Aaaaaare you ready, kids? Aye, Aye, Capt’n! I can’t hear you! AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN! Oh…! Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? It’s time for our SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake review! And if you don’t love the yellow Sponge, get out. Now.
Yes, I take SpongeBob games very seriously for those still here. They are often pretty good platformers and chuck full of easter eggs to their show and other pop cultural references. So when a new game is announced, I roll over with excitement to line up in wait until it’s released. It’s probably because I spent a lot of time with the Gamecube, and SpongeBob delivered some great games on that platform. But you’re not here to read about me reminiscing about the good old days; you want to hear about the cosmic Shake. Let’s go!
SpongeBob?
So for those who haven’t played a SpongeBob game before, The Cosmic Shake is a 3D platformer in the best possible way. As SpongeBob, the player navigates through several distinctly themed worlds, known as ”Wish Worlds,” within the game, with the aid of Patrick, who has been transformed into a balloon. Throughout the game, SpongeBob learns various combat and traversal abilities, including Spin Attack, Glide, Karate Kick, and Fishhook Swing.
The Cosmic SHake
Storywise, the game is a wild ride. During a visit to the Glove World theme park, SpongeBob and Patrick encounter Madame Kassandra, a mermaid fortune teller who sells them a bottle of “magic bubble soap” that can make their dreams come true. After purchasing the soap and returning home, SpongeBob blows bubbles to make his friends’ dreams come true. Patrick then reads the bottle’s label to find that it is a bottle of Mermaid Tears and is the property of King Neptune, not to be used by mortals. SpongeBob’s bubbles then cause mayhem as it opens a portal and sucks up buildings and his friends into several “Wish Worlds” while covering Bikini Bottom in a substance called Cosmic Jelly, the building blocks of reality.
SpongeBob and Patrick, transformed into Balloon Patrick, traverse through the seven Wish Worlds to save their friends and Bikini Bottom with the help of Madame Kassandra, who gives SpongeBob a cosmic costume for each respective world he visits in exchange for Cosmic Jelly. However, unlike SpongeBob and Patrick, Madame Kassandra has villainous intentions (because, obviously). Locations within the game include Bikini Bottom, Wild West Jellyfish Fields, Karate Downtown Bikini Bottom, Pirate Goo Lagoon, Halloween Rock Bottom, Prehistoric Kelp Forest, Medieval Sulfur Fields, and Jelly Glove World.
Gameplay
The Cosmic Shake was developed by Purple Lamp Studios, who had previously produced the title SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated (2020). Conceptualized as a spiritual sequel to Rehydrated, the project was greenlit following the commercial success of that game. While Battle for Bikini Bottom had three playable characters, SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy, each with one or more special abilities, Purple Lamp decided to have only one playable character in SpongeBob, who has multiple special abilities in The Cosmic Shake. Unlockable costumes have been made a core focus of the game. And it feels great. Everything breathes Battle for Bikini Bottom – in a good way. It is still one of my favorite platformers, and the Cosmic Shake takes all those great concepts from that game and evolves them into even crazier aspects.
Including only one playable character is exemplary since the costumes and abilities still give enough room for the replayability of the levels. And you can still dress up like your favorite Bikini Bottom characters, including some very obscure tv show references that I could appreciate. The levels are pretty big and give enough room to do the standard collect-a-ton and beat everything around you to a pulp. Instead of Plankton robots, everything is changed into slime monsters, resulting from the tear in the multidimensional layer you created by blowing bubbles (because isn’t it obvious?).
Other thoughts
The worlds all look colorful and packed with action. I’m sure the game looks even better on other platformers than the Nintendo Switch, but I can play with my Sponge in every possible location is the selling point here. It’s not the most challenging game out there, but even for the seasoned platforming specialist, there are enough challenges and secrets to complete and find in the abundance of levels. I haven’t noticed any bugs or other weird glitches, so give this one a go.
Conclusion
So, to conclude. SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake is the perfect game for both seasoned platformer fans and fans of the yellow Sponge of Mayhem. It offers the classic collect-a-ton platformer action from the 00s but has been brought forward to 2023. There is enough for the younger audience and the older, more seasoned players, and he is ready again to steal your heart with absurdist jokes and puns only the SpongeBob Squarepants franchise can make.
