There are 18 levels in the game that loosely follow the storyline of the film. The player controls SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star, both of whom have their own unique set of abilities. Each level contains a main objective and side tasks. Four levels involve a boss enemy that the player must defeat to progress to the next level. Boss enemies include the giant frogfish from the film, Dennis (who is fought twice), and King Neptune. Each main level and side task will give the player a Goofy Goober Token once completed, and the player needs these tokens to learn certain skills and proceed to the game. Although the player only needs to complete a level's main component in order to unlock the next level, it is not possible to complete the game only doing the main levels (though the player does not need to do all of the side tasks).