SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake

Genre: 3D Platformer

Players: 1

.

Review:

(Note: Included in SpongeBob SquarePants: Bundle, along with SpongeBob SquarePants: The Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated.)

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake, released in 2023 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, comes in the wake of 2020’s remake of the cult hit 3D Platformer SpongeBob SquarePants: The Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated. The Cosmic Shake brings back that game’s developer, Purple Lamp GmbH, aiming to make an entirely new game using similar core gameplay and mechanics as Battle for Bikini Bottom.

Of course, that’s not to say that The Cosmic Shake has nothing new to offer. This game drops the multi-character gameplay of Battle for Bikini Bottom in favor of a new costume system that has SpongeBob gaining new abilities with each new world he visits. SpongeBob also loses his headbutt this time around, but gains a double-jump, a glide ability, and a long-distance bubble attack, Overall I would say this is an improvement.

Another improvement here is the camera, which doesn’t need quite as much babysitting as it did last time. What’s more, I do think the level design is better this time around. And also, this game doesn’t seem to have the same problem with the constant aggravation of load times, though early on you do have a lot of annoying, unskippable cutscenes with a few long load times between them, so this is a bit more like two steps forward, one step back… but an improvement, nonetheless.

Also improved here is the presentation, with some sizable areas with a lot of activity going on and wildly expressive color, lots of nice detail, and some wonderful character animation, as well as some nice looking “goo”. The Nintendo Switch version of the game does have some occasional slowdown, but while noticeable this didn’t have a huge effect on the gameplay.

The sound is also once again spot-on here, with apparently all of the TV show’s voice cast reprising their roles here, and with some amusing writing too. This is all backed by music that takes its cues from the different themed worlds SpongeBob visits – Bikini Bottom itself has its usual ukelele music, but going to a Wild West-themed area gives you a distinctly Western-themed soundtrack, and so on. All in all, it’s pretty well done.

Probably the biggest complaint I can make here is, there’s just not much that’s extraordinary or unique about this game. No new ground is being broken here, and the game doesn’t do anything we haven’t seen in countless other 3D Platformers.

Still, what SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake does do, it does well, making it one of the better 3D Platformers on Nintendo Switch (though not even close to challenging Mario), and absolutely a game that SpongeBob fans will be pleased with.

tl;dr – SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a 3D Platformer that is a direct sequel to 2020’s remake of Battle for Bikini Bottom, and it improves on many of that game’s issues, making for an all-around solid game, though not one that does anything new or out of the norm for the genre. Still, if you’re a 3D Platformer fan or especially a SpongeBob fan, this is definitely a game you’ll want to get your hands on.

Grade: B

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