SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake Reviews
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is an earnest effort to produce another great game for the character, but it hasn't completely worked. The premise is good, the level design is imaginative, and there's a clear love for the IP with its countless references and costumes. However, some of the gameplay feels very dated, while a number of presentational shortcomings and a laundry list of bugs hold it back. If you're a big SpongeBob fan, there's absolutely a good time to be had here, but a general lack of polish and some played-out design mean it's not quite the sweet victory we were hoping for.
SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake makes for an inconsistent start, but grows into the kind of fun-filled platformer its star deserves.
Altogether, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake feels like it’s exactly in line with what the cartoon has become. The humour isn’t quite what it used to be, the characters are flanderisations of their original counterparts, and the plot is just too weird that it probably won’t appeal to older fans. But the children will love it.
SpongeBob Cosmic Shake is a small but decent platform game without much pretension. THQ's title prefers to capitalise on its accessibility and fan service rather than trying to offer a dense and deep adventure. A choice that will certainly delight the youngest, but much less the older fans. The game is indeed content with the bare minimum regarding its structure, its writing and its gameplay and if it succeeds in what it undertakes, one can only complain that it really does too little. And it's a pity, as the universe lends itself well to it.
Review in French | Read full review
SpongeBob: The Cosmic Shake does not come to revolutionize the genre of platformers and adventures, however, it offers a lot of fun and a wide world very well recreated.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A must for SpongeBob fans who couldn't put down the controller at Battle for Bikini Bottom.
Review in German | Read full review
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a decent platformer, it's not great, but it's not the biggest disaster ever either. It comes at a time when platformers are a bit scarce, or at least if we talk about medium or large productions in the industry.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a short and fun collectathon that feels like the original cartoon in all the best ways. Frequent bugs and a tad too much repetition weigh the game down, but it's not enough to make it anything less than a good time.
While fairly short and easy, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake does a good job of bringing the cartoon world to life with good writing, fun platforming, and colorful, varied levels.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a fun game fans of the 3D platforming genre should check out. It's easily one of the best licensed games to come out in a number of years. Visually, the game looks like an episode of the TV show, with super vibrant colors and worlds that are full of life. There's also the great humor found within the game, reminiscent of the early seasons of SpongeBob when the jokes felt clever. That said, it's not without its faults. Ultimately, the puzzles and combat-two major areas of gameplay throughout Cosmic Shake-aren't great. The puzzles are incredibly simplistic and never change as the game goes on, and the combat just feels off throughout the entire game. Neither thing is a game breaking element, but they do take away from a fun experience. In the end, if you're a fan of 3D platformers or fan of SpongeBob SquarePants, there's enough fun to be had in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake that you should check out.
SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake doesn't live up to its predecessor, but is still an enjoyable enough romp through the sea. There are a ton of delightful callbacks that can spice up the safe level design and it's fun to see alternate versions of beloved characters. If you're a fan it's worth playing through, but if not you may want to skip this one.
The Cosmic Shake houses a fantastic recreation of the adventures that SpongeBob SquarePants has gone on throughout the years, only let down by an inability to provide adequate context for its gameplay mechanics.
If you’re looking for a captivating 3D platformer, Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake is the perfect choice. It's a well-priced game with lots of content that makes you want to save Bikini Bottom over and over again.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Despite the issues, The Cosmic Shake is generally competent. If you can overlook the mini-games that dot the landscape, the platforming is tight. Combat is mostly on the same level. If that works for you — and if the idea of more SpongeBob if that excites you — than this is one you might consider.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake neither sinks nor swims, it floats. This is a simple and well-executed game, likely too simple for the majority… but fun enough for young players and fans.
The Cosmic Shake really does feel like a direct sequel to Battle for Bikini Bottom, taking advantage of nostalgia for both that era of 3D platformers and of course the source material of the show. A cavalcade of jokes and references delivered through inoffensive, if uninspired, game design, it's sure to land nicely with the right audience even if it doesn't seek to have its genre peers shaking like jelly.
Amusing lines and colourful costumes can only do so much to shore up an ultimately "okay" game, one which does everything it sets out to do surprisingly well, but isn't really doing enough to be as great as it could be. With all that being said, your kids may end up loving this game to bits, and if that's who the game is for, then who's to say they're wrong?