Patrick Star

I always have to remember to lower my expectations when it comes to cartoon characters. Honestly in this case I'm glad I did that because this Patrick isn't all that great.

First off, Patrick plays in a very clunky fashion. There are a lot of moves that you'd expect to chain into each other, yet they just don't. For example, you can chain standing LP into standing MK, but not standing LK into standing MP. On top of that, his frame data's all over the place, e.g. his standing punches come out and end at the exact same time. His hitboxes are also a little too straight-to-the-point; there's almost no range on his light kicks. This is especially apparent in air combos, where if you're not facing a massive opponent you'll just whiff your air LK 99% of the time. All this makes his combo game feel very unsatisfying.
Even though Patrick has 3 specials, you're better off just using the cartwheel. It's an easy infinite, has the best range, and since it doesn't have any cooldown it can even be used as a combo starter. While the ice cream toss is also an infinite, it usually goes straight over the opponent's head unless you're standing right next to them, in which case you're better off using the cartwheel because of the lower startup time. The towel whip is basically just his standing MK but slightly worse, and the EX version doesn't even change anything about it.
His hypers are similarly not worth using for the most part. "Towel Star" is way too situational, only shaving off less than 1/10th of the opponent's lifebar at best, and the other two hypers are programmed in a way so that they can't even be used outside of a combo. "Diesel Dreaming" is the much better option as it does almost twice the damage as "Rock Smash!" for less the power.
Finally, Patrick has a very spammable roll. It almost works as it should, but since there's no collision boxes on Patrick it means that you're free to use it to your heart's content without having to worry about ever getting hit. Similarly, Patrick does not have any collision boxes on his walking back animation at all, or his backwards hop.

In spite of all of what I just said, Patrick...isn't entirely bad. He's actually coded in a somewhat functional way for the most part. He does not seem to be able to clone himself or get stuck in the air, and you can use him without breaking the game, but of course I haven't tested him for too long so that may very well be possible. There are a few hints of creativity scattered throughout the character (I thought the "surprised patrick" losepose was funny), and even though Patrick's moveset isn't good, it's got some neat ideas. In fact, one peek into his sprite file reveals a whole bunch of unused sprites that could've made for decent additions, like a Wario-esque shoulderbash and the orb of confusion. There is sort of a "missed opportunity" feeling going on, but IMO there isn't much that can be salvaged from this Patrick.
Ultimately, Patrick is another cookie-cutter cartoon character creation (try saying that five times fast). There's much worse Spongebob characters out there, but as it remains Patrick isn't really a character I would recommend unless you're a collector or something, or if you really just want a Patrick in your roster.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go type up another essay about a cartoon character!!!!!

Fun Factor - 2/5
Gameplay - 1.5/5
Functionality - 2/5

Overall - 2/5