The good thing about a remake of an old classic is that if it does well, there’s every chance we get a proper, honest to goodness sequel.

That’s exactly what’s happened here with The Cosmic Shake, a spiritual successor to the remake of Battle of Bikini Bottom which came out a few years ago. Because the developers did such a good job with the classic source material, they’ve been given a blessing to do something new.

And for the most part they’ve really run with the ball and given us a very entertaining platformer adventure that completely nails each character and the overall setting. This feels like an adventure ripped directly out of the show but it’s one complimented by more modern mechanics.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a platformer that reinvents the wheel or does anything you haven’t seen a hundred times before from every other platformer, but from the word go, it’s a game anyone can dive into, have a great time and leave with a smile on their face.

The humour is first rate. The mechanics are all fairly well implemented, there’s a decent amount of content variety here and it all looks beautiful. It’s just a shame this didn’t launch for current gen hardware as I would have loved to see this in glorious 4K at a silky smooth 60 FPS.

But that’s never what these games have been about, and as it is, this is as good as I’ve seen any last gen title launching so far into the generation of its successor. It is a little confusing that priority wasn’t given to XSX / PS5 platforms, though, considering this is an all-new sequel.

Regardless, the game just exudes charm and style. Spongebob is his typical expressive self, goofing around while waiting for you to move, blurting out one-liners as he collects jelly and performs karate kicks. Patrick, on the other hand, is his helpful, reliable self, saving Spongebob from certain goo’ey death and dropping in underpants when you’re running low on health.

Yep, underpants essentially serve as health bars. Because why wouldn’t they? It’s all very authentic, managing to introduce you to just about everybody from the Spongebob world, and enriching with a plot that just about keeps the wackiness contained and all together.

The game begins with you meeting Kassandra, a mermaid who seems helpful enough, yet also perhaps has ulterior motives. See, when a mermaid offers you tears, you’re not immediately going to think that’s a bad thing, especially when they supposedly have magical properties that grant wishes. Of course, our dynamic duo would never dream of using such a thing (spoiler, they totally do) and as a result, they tear apart the Spongebob multiverse and all chaos ensues.

Now you have to put everything back together by visiting various worlds through town, collecting jelly for our totally not dubious Mermaid who Spongebob and Patrick completely trust. And because we can’t just scream into our televisions that she’s totally playing the pair of them for fools, I guess we’re forced to go along for the ride and will totally feel a little bit smug with ourselves when it turns out she was totally playing the pair of them for fools.

But it’s absolutely fine because the adventure is enjoyable enough that, for the most part, you’re not thinking about sneaky mermaids or fishy fiends. You’re in the flow of collecting jelly, being dazzled by all the beautiful worlds and smirking at Spongebob’s silly one-liners. The tone and substance in The Cosmic Shake is simply wonderful and for the most part, this is the perfect game for those who’ve been wanting something new for a very long time.

And while this is a pretty generic 3D platformer for the most part, Purple Lamp have at least tried to freshen it up by implementing a new mechanic each time, like sea-horse riding in one set and another has stealth missions. There’s even some side-scrolling beat-em-up action which, I’m not going to lie to you, made me really want a Spongebob game in the vein of a Shredder’s Revenge. I adored the Simpsons Arcade and I can totally see some parallels between the two games that would make it work well.

As long as expectations are kept in check, The Cosmic Shake is a solid, even great successor to the brilliant Spongebob games of yesteryear and to be honest, I’m not really sure how this could have been made any better. The worlds are open just enough to keep things fun, so while we’re not dealing with a Mario Odyssey esque platformer, we do have something that fits this world like a glove. And the writing, style, and gameplay mechanics all make smart use of the humor that you’ll be swept up in the action right away.

This was a delightful palette cleanser in the midst of yet another busy Q1 period and one, I absolutely believe, every Spongebob fan will love.

Verdict

Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake is the perfect example of a license being treated with the care, love and respect that it warrants. It’s a more than worthy successor to the brilliant Spongebob games of old and will appeal to fans of the series, old and new. While it won’t break new ground in the platforming space and it is disappointing we don’t have native current-gen support, I can’t imagine a spiritual successor to the likes of Battle of Bikini Bottom being made any better than what we have here. 

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Pros

Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake is out now on PC, PlayStation, Switch and Xbox 

Played on Xbox One via an Xbox Series X

Code Kindly Provided by THQ Nordic