SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake Review (XSX)

SpongeBob is back! On a quest to save the day, from a problem of his own making. Typical SpongeBob! The question is, will his new adventure, The Cosmic Shake, swim in a sea of platforms or will it sink to the depths of gaming oblivion?

Game Name: SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake
Platform(s): Xbox Series X|S (Reviewed), Playstation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, PC
Publisher(s): THQ Nordic
Developer(s): Purple Lamp
Release Date: 31st January 2023

In Cosmic Shake, players are put in control of SpongeBob SquarePants, everyone’s favourite yellow sponge, as they take him through a series of action platforming levels. That is after SpongeBob and Patrick get their hands on some very powerful bubbles. Ultimately these bubbles create wormholes that gobble up many of their friends. Yes, that’s the premise of the story…really.

The story may seem bland and unoriginal, but it’s so fittingly SpongeBob in the best and worst ways. I can say that there are lots of fun character interactions and easter eggs for fans of the show. It’s just a shame it came twenty years too late for me to really enjoy it.

Have I Played This Before?

Cosmic Shake’s gameplay is, well…basic. You take on levels, each with a different theme, with a combination of fighting bad guys and platforming. Having a Jump, Dodge, Swing, Punch, and Kick at your disposal eventually, but not much depth beyond that. Which is fine, it just isn’t going to surprise any seasoned veteran of platformers. If you fall into that category, there are many better options out there for you.

When it comes down to it, this game executes what it’s trying to do and doesn’t mess anything up. The film set level where Squidward is directing you through a Kah-Rah-Tay movie was a fun one, ending with a pretty good but simple boss fight.

This game is very clearly for a younger audience, as to be expected. Due to its simple but well-executed gameplay, this is a good first action-platform game. All that being said, it was this simple gameplay that ultimately resulted in me not finishing the game. It felt like hundreds of games I’ve played before!

I’ve Seen Better, Audio Saves The Day!

Visually something about Cosmic Shake just feels off. Many characters just don’t look quite as they should, which is a massive shame. It left me wondering, “what could this game have looked like on a bigger budget?” In a world where we’ve had games like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and the recently released Hi-Fi Rush. Both games use animated art styles and have drawn comparisons to animated movies. SpongeBob deserves to look better, and I’ve certainly seen better.

At least on the audio front, things are better, thanks to much of, if not all, the voice cast being from the show itself. It helps lend a massive layer of authenticity to the game, with dialogue delivered precisely as you’d expect to hear in the show. It made me look forward to every character interaction and transported me back to my days of watching the show. The audio does save the day here.

Performance & Accessibility

I’m pleased to report performance was near flawless on Xbox Series X with zero frames dropped, although there is no native version for the latest generation of systems. Makes me wonder if a higher frame-rate mode would have been possible. You will notice I said near flawless — that’s because I did get stuck in a wall. Luckily, this was just a glitch fixed by a reload (This game auto-saves all the time).

On accessibility, there isn’t too much to say as the offering of custom options is limited. It was nice to see colourblind options and subtitle size adjustments available. Some games have forgotten, even those recently.

Summary

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake neither sinks nor swims — it floats. This is a simple and well-executed game, likely too simple for most gamers. Lacking the depth and challenge of virtually all other platformers of the last few years. That doesn’t mean there isn’t fun to be had, this is an easy recommendation for first-time platform gamers of a certain age. Fans of the show will also find some fun character interactions and easter eggs. This has a target market, and it is likely going to serve that market well. It’s a fine game, nothing more, nothing less.

Review Disclosure Statement: SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake was provided to us by Publisher for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please go review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy for more info.