In the home console versions of the game, the city of Bikini Bottom is producing an anniversary show of The New Adventures of Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy, executive produced by Gill Hammerstein (voiced by Nolan North), in which the titular SpongeBob SquarePants wishes to play as the starring role.[4] SpongeBob must compete with the other characters in the series – namely Patrick Star, Squidward Tentacles, Eugene H. Krabs, Sandy Cheeks, and Sheldon J. Plankton – in order to impress the talent scouts and land the lead role of the villain.[5]
The game includes 30 unique minigames (referred to as "auditions") that have different play style and objectives, though the common goal is to get the highest points. Each location has a quota that must be matched to win the role; if no one has enough points to match the quota after three minigames, they have to play again, choosing one of the three to repeat. Each minigame is based on an area or location in Bikini Bottom. Every location has three minigames within it. There are a total of 8 locations for a total of 24 minigames that are played through story mode. The other six are unlockable bonus minigames. Examples of the minigames include a driving test, whose goal is to finish the first through three driving courses; a jailbreak, whose goal is to free as many prison inmates as possible without getting caught; and a rhythm minigame, whose goal is to match the short and long musical notes that travel toward a marker. There are two types of minigames: the free-for-all type, where all players compete against each other, and the 2-vs-2 type, where players are divided into two teams of two.