SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake

If you’re looking for a captivating 3D platformer, Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake is the perfect choice. It's a well-priced game with lots of content that makes you want to save Bikini Bottom over and over again.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is the best SpongeBob game ever. There’s a lot of love that went into this project and you really feel it as you jump, swing, and kick about. A solid pick up for platforming and SpongeBob fans alike, this game is an example of what game software for children (and licensed property) should strive to be.

For those who like the franchise, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is an absolute gem, delivering for gamers of any skill even if it does feel a tad easy to play. It’s highly recommended for those looking for an well-worked platforming adventure, or younger gamers. I for one would welcome a sequel with even more of the same, ideally with an absolutely huge Bikini Bottom to explore and even more characters to play as.

There’s no denying that THQ Nordic and Purple Lamp did a fantastic job on SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake, as it shows in its gameplay. The graphics have levelled up since the last title, the music is still awesome and the characters within Bikini Bottom haven’t changed a bit. From Squidward being grumpy, Patrick being a little clueless, to Spongebob having a happy and quirky demeanour. In terms of the coins and the jelly, it’s a personal preference and not a deal breaker, but it needs to be noted how THQ Nordic and Purple Lamp chose to utilize them. Not having other ways to spend your jelly and coins was a missed opportunity, though others may not be bothered by it at all. The vibes, graphics, gameplay and the loveable characters will always have me returning to Bikini Bottom. Gimme that Cosmic Jelly, I’m going to become a Jellionaire!

The game shows that not only can Purple Lamb Studios give games the proper remake treatment, they can also follow them up with something refreshingly new, and I can’t wait to see what else the studio cooks up in the future. Especially if it’s another SpongeBob game, because if Cosmic Shake is any indication, Purple Lamb Studios clearly “gets it” concept wise, and are fully able to execute that concept to the fullest.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a fun 3D platformer that any fan of the series will enjoy to play. You can tell this game wasn’t a hastily thrown together, cheap cash in. The 10 hour platformer is charming and F.U.N. and it will definitely have you singing Sweet Victory.

A nice platform game set in the wacky world of Spongebob Squarepants. Level are quite large and require a bit of backtracking in order to unlock everything.

Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake is a standard platform collect-a-thon that is held up by its content and humor. I was smiling the entire time I was playing it and it lasts just the right amount of time. I feel like Rehydrated was a touch more interesting on the whole, but this follow-up is more than worth your time if you are a fan of the genre or subject matter. Spongebob is timeless and can be enjoyed by anyone of any age, even if your nostalgia for it is as nonexistent as mine is.

Whether you're a SpongeBob fan or just looking to get a new game for your kid, The Cosmic Shake is a solid choice.

Despite a few hiccups and disappointing aspects of The Cosmic Shake design, at its core it achieves its goals. Playing it felt the way I remember Battle for Bikini Bottom playing and all of the jokes and references felt aimed at older SpongeBob fans, pulling straight from the classic episodes. There are tons of small jokes and references in the levels that will make you smile and SpongeBob and Patrick will have you at least chuckling more often than not. It's not a revolutionary platformer, but it is good enough to keep you engaged throughout the entire game's length. If you have no reverence or appreciation for SpongeBob, whether it be the old games or the cartoon, The Cosmic Shake likely won't appeal to you. But for those of us who love SpongeBob, the Cosmic Shake is a great time with some old friends.

All in all, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a middling effort that is helped along by the titular protagonist’s whimsical humour, the sparklingly colourful Wishworlds and the jolly soundtrack. Unfortunately, The Cosmic Shake spirals down from its promising state as an original SpongeBob adventure because it feels like any old-school platformer from twenty years ago. Sure, the kiddies will find The Cosmic Shake to be a simple and satisfying slice of SpongeBob silliness to savour, but without an impactful zest to it, there’s not enough to make it stand out from previous outings. There’s a woeful dearth of depth here that ensures The Cosmic Shake flounders adrift in the high seas of averageness, instead of soaring into the skies of sensation. It’s an adventure that will do in a pinch, but SpongeBob fans know this could have been so much more.

Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake does a lot of things really right and well to make this feel like a Spongebob game for the current generation. But its lackluster objectives and its sometimes repetitive platforming and combat hold it back from being great. Instead, we’re left with a decent game that’s well worthwhile for a casual Spongebob or action-platforming fan, but a bit short of expectations for anybody who hoped this would take over as their new favorite Spongebob game.

SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake isn’t a bad game, but it’s not a particularly great one either. It exists firmly in the middle, a game that is slightly more good than it is bad, and a game that could be quite good with just a few tweaks and changes. If I were an eight-year-old kid with plenty of time and patience, I don’t think I could find much to fault here, and given that’s primarily who this game will be aimed at, that’s probably good enough.

SpongeBob: The Cosmic Shake offers a new story that compiles some of the best moments of the series in an interesting platformer performed by the original voices of Bob and company.

Even if I’m not quite ready to take Employee of the Month away from Battle for Bikini Bottom, we have the makings of something amazing here. Nickelodeon needs to recognise this potential, and sets its sights higher with the next SpongeBob game.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a simple, unambitious platformer that pales in comparison to its peers in every way besides all the charm and humor it borrows from the iconic show. Whether it’s the incredibly basic jumping and swinging that becomes irksomely repetitive within minutes, or the humdrum combat that has you mopping up the same handful of enemies hundreds of times without anything to meaningfully differentiate the first battle from the last, Cosmic Shake badly lacks the imagination and creativity for which the show is known.