SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake review - A nostalgic trip across the multiverse

While immensely popular in the media industry, the SpongeBob Squarepants IP has seen a resurgence in the video game scene in the past decade. Starting with fan speed runs of the iconic 2003 3D platformer "SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom," players have been itching to revive the cult classic. This prompted developer Purple Lamp Studios to create a 2020 remake of the game, subtitled "Rehydrated."

However, not many players expected the Austria-based game developer to follow up on it with a sequel. Cue SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake, a wholly original entry with a brand new premise. It is out for PCs and consoles tomorrow, but does this new release warrant the player's attention? Is it something unique fans of the previous entry should be looking forward to, or does it only appeal to the nostalgia factor?

Note: This article reflects the writer's opinions.

Embark on a quest to save Bikini Bottom from a new threat in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake

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Players step back into the rectangular pants of the beloved yellow sponge. Bored out of his mind, alongside his best friend Patrick the starfish, they stumble across the Mermaid's Tears owned by the mermaid Kassandra. This wish-granting bubble formula has become a plaything for the naive duo, whose plethora of wishes rip tears into the very fabric of reality. This causes portals to manifest, which are gateways to alternate realities called Wishworlds that suck in many of the objects and even denizens of Bikini Bottom.

On top of that, this also has the side effect of unleashing foes made of cosmic jelly across reality and these Wishworlds. With everything thrown into chaos, it is up to SpongeBob to save the day - alongside Patrick, who has been turned into a balloon version of himself. Players will meet many familiar faces, from Squidward, Mr. Krabs, and Larry, and niche ones like the Anchovies, all of which are wonderfully voiced. As a major NPC, Kassandra plays a sinister role throughout the surprisingly engaging but sometimes predictable narrative.

However, The Cosmic Shake is authentic in its efforts to recreate the show's format in video-game form. This is seen not just from the stellar presentation and performances but also from references and nods that fans will recognize. For example, one of the idle animations for SpongeBob is his mocking pose which was popularized via internet memes. At the end of the day, though, there is more to The Cosmic Shake than just the story.

Hop, bounce, and glide across the dimensions

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The Cosmic Shake is a 3D collect-a-thon platformer. Pioneered by big names of the 90s like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie, this sub-genre is all about collecting items throughout a level to progress and then some more. Fans of the Battle for Bikini Bottom remake would be pleased to know that the latest rendition follows in its footsteps on a fundamental level.

SpongeBob has retained many movements as they previously were - like attacking with his net and bouncing on trampolines. However, there is a dodge and ground pound mechanic as well as a glide, which was restricted to the playable character Sandy in the remake. He also obtains new environmental abilities, like using a bubble surfboard or dashing toward a contextual target. This makes platforming pretty engaging.

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The goody-two-shoes yellow sponge is also the only playable character this time, which is why his repertoire of abilities has expanded. Players will unlock new biomes as they beat each level and rescue the residents stuck there. Each Wishworld features distinct locales and themes, like the eerie Rick Bottom with a Halloween aesthetic.

Players are primarily tasked with proceeding through various set-pieces, which include combat scenarios, good-old platforming, and on-rails segments - all of which culminates in a boss fight of some sort. Throw in occasional puzzles and other non-combat objectives, and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake retains the player's attention for the most part.

Battle for Bikini Bottom

Brawl it out with the cosmic jelly baddies (Screenshot from SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake)

While initially starting as reasonably lackluster, the Wishworlds eventually start packing diversity, like a stealth segment or even a one-off unique mechanic like the Reefblower. But when players are not platforming or doing something new, they will usually be engaged in combat. SpongeBob has a health bar represented by four chunks of "underwear," and taking a hit depletes one bar. Replenish by picking a pair up that is lying around the level as a pickup or a guaranteed drop from certain foes.

There is a decent variety of cosmic jelly monsters to face in battle, from standard melee-range foes and powerful brutes to ranged projectile attackers and flying nuisances. Players can use some of their moves in battle, like the dash, but the enemies are straightforward to beat, making most encounters non-trivial. The boss fights are where the game orchestrates its most significant and best efforts. No spoilers, but most of them are fun to battle and overcome.

More than just jellies

Each world has a staggering number of jellies to find (Screenshot from SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake)

While the previous game saw players collect shiny objects, they were replaced by jelly blobs. These are the most common collectibles in the game, scattered everywhere. They can be used to purchase different outfits from the Costumes section of the menu. The tiki boxes also return, including the normal, exploding, and stone ones which are also home to an abundance of these jellies.

Players will also come across large golden coins on their travels. Usually a reward for beating a challenge, these unlock new costume tiers, allowing purchasing individual costumes under them. With over a couple dozen costumes available for purchase, players have a decent number of options. These range from standard ones like Action Hero and Knight to fun inclusions like Ghost and Housemaid. Too bad all these are purely cosmetic and do not contribute to gameplay in any manner - not even passive buffs or perks.

There are a handful of other collectibles to discover in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake.

Bikini Bottom's cosmic makeover

Something new to discover each time (Screenshot from SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake)

Outside of the various themed-Wishworlds waiting to be explored, players will traverse around the hub. With a brand-new seahorse mount making it easy to get from one point to another, most of the time here will be spent looking for new portals, doing challenges, or helping other NPCs in distress by doing side missions for them. The latter is about finding more unique collectibles to complete their quests, which grants more golden coins.

Interestingly, gameplay progression also affects the overworld. As players beat new levels, elements of those Wishworlds will be incorporated into reality around the hub. These range from objects, like the pirate ships from the Pirate Goo Lagoon world to even new enemies, like the massive jelly worm from the Prehistoric Kelp Forest. Players will also use their newly unlocked abilities thanks to new challenges and time trials that crop up around the map.

All in all, Bikini Bottom slowly transforms into a carnival of chaos, color and action over the game.

Not a perfect jump

Gallop away (Screenshot from SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake)

For all its strengths, The Cosmic Shake has some baffling design decisions. One of the critical combat elements is the bubble attack which sees Spongebob throw a bubble at the target. In the case of switches or panels, the bubble activates them while it traps enemies.

Either way, it can auto-target based on contextual prompts, but players must be at a set distance from the target. This becomes an issue in specific minigames, like the bullseye one in the town section of the Wild West biome. A secondary free-aim system would have supplemented this core mechanic better.

Other aspects also do not make sense, like why the seahorse gallop is automated and not manual. This makes them more prone to crashing into the environment and bogging down player exploration. The worst offenders, though, are the minigames. Each biome has its series of occasional minigames, many of which are boring if not outright terrible.

One of the main objectives sees players track down and pose for paparazzi, while another sees SpongeBob hoist a bunch of socks as flags for the Flying Dutchman. In both these scenarios, the "gameplay" boils down to spamming the X button on the controller. This is the antithesis of fun and creativity, two things the game seems to pride itself over in other areas.

Graphics, sound, and performance

Like Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is an Unreal Engine 4 game. The most striking aspect here is the visuals: they're gorgeous. The Cosmic Shake is a noticeable step up from Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated in the graphics department.

Like its 2020 predecessor, the game also lacks any graphics options - and many PC gamers will likely scoff at this omission. But it is understandable given that every presentation aspect is baked-in, like the lighting. Allowing dynamic options could affect the game's final look, particularly given its cinematic focus during the cutscene.

Performance-wise, any modern rig should handle it steadily with ease. There were some minor bugs, like jellies at the spawn point turning static with SpongeBob unable to collect them. On that note, I am unsure if this is a bug or intentional, but dying respawns all jellies throughout the stage - yes, including those already collected before. Since there is no penalty for dying besides spawning at the last checkpoint, players can take advantage of this to farm jellies.

The musical score stays mainly true to the SpongeBob SquarePants themes. However, each biome does shake it up with tracks that fit each scenario. Nothing extraordinary to report here.

In conclusion

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SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is, by all means, a safe sequel. It doesn't innovate the genre by any means but doubles down on what made the Battle for Bikini Bottom remake great. Much of its gameplay and design tropes will be familiar to those with even the slightest experience with 3D collect-a-thon platformers. The striking visuals, strong worldbuilding, relaxing platforming, and puzzle-solving (backed by a relatively low level of difficulty) are what will appeal to most players.

Yes, it has its pitfalls in the form of lousy design quirks and often repetitive nature. Then again, the latter is a byproduct of its simplistic gameplay, which may or may not appeal to everyone. This competent platformer primarily caters to the source material's demographic. If nothing else, The Cosmic Shake is a SpongeBob game made by SpongeBob fans for SpongeBob fans.