I'd recommend this game on a sale if you can get it. Took me roughly 8.4 hours to complete the main game and I do plan on going back to 100%ing it, however.. I know it's not going to be that good going back to 100%.

Overall, Spongebob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a 6.6 / 10. It's not a fantastic game, but it's not like it's a bad game either. It's a serviceable game that does its job of being a fun platformer with some challenges. Some of the pros of this game in terms of gameplay is pretty much the combat & fluidity of moves into each other. I think the combat can be a *little* stiff at times, but it's not terribly stiff and all the moves can flow well into each other. Landing combos from Karate Kick to Ground Pound followed by a dodge to bubble blow are very satisfying and I love the amount of variety to them. The story itself is also fine, leans more to classic Spongebob naivety mixed with his own emotions of discomfort and disdain at times. It's clear the writing is moreso modern Spognebob, but I do commend the team for working with the newer stuff. The worlds are also pretty cool and varied around with the amount of costumes that Spongebob can dawn on be plentiful. It's also cool to see citizens and other characters being portrayed in their said worlds differently too, just wish the enemies were like that akin to how you had the possessed Bikini Bottomites in Spongebob Squarepants The Movie: The Game.

Now onto what makes the game very.. lackluster. The game tends to get pretty repetitive pretty quickly and while most Spongebob games tend to do this, I just wish there was some variety within the worlds. It's also clear that some things for doubloons or side objectives get little treatment since you're repeating the same abilities over and over again, which is a shame as I liked the areas where I had to chain together different techniques to get to different platforms. Like in the medieval world I remember having to chain together a Bubble Blow to open up a platform, use the Pizza Glide to get to said platform, and then jump towards and do a Lasso Swing. That was fun, that was cool. I wish this was in a good amount of the platforming. Also movement can be pretty stiff, but it's not terribly stiff. Going forward or backward wasn't terribly bad, felt a bit weird at times, but comparing it to Rehydrated Spongebob's turning was just god awful to perform and he seems to slow down when doing so? It's not a major turn off, but it definitely needed more tweaking and refinement. Also the final boss against Jelly Squidward and Cassandra was a major letdown. Not only was it piss poor easy, but it also felt pretty... laxed. It had a repeat from Pom Pom's patterns except now the only way of attacking is through the Reef Blower. It's not even as long as BfBB & Rehydrated's Robo-Spongebob or The Movie: The Game's majority set of bosses. I feel like a lot of the bosses are pretty underwhelming, just not majorly underwhelming like the final one. I wish the bosses felt more like a step-up from what we got in The Movie: The Game where we had to utilize our newest abilities in the best ways possible, seeing something we couldn't do before and allowing better options for getting through a level faster. Ah well.

Overall just underwhelming fights & movement with some actual decent writing and great combat makes The Cosmic Shake get the grade of 6.6 / 10. For me personally, it means it's worth player so long as you're willing to get through some parts of slog.

Edit: 12:43 EST @ 2/3/2023 - Just completed the 100%. No guides whatsoever, meaning if you want to go and find everything in the worlds, it's pretty simple to do so. There's a couple extra side things that go off, but that's about it. I'd say the hardest of the Achievements / Awards to get is the "No Get Hit" during the Royal Ballroom Boss. It's just making sure you don't bombrush each cake. Won't say much else.