SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake looks and sounds like a modern game, but it very much plays like something from the PlayStation 2 era. Fortunately, it plays like a good 3D platformer from that era. I think fans of the show or the classic SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom will be satisfied with this effort, while those hoping for something grander may be unimpressed. It’s good enough to be worth playing for fans of 3D platforming games, even if it may not thrill those who aren’t so into the genre.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a fun game fans of the 3D platforming genre should check out. It’s easily one of the best licensed games to come out in a number of years. Visually, the game looks like an episode of the TV show, with super vibrant colors and worlds that are full of life. There’s also the great humor found within the game, reminiscent of the early seasons of SpongeBob when the jokes felt clever. That said, it’s not without its faults. Ultimately, the puzzles and combat—two major areas of gameplay throughout Cosmic Shake—aren’t great. The puzzles are incredibly simplistic and never change as the game goes on, and the combat just feels off throughout the entire game. Neither thing is a game breaking element, but they do take away from a fun experience. In the end, if you’re a fan of 3D platformers or fan of SpongeBob SquarePants, there’s enough fun to be had in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake that you should check out.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake lays the Spongebob charm on thick, the Bikini Bottomites and their worlds ripped right out of one of the many, many, many episodes we’ve come to know and love over the years. Although it has a lot of great ideas pulled from the vast Spongebob universe, there’s something just a little sticky about the way it all came together in the end. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is good, clean F.U.N., and as long as you don’t expect too much out of it, you’ll have a totally coral time.

Fans of 3D platformer adventures, especially those who also are fans of SpongeBob's television series, will find a lot of value in the game SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake. The friendly banter between SpongeBob and Patrick throughout the game offers a lot of jokes - and even some unexpected laugh-out-loud moments - that makes it difficult not to smile while playing. The art style, music, and voice acting all provides a high-quality feel, almost like being inside an episode of the cartoon series. Meanwhile, the gameplay itself is well-crafted and offers a lot of variety for players. All these things combined make the game an overall enjoyable, if not immediately forgettable, experience for players of all ages.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is exactly the kind of game that we could expect from the Nickelodeon franchise. It's a 3D adventure with emphasis on its platforming action and some small puzzles, very old school as a tie-in and quite simplistic in its mechanics, it retains at least the enjoyable spirit of the animated series.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a competent 3D platformer that doesn't reinvent the wheel, but provided plenty of fun.

SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake doesn’t live up to its predecessor, but is still an enjoyable enough romp through the sea. There are a ton of delightful callbacks that can spice up the safe level design and it’s fun to see alternate versions of beloved characters. If you’re a fan it’s worth playing through, but if not you may want to skip this one.

Coupled with the timeless charm and humour of SpongeBob, The Cosmic Shake can be a lot of fun—just don’t go in expecting anything groundbreaking or especially polished.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake attempts to be a lovingly rendered throwback to the licensed 3D platformers of the early 2000s. It's hard to argue that it fails on any of those counts. As a modern game, though, it feels antiquated in ways that hold it back. Not everything needs to reach for the stars, but The Cosmic Shake would have benefited from some fresher ideas.