The year is 2003. America is at war for no good reason. There is an impending recession in front of us, and our leaders are all evil and stupid beyond belief. The New England Patriots are in the Super Bowl. And there is a “SpongeBob SquarePants” platformer that’s out, and it rocks.

The year is 2026…

Not much has changed for us in the past 23 years, besides the internet somehow getting worse, but at least we have a few more great “SpongeBob” games. Purple Lamp Studios, under THQ Nordic and Nickelodeon, remastered “Battle for Bikini Bottom” and named it “Rehydrated.” It was an excellent remake of the original game, and that let the powers that be green light a spiritual successor.

“The Cosmic Shake” took what worked about “Battle for Bikini Bottom,” and ran with its ideas. In fact, one could argue that it was an improvement! Looked better, played better (and smoother), more coherent level design and combat, and tons of unlockable costumes.

Its sequel, “Titans of the Tide,” continues these positive trends even further. The core design and gameplay loop are tighter than ever, revolving around swapping between SpongeBob and Patrick on the fly. Everything is about this swap button here, including the complex series of late-stage platforming for any potential speed runners. The levels are designed around being able to switch between characters, and use SpongeBob’s ability to karate kick and bubble wand or Patrick’s lasso and brute strength.

The focus on this, and the consistency on this, makes “Titans of the Tide” a rock-solid platformer. In fact, it makes the game the most cohesive, well-thought out package of the trilogy. As opposed to fun games that had some platforms to jump between, an attack button, and some boss battles.

There was a concerted effort to include as much memorable levels and characters and jokes and references in the previous games (for the fans) but here everything is themed and geared towards the royal palace intrigue of King Neptune and the ghostly pirate menace of The Flying Dutchman.

The game’s sense of speed as you go from frantically swapping characters and chaining jumps, grapples, kicks, and slides is energetic and compelling. Its the best set of courses yet, and there’s very little fat on the bone here. The collectibles are manageable, they only go to upgrading your health or unlocking new skins, and no one sequence stands out as being bad (like the older games).

I kept wondering, as I played “Titans of the Tide,” if this new title is the best in the series so far, and I’m leaning that way. I remember “Battle for Bikini Bottom” having some wonky fights and swinging rappels. And not every playable character was equally as fun to control.

With “Titans of the Tide,” everything is precise and masterfully crafted. Its a fine-tuned experience, and one that fans should not scoff at as being some sort of cash grab.

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Image Credit: “SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide”