SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake review for Xbox One, PS4, Switch

It has been almost 20 years since the original release of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, which was the definitive game for children obsessed with the hit Nickelodeon cartoon of the same name. A follow up to BFBB, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake may not move the needle or be as revolutionary, however it is an approachable platformer for players of all ages. THQ Nordic & Purple Lamp gives you a truly exceptional SpongeBob experience.

In The Cosmic Shake, SpongeBob and Patrick come across a mystical wares selling mermaid named Kassandra. After perusing her goods, SpongeBob buys bubbles that give anyone a wish. So in altruistic SpongeBob fashion, he goes around town asking people for what wishes they would like granted. That?s when the shenanigans pop off, as all the wishes kick in at once and all hell breaks loose. All the wishes grant at once opening cosmic holes all throughout Bikini Bottom, sending its citizens and residents throughout the multiverse. The only ones left are our heroes SpongeBob and a Luma?esque, balloon version of Patrick, who acts as your guide through the multiverse.

These events open up wishworld splitting it into 7 levels, with different themes and environments such as Pirate World, Movie World, Glove World and others. One of my favorite things about The Cosmic Shake is the reference material it pulls from. It is filled with characters and moments from iconic and memorable episodes. A lot of it comes from older seasons of the show. This makes it accessible for all fans old and new of the show. All the original voice actors of the show are brought in to reprise their iconic characters. Quiet moments are filled with banter between Patrick and SpongeBob. The game doesn’t shy away from using the massive amount of characters that exist in this universe.

You only play as SpongeBob as you explore each land. Going from mission to mission filled with tons of collectibles which at times felt very repetitive. During each level you would gain a new power such as a grappling hook, or butt slam to help you progress or back track to other levels to find more collectibles At the end of each level there would be a final boss. Each level contains a world specific gimmick. You would sneak around to kill enemies or play a side scrolling beat em up. In between levels you are transported back to Bikini Bottom where you would get your next mission. Sometimes it would be broken up by a minigame such as cooking krabby patties or seahorse racing.

Visually the game looked great. The world was as colorful as the television show is and with the help of the Xbox Series X it made those colors pop more. I ran into very few graphical hiccups. I didn?t have any failed load ins or texture pop up. I had the game crash once, but that was after a quick resume, otherwise I did not run into anything game breaking. The music and sound help put me into the mood that I was playing an episode of SpongeBob. As mentioned earlier it doesn’t hurt that the original voice actors were there to get me through each task.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a fun 3D platformer that any fan of the series will enjoy to play. You can tell this game wasn’t a hastily thrown together, cheap cash in. The 10 hour platformer is charming and F.U.N. and it will definitely have you singing Sweet Victory.

Note: THQ Nordic provided us with a SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake Xbox One code for review purposes.