So I Tried… SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake

Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never played before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time I visited everyone’s porous yellow friend in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake.

What I thought it was

When I picked up SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake, it was a PlayStation Plus monthly title, so I didn’t really think about it beyond that. However, I had recently played through the remake of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated and liked it despite some of its flaws. Based on the cover art and some of the screenshots, I was expecting something with lots of little mini-games, possibly even a multiplayer game. The art style seemed to feature various themed outfits and familiar characters, so maybe this would be a time-travel adventure.

What it actually is

To my great surprise, it turned out Cosmic Shake is a spiritual successor to Battle for Bikini Bottom made by the same team behind the recent remake. The similarity is very evident, as SpongeBob has a similar movement and ability set as earlier, along with the visual design being very reminiscent. In the game, SpongeBob and Patrick go to Glove World and end up getting some fancy bubble water. What, supposedly, grants any wishes made on blown bubbles ends up being a powerful item that, quite literally, rips reality apart, sucking up SpongeBob’s friends and place of work along with it.

With the aid of the mystic Madame Kassandra, the woman who sold the disastrous bubble water, SpongeBob must venture into the many tears in the city and find his friends, repairing the cosmic tears with the use of cosmic jelly. As in the previous title, the game features various themed platforming levels with some minor combat and side activities. During my 30 minutes with the game, I had just got to the end of the first world, wherein SpongeBob rescued a wanted Mr. Krabs in a Wild West setting.

Will I keep playing

That’s a hard question. While I did enjoy the humour and visuals of the game, it also felt somewhat unfinished. I often skipped past mandatory sections by accident by simply platforming on the scenery and some of the spoken dialogue seemed to cut prematurely. While most of the voice cast was straight from the show, the deliveries were also a bit haphazard, especially with SpongeBob himself sounding especially off.

The gameplay itself was pleasant enough, though a lot of the challenge and imagination seem to be missing here. I will probably play through the game, but most likely on a level-by-level basis with some time in between, as I fear I may get bored if I keep going for too long.