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When SpongeBob SquarePants debuted in 1999, I had simply stated goodbye to Nicktoons and Nickelodeon as a complete. Arguably, I ought to have parted with that a part of my childhood just a few years earlier, however I used to be a late bloomer. However, the misadventures of the little yellow sponge that lived in a pineapple below the ocean would fly below my radar for a number of years. It wasn’t till my remaining yr of highschool that I, bored at house one afternoon, determined to provide the present a go throughout one in all its many marathons.

I bear in mind the primary episode I noticed. It was “Graveyard Shift,” the episode the place SpongeBob and Squidward should work 24-hour shifts on the Krusty Krab. When you’ve seen it, you realize the episode goes for kid-friendly horror and ends with an out-of-left-field cameo from Rely Orlock. It was weird, it was lovely, and that was the day I noticed I wasn’t too previous for youths’ cartoons.

Greater than 20 years later, I’m nonetheless laughing. Whereas I don’t at all times have an opportunity to test it out when new episodes launch, I at all times know that sponge will have the ability to put a smile on my face. And with SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake, I used to be smiling practically each second I spent with it.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake (PC, PS4, Swap [reviewed], Xbox One)
Developer: Purple Lamp Studios
Writer: THQ Nordic
Launched: January 31, 2023
MSRP: $39.99

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake sees all people’s pineapple-dwelling sea sponge inflicting a ruckus for the individuals of Bikini Backside. This time, whereas attempting to get pleasure from an evening out at Glove World, SpongeBob comes throughout the mysterious mermaid Madame Kassandra who absentmindedly sells him a glowing bottle of bubble components that has the facility to grant needs. Minimize to some hours later, and SpongeBob has blown bubbles that’ll grant needs to everybody he is aware of. When these bubbles pop, the universe is torn asunder and his mates are scattered round a number of totally different universes that take recognizable areas from the present and mash them with a brand new theme. With a magic bubble wand in hand, SpongeBob should journey to every of those worlds along with his balloon-ified finest good friend Patrick to get everybody again and restore Bikini Backside.

Mechanically and structurally, The Cosmic Shake performs equally to the licensed platformers of the GameCube/PS2/Xbox period. SpongeBob has a double bounce, a spin assault, a jump-slam assault, a cartwheel dodge, a bubble projectile, and a weak pizza field glide means. All through every world, there are particular areas the place you should utilize strategies like hook swing and karate kick to entry new areas or make it over deep chasms. Ranges are linear, normally consisting of some small open areas linked by lengthy platforming or motion sequences. It’s considerably just like what we bought just a few years in the past with the remaster of Battle for Bikini Backside, additionally from Purple Lamp Studios.

That sport, for no matter purpose, didn’t actually work for me. The Cosmic Shake, nevertheless, does, and I’m dumbfounded by how a lot I loved going via it.

Arguably, the sport didn’t make an amazing first impression. The opening tutorially didn’t give me a whole lot of hope for issues to come back, and the primary 20 to half-hour of the sport’s Wild West Jellyfish Fields threw me into some poorly managed seahorse motion sequences. As soon as it slowed down sufficient to let me get my footing, I began to understand the superb job the builders did placing this sport collectively and the way they have been in a position to maintain issues contemporary and new all through.

Every world brings with it a novel really feel and presentation, from chasing down some cosmetics in Medieval Sulfer Fields to organising a lightweight present in Halloween Rock Backside. It’s actually great to see simply how a lot numerous gameplay Purple Lamp Studios are in a position to get out of Cosmic Shake‘s easy components as a result of they actually do take it to enjoyable and thrilling locations. Outdoors of the degrees, you possibly can discover the Bikini Backside hub world that expands and populates as you’re employed your manner via SpongeBob’s quest.

The platforming sections all through the sport are fairly top-tier for a licensed 3D platformer and the totally different jelly enemies you face present sufficient of a problem that I had to make use of each single instrument in SpongeBob’s arsenal to make it via a number of of its fights. That features the boss bottles, which could be mighty powerful, however fortunately the sport is beneficiant with respawns, checkpoints, and auto-saves, so it was by no means actually a lot of a trouble if I bought knocked out.

The sport’s wonky nature, nevertheless, did show to be one thing of a trouble, although the builders are conscious it wants some work. The framerate is consistently in flux, a few of SpongBob’s actions weren’t totally dependable–there was a 1-in-50 likelihood his pizza field glider wouldn’t work and the karate kick assault isn’t at all times out there when it needs to be — and it wasn’t uncommon for character fashions and objects to straight-up disappear throughout cutscenes. At one level when working round Bikini Backside, every part on the display screen beside the UI went black and I needed to restart the sport. As talked about earlier than, the seahorse controls aren’t so nice and there are greater than a handful of jumps all through the sport that requires overly exact execution and timing of the double bounce glide. Cutscenes can typically really feel like all of them finish with a smash lower, however I think that’s intentional because it performs into the sport’s humor.

And what humor it has. The author’s behind Cosmic Shake have effortlessly tapped into the comedy of the present, bolstered by pitch-perfect performances from the SpongeBob SquarePants forged. I’d argue the sport might use an possibility to chop down on among the repetitive soundbites, however past being continually reminded that Krusty Krab pizza is the pizza for you and me, that is one humorous sport from starting to finish. It’s additionally one with a soundtrack that is much better than I might have anticipated. I don’t typically take note of the music in video games, however I couldn’t ignore it right here.

If there may be one space of Cosmic Shake the place I used to be barely upset–outdoors of the Krabby Patty minigame that doesn’t appear to do something in any respect–it’s with the sport’s costume system. A part of the gimmick of SpongeBob touring to totally different worlds is he’ll be given new costumes that mix him into the setting. These costumes look nice, however that’s all they do. There’s no gameplay benefit to utilizing one costume over one other, and also you don’t even should put on a fancy dress that matches the theme of the world if you happen to don’t need to. There are a whole lot of costumes to unlock, and doing so is what I think will make up the majority of the post-game expertise. It might be good if every costume had some distinctive means tied to it, however it’s what it’s, and the simplicity of the function didn’t detract one bit from my enjoyment of this journey.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is an astoundingly good sport. There may be a lot creativity packed into its seven totally different worlds that I couldn’t cease taking part in it over the previous weekend as a result of I used to be too excited to see what was subsequent. That is, indisputably, the perfect SpongeBob sport I’ve ever performed, and I hope Purple Lamp Studios retains the keys to the license for years to come back.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}