Spongebob Squarepants: Paparazzi Parade

Despite the fact that most are probably perfectly decent, hard-working folk, it's tough not to associate paparazzi photographers with activities such as hounding Amy Winehouse and sneaking about in bushes with a long lens trying to get photos of other celebs looking a bit podgy in their swimsuits. All pretty seedy things basically.

So sticking wholesome kids' cartoon character Spongebob Squarepants in a paparazzi game might not seem immediately suitable. But rest assured, there's no trying to snap Bob shooting up or Patrick the starfish letting it all hang out here. You might be a paparazzi photographer in this game, but your employers are after much more wholesome shots. Of visitors enjoying a museum opening for example, or a member of the royal family on a visit. What a relief.

The rules are simple. At the start of each level, you're given a set of objectives - such as getting Spongebob and pal Patrick posing in the same picture - all of which need to be completed against a time limit.

To add to the pressure, you also only have three 'cheeses', which are used to make whichever characters lined up in your viewfinder pose for a few seconds. However, both extra time and more cheeses can be earned by forgetting your current objective for a while and instead just taking decent snaps of various characters wandering around. Get some good general pictures and - with them - plenty of points, and you get extra time and cheeses.

Actually taking photos is simple. You scroll around a level to find your picture target (or targets) then press '5' to take a photo. Obviously it's not made quite that simple for you as characters often like to duck behind things for a few seconds, and snapping them at that point earns you a big fat zero points.

There's also the added problem of having to meet precise criteria. Getting two characters in one photo for instance sometimes means following them for a long time and waiting for them to both be in frame. Just like a real paparazzi lying on the ground waiting for some D-list celeb to climb into the limo with no knickers on, it requires a bit of patience and entails the odd bit of frustration when your shot just doesn't happen.

Thankfully the game is structured so there's no need to keep trying the same shots over and over again. You can re-visit any level you fancy at any time to get better photos and more points, or you can simply go off in a level and take pictures outside of your objective for points.

Each of the game's levels are completely different. You can be taking photos in the museum, the Royal Banquet Hall and at the oldest living bubble. There are also new characters introduced throughout, which will no doubt keep the Spongebob fans among you very happy.

The game also logs your best photo at the end of each level - that's the one that scored the highest for having the most going on or the most people in it. And there's a high score table so you can keep playing to top your highest scores.

It looks bright and colourful and there's a fair amount of detail in each level and things to see. It's not completely gripping stuff - continually scrolling about looking for characters to follow about to get photos means it's quite slow-paced. But the scoring works well and the objectives keep you hooked.

This might not be a game that'll have you rethinking your current career to take up one as a paparazzi lowlife, but it'll pass a few hours. And, of course, it's nice to see Spongebob doing something a bit different from platforming - this is nothing if not original.