Spongebob isn’t everyone’s cup of tea; hell, he isn’t really mine! From the obnoxious laugh and the puerile behaviour to his sheer ignorance at his boss’ capitalistic gluttony, for a long time I avoided the character and series completely. In recent years though, I’ve started to recognise the merits of the series: the dry, dark humour; the consistently funny side-cast; the creeping realisation that Squidward is the only sane character – It’s not just the brainless cartoon I once thought it was. It even had a pretty good musical adaptation! So when I noticed Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake was releasing shortly I thought it would be worth a look; especially after hearing of the huge amount of love some players have for a similar past title – Battle for Bikini Bottom.
For those who’ve been living under a rock for the last few decades, Spongebob Squarepants is a popular cartoon series which follows a yellow sea sponge – Spongebob – who lives in a pineapple under the sea. He works at a burger shop, has a snail-cat-thing called Gary and has a voice which could curdle milk. It’s a generally silly series, but it’s been endlessly popular since it arrived in 1999. There have been several games released under the property, but most have felt like simple cash grabs and have been poorly received, but from the outset SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake – a classically designed mascot platformer – feels immediately different.
The game opens with Spongebob setting out for a lovely day at a theme park. He gets past a car/ship pile-up in his hometown of Bikini Bottom, meets some of the various residents, has a lovely day, and finally comes home. Having bought a bottle of magical bubble fluid from a suspicious fortune teller, he finds he can materialise his friends’ dreams in bubble form – but after over-using this power a catastrophe hits and the town is utterly destroyed, scattering the residents across time and space. The rest of the game is then a journey through a large number of thematic “wishworlds” to rescue them and restore Bikini Bottom. As far as the plot goes, it feels much more interesting than most found within the genre and the stakes genuinely feel high. As a casual viewer, I only recognised a few characters initially, but the introduction gives each enough screen-time for you to be able to identify why they’re interesting and actually care when they’re ripped into another world. The overarching plot and mystery were also pretty cool and encouraged me to play on.
As in most platformers, you’ll spend most of the game fighting enemies, jumping between platforms and solving environmental puzzles in a series of smaller worlds. Whilst the controls and gameplay aren’t as tight as something like in Super Mario Odyssey, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake does a surprisingly decent job avoiding the frustrations often seen in these types of games. Whilst I wouldn’t dream of calling it difficult, the more challenging platforming sections feel fair and you get a good idea of what you can consistently achieve in terms of jump height and length. Movement is tight and satisfying, and whilst I did get frustrated by a small number of control choices I didn’t ever feel like they were of massive detriment to the overall gameplay.
I was also surprised by the combat options, which go well beyond what I expected. Spongebob only has a spin attack initially, but quickly gains the ability to stomp, fire enemy-capturing bubbles, dodge attacks and perform a long-range kung-fu kick. The enemy variety also ramped up gradually, adding more tricky globs of purple goo to fight which had some interesting mechanics to overcome. Fights never stayed repetitive for long and were surprisingly tricky, nicely breaking up the platforming and light puzzle-solving.
Granted, it isn’t perfect by any means. Some platforming sections do suffer due to the lack of a reliable drop-shadow and some rough signposting. There is a distinct lack of polish, especially in certain set-piece sections and combat encounters. Despite this, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake still feels a cut above many platformers I’ve played and reminded me of those rare, mid-quality tie-ins you used to find around the turn of the millennium – things like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, A Bug’s Life and Spider-Man 2. Games that were good – not perfect – but which had a charm to them despite occasional moments of jankiness.
The worlds visited by Spongebob are also really interesting, reminding me strongly of those found in other classic platformers. I won’t spoil the later ones, but I’ll use the first as an example. The first world showcases a nautically-inspired wild west, with SEAhorse riding sections and a train heist. Mr Krabs is given a bandito makeover, Sandy (the Texan astronaut squirrel?) appears as a surprisingly intimidating Sheriff and a blowfish teaches you how to ride. Spongebob himself is also given a cowboy makeover. Between these encounters, you are tasked with collecting cactus juice from various cacti, found along a linear trap-and-enemy-infested path. It’s all nicely done and lends a more interesting flavour to the Spongebob universe, but it’s the smaller things – like a string of sarcastic and satirically wise cow skulls – which elevate the setting change. The later worlds continue this mix of satire and absurdity to create some really interesting settings which feel unique and fresh despite the fact they’ve been done before in other games. It just goes to prove that you can reuse ideas but still make them your own and I found myself eagerly awaiting each new world to see what they would do with it. The levels don’t outlast their welcome either, though they do contain extra content to go back to once you’ve unlocked later abilities.
As you’d expect, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is full of humour, and whilst not all of it is comedy gold there are plenty of moments that most will find funny. It’s full of references and in-jokes for Spongebob fans (such as a wide array of costumes for Spongebob to wear which reflect certain episodes of the show,) but there’s also a host of more general pop-culture references to find – like an early reference to the invisible man leaving his invisible car in questionable places. What I found the most amusing was just how trusting and naive the main character is. For example, it’s clear that the fortune teller is a villain from the get-go, but the sheer fact that Spongey-bob trusts her immediately, despite overwhelming evidence that she’s the one behind the catastrophe was much funnier than it had any right to be. It’s clear that this is a world to judge from the outside and that the true humour of Spongebob comes from witnessing him fail upwards despite his incompetence. Often it truly feels like an episode of the show – for better or worse – and I think that’s a real achievement within a tie-in game.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is also an arguably pretty game. Whilst I wasn’t a fan of the somewhat blank faces of characters during dialogue, most of the game’s animations are excellent and the overall look feels ripped straight from the show. It’s colourful and appealing, with a style which reflects the absurd and whimsical world well. Textures and effects also look great for the most part – even on the Switch – and there were times when I was surprised by just how good this game looks. It also sounds good, with excellent voice acting by the original show cast and a wide range of music underpinning the adventure.
Overall SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake was a welcome surprise to play. I went in expecting a low-budget platformer with an annoying protagonist, but what I found was a refreshingly fun experience with a unique aesthetic and some genuinely excellent moments. Whilst this isn’t going to convert devout Sponge-haters this is a must-buy for Bikini-Bottomites of all ages. It may even have wider appeal to fans of the genre in need of a new, refreshing mascot platformer.
Reviewed on the Xbox Platform, Grab your copy here https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/spongebob-squarepants-the-cosmic-shake/9NDVBN7QKLPC
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
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