''SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake'' is a 2023 platform video game developed by

Purple Lamp Purple Lamp GmbH (formerly Purple Lamp Studios) is an Austrian video game developer based in Vienna. It was founded as an independent company in 2018 by employees from Sproing Interactive after Sproing filed for insolvency in 2016 and closed d ...

and published by

THQ Nordic THQ Nordic GmbH (formerly Nordic Games GmbH) is an Austrian video game publisher based in Vienna. Formed in 2011, it is a publishing subsidiary of Embracer Group. Originally named Nordic Games, as was the parent company, both companies were re ...

. The game is based on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

animated series ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character a ...

.'' The player controls

SpongeBob ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American Animated series, animated Television comedy, comedy Television show, television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It ...

, who, along with

Patrick Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

, journeys across several alternate realities called "Wish Worlds" to save their friends and the town of Bikini Bottom while collecting Cosmic Jelly for the

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

fortune teller Madame Kassandra. It was released for

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

, and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

on January 31, 2023. It was also released for

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...

and

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...

on October 23, 2023,

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

on December 12, 2023 and

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

on December 21, 2023. ''The Cosmic Shake'' was

green-lit To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

by Nickelodeon and THQ Nordic following the success of Purple Lamp's previous title, '' SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated'' (2020), and was conceived as a spiritual successor to the 2003 original game. The game received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the faithfulness to the source material, but criticized its lack of innovation.

Gameplay

''The Cosmic Shake'' is a

3D platformer A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

. As

, the player navigates through several distinctly themed worlds, known as " Wish Worlds" within the game, with the aid of

, who has been transformed into a

balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...

. Throughout the game, SpongeBob learns a variety of combat and traversal abilities, including: Spin Attack, Glide, Karate Kick, and Fishhook Swing. Players obtain a variety of

collectable A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any Physical object, object regarded as being of value or interest to a collecting, collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types ...

s throughout the game, such as: cosmic jelly, gold doubloons, golden underwear, golden spatulas,

Plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...

's pet Spot, and level-specific collectables for side-missions. None of the collectables are required to progress through the game's linear story, as the cosmic jelly and gold doubloons are only used to unlock costumes.

Plot

During a visit to the Glove World

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

and

encounter Madame Kassandra, a

fortune teller who sells them a bottle of "magic bubble soap" that can make their dreams come true. After purchasing the soap and returning home, SpongeBob blows bubbles to make his friends' dreams come true. Patrick then reads the bottle's label to find that it is actually a bottle of Mermaid Tears and is the property of King Neptune, not to be used by mortals. SpongeBob's bubbles then cause mayhem as it opens a portal and sucks up buildings and his friends into several " Wish Worlds" while covering Bikini Bottom in a substance called Cosmic Jelly, the building blocks of reality. SpongeBob and Patrick, who has been transformed into a

, traverse through the seven Wish Worlds to save their friends and Bikini Bottom with the help of Madame Kassandra, who gives SpongeBob a cosmic costume for each respective world he visits in exchange for Cosmic Jelly. Unbeknownst to SpongeBob and Patrick, Madame Kassandra has her own villainous intentions. Locations within the game include: Bikini Bottom, Wild West Jellyfish Fields, Karate Downtown Bikini Bottom, Pirate Goo Lagoon,

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

Rock Bottom Rock Bottom may refer to: Music * Rock Bottom Entertainment, an American record label * ''Rock Bottom'' (album), by Robert Wyatt, 1974 Songs * "Rock Bottom" (Hailee Steinfeld song), 2016 * "Rock Bottom" (Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran song), ...

Prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

Kelp Forest,

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

Sulfur Fields, and Jelly Glove World. After rescuing his friends and giving Kassandra jelly from all of the Wish Worlds, King Neptune intervenes and berates SpongeBob for unknowingly helping Kassandra in her plans, explaining that she stole the Bubble Soap from him, and that she never posed any real danger until SpongeBob helped her. Kassandra then traps Neptune and proclaims her plot to take over the ocean.

Squidward Squidward Q. Tentacles is a fictional character voiced by actor Rodger Bumpass in the Nickelodeon animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. Squidward was created and designed by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. He ...

interrupts and yells at SpongeBob for everything that has happened to him. Kassandra uses the Cosmic Jelly to turn Squidward into a jelly monster called Jelly Squidward and uses him to try to destroy SpongeBob and Patrick. After defeating Kassandra and Jelly Squidward, Kassandra is banished through a portal, Squidward and Patrick are turned back to normal, and King Neptune is freed. In gratitude for saving everyone, King Neptune gives SpongeBob one wish, but Patrick wishes to "do everything all over again" despite the others' protests, bringing Bikini Bottom back to its chaotic state.

Development

''The Cosmic Shake'' was developed by

Purple Lamp Studios Purple Lamp GmbH (formerly Purple Lamp Studios) is an Austrian video game developer based in Vienna. It was founded as an independent company in 2018 by employees from Sproing Interactive after Sproing filed for insolvency in 2016 and closed do ...

, who had previously developed '' SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated'' (2020). The game was conceived as a spiritual sequel to the original ''

Battle for Bikini Bottom ''SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom'' is a 2003 platform video game based on the Nickelodeon animated series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', developed by Heavy Iron Studios and published by THQ for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xb ...

'' (2003), and was

and

following the commercial success of ''Rehydrated.'' While ''Battle for Bikini Bottom'' has three playable characters,

, and

Sandy Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Sandy (surname), a list of people *Sandy (singer), Brazilian singer and actress Sandy Leah Lima (born 1983) * (Sandy) ...

, each with one or more special abilities, Purple Lamp decided to have SpongeBob be the only playable character in ''The Cosmic Shake'' and give him a lot of new abilities. The developers focused on making the game more story-driven and fast-paced than its predecessor, as well as making players revisit challenges and missions more frequently. Unlockable costumes were made a core focus of game. The game features voice-acting from the show's original cast, with Purple Lamp also working closely with writers from the series.

Release

first announced the game in September 2021, as a part of its tenth-anniversary showcase. A new trailer featuring gameplay was unveiled at the end of THQ Nordic's game showcase in August 2022. A playable demo of the game was presented at Gamescom 2022. Later in September, during a

Nintendo Direct Nintendo Direct is a series of online presentation or live shows produced by Nintendo, where information regarding the company's upcoming content or franchises is presented, such as information about games and consoles. The presentations began i ...

presentation, it was revealed that the game would release in 2023. ''The Cosmic Shake'' was released for the

, and

on January 31, 2023. A limited physical edition, the "BFF Edition", was released on all platforms, and includes a SpongeBob statue, an inflatable Patrick, an amulet with necklace, miniature bouncing balls, placemats, "Costume Pack" DLC, and a special box. In September 2023, THQ Nordic announced that the game would release for

and

on October 16, 2023, before being delayed to October 23. Mobile versions for

and

were announced in November and set to be released on December 12, 2023, though the Android version was released later on December 21, 2023 due to "an unforeseen issue".

Reception

''SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake'' received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. ''

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. History ' ...

'' praised the variety of the game, writing "Each world brings with it a unique feel and presentation, from chasing down some cosmetics in Medieval Sulfur Fields to setting up a light show in Halloween Rock Bottom".

Sales

According to GameSensor, over 60,000 players added ''The Cosmic Shake'' to their

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

accounts' wishlist even a month before its release. It sold almost 50,000 units during the first month of release on Steam. The game reached tenth place on the sales chart in the United Kingdom. In May 2023, Embracer Group (owner of THQ Nordic) stated that initial sales of the game were below expectations, but they expected it to "have a long tail of revenue".

Notes

References

External links

* {{SpongeBob SquarePants video games 2023 video games 3D platformers Android (operating system) games HandyGames games IOS games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 4 Pro enhanced games PlayStation 5 games Purple Lamp games Single-player video games Cosmic Shake, The THQ Nordic games Unreal Engine games Video games about parallel universes Video games developed in Austria Windows games Xbox One games Xbox One X enhanced games Xbox Series X and Series S games