transformed into Squidward himself (but not completely) and talks with Squidward (while trying to sound like him) that this area of his brain is for dancing and he will take over the recital part on the other side, so Squidward gives him the clarinet and begins dancing. SpongeBob gets the sea snake out of his water helmet and goes to Sandy's tree dome, now wearing the water helmet, and helps her find an oxygen fuel tank. Meanwhile, Patrick remains at the diner and obtains the record for most sandwiches eaten at that facility. The gang then sets off again for Neptune's Paradise but SpongeBob must cheer and cry for joy.
Chapter 4: Bottoms Up![]
Sandy's rocket crashes (bursting through a sign in the process), and they get stuck in Bottoms Up, an up class town for the incredibly wealthy. SpongeBob must find oxygen fuel for the rocket leading him on a quest for a jacket so as to gain entrance to a local oxygen spring (since he must be wearing a jacket to get in). Along the way he involves himself in the troubles of a local who believes his neighbor has stolen a golden coconut from his tree. After trading the golden coconut with a normal coconut he found, he returns it to its owner who rewards him with a quarter. He repairs the sign they crashed through earlier which shows a restaurant which has jackets when guests arrive without one (but always take them back when their done). He goes to a nearly phone booth and uses his quarter to call them, asking them where they are. But when he arrives, the guard won't let him in since he doesn't have an invitation to the party at the restaurant. The owner of the store nearby has one to give out to someone who guesses the slogin for the restaurant. After seeing the restaurant's slogin from a watching point, he is able to get the invitation and go inside the restaurant. SpongeBob gets a jacket and insults the waiter by ordering a Krabby Patty and he is thrown out before anybody realizes he has one of the restaurant's jackets. Meanwhile, Patrick is on the search for a bathroom after eating junk food in the previous chapters which leads him to climb over the coral reefs surrounding the oxygen springs. After the use of the bathroom, Patrick enjoys the springs until SpongeBob finds him and he realizes he is not wearing pants, then asking SpongeBob to retrieve them. While looking in the bathroom for Patrick's shorts, SpongeBob again meets the Familiar Man who doesn't remember seeing him. After SpongeBob sees two more Familiar men coming through, he informs SpongeBob that he has over four thousand twin brothers which means that each Familiar Man was in fact a different person. After finding Patrick's pants and refilling the oxygen tanks they leave for Neptune's Paradise before the park is closed.
Finale[]
The gang gets to Neptune's Paradise, but an employee tells them that the park is closed to make way for a private party. SpongeBob and Patrick were sad at first, but Sandy tells the employee that it is their party, and they are allowed into the park, where they meet all of the characters they met along the way (who seemed to plan this for SpongeBob). They all then ride the rides and attractions (à la National Lampoon's Vacation).
Cast[]
- Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants
- Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star
- Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks
- Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles
- Doug Lawrence as Plankton and Larry the Lobster
- Joe Whyte as Mermaid Man
- Tim Conway as Barnacle Boy
- Marion Ross as Grandma Sponge
- Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs