Just how Cosmic is this Shake?
Wish-granting Mermaid’s Tears in the hands of SpongeBob and Patrick… What could possibly go wrong? Sure, the very fabric holding the very universe very together could come very undone, opening up portals into Wishworlds full of knights, cowboys, pirates, and prehistoric snails. But that’s nothing everyone’s favorite sponge can’t handle – with the right cosmic costume! Everybody do the Cosmic Shake!
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a nice throwback to 3D collect-a-thon platformers. The story is simple enough as you head to different multiverses created by SpongeBob and Patrick and fix reality from falling apart, as well as rescuing your friends. You will come across different versions of them in each alternate reality, none of them recognise you and can be a handful…
The game has plenty of items to grab and some that you can’t instantly get either, so you’ll need to come back with new abilities to reach them. SpongeBob will also need to fend off a good number of enemies along the way as well as boss fights that push the story forward. The locations of each “Wishworld” are nice and varied with locations based on the Wild West, pirates and knights to name a few.
If there’s any criticism to be had, it’s that the game doesn’t have many surprises up its sleeve. You’ll end up knowing what to expect pretty quickly, but that’s not a terrible thing by any means. The platforming itself is pretty solid and while the combat can be a bit clunky overall, I’ve definitely come across far worse over the years. You can tell the game is designed with kids in mind with it’s difficulty, but that doesn’t mean it’s a cakewalk either…some parts can brutal, though not many.
The visuals are impressive with colourful characters and well designed locations. The game runs at a solid framerate throughout and load times are minimal, while the voice-acting is typical of the show and the script feels authentic to the SpongeBob series.
The Verdict
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a typical 3D platformer. It doesn’t do anything that stands out from the crowd as such, but it does handle itself well and definitely deserves a try, even if you aren’t necessarily a SpongeBob fan. I can’t claim to be either but found myself highly enjoying this nod to classic collect-a-thon mechanics.