While reactions to Purple Lamp’s remake of Battle For Bikini Bottom were mixed due to the small development cycle, many would agree that the remake retained the spirit of the original game. In spite of this, almost 20 years have passed since the release of Battle For Bikini Bottom, and thanks to titles such as Super Mario Odyssey and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, the landscape of modern 3D platformers has changed significantly than how it appeared in 2003. With that in mind, here’s how Purple Lamp Studios can improve on Battle For Bikini Bottom for The Cosmic Shake and make the ultimate SpongeBob 3D platformer.

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More Diverse Locations

One of the main reasons Battle For Bikini Bottom has become one of the most beloved licensed games of all time is its respect for the SpongeBob SquarePants IP, recreating the world of Stephen Hillenburg’s beloved animated series that has defined a generation of cartoons.

As its name implies, Battle For Bikini Bottom was set entirely within the fictional town of Bikini Bottom, which the game succeeded at recreating wonderfully through excellent interconnected level design, with many secrets to find and areas to explore. Unfortunately, one way in which Battle For Bikini Bottom’s biomes sometimes suffered was that a lot of areas would become repetitive as the game progressed, mainly relying on fields and forests for level locations.

Thankfully, Purple Lamp Studios already appears to be solving this issue as The Cosmic Shake’s main plot point, featuring SpongeBob and his friends travelling between seven different worlds, means that the developer has the oppertunity to heavily diversify the design of these worlds inspired by the long-running animated series. Some of the worlds showcased seem to already be inspired by the wild-west, caveman, and Karate Island episodes of the show. So far, these locations combined with the promise of a dimension-jumping story seems similar to games like Crash Bandicoot 4 or Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, both games with very unique and distinct levels.

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New Playable Characters

While the original Battle For Bikini Bottom was impressive in how it diversified gameplay between SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy, with each character having their own unique abilities, The Cosmic Shake has the oppertunity to introduce even more playable characters. The game’s trailer introduces characters like Plankton, Mr. Krabs, Squidward, and Mrs. Puff, none of which were playable in the previous game (outside of the competitive multiplayer mode).

Making some, if not all of these characters playable in The Cosmic Shake seems like a no-brainer. Plankton in particular seems to have a lot of potential as a character, as he could control some sort of mech or even feature his own platforming levels focused around his tiny size, similar to games like Chibi-Robo.

Characters do not even need to stick to the 3D platforming designs of the others, characters such as Squidward, Mr. Krabs, and Mrs. Puff lend themselves well to mini-games, with Squidward in particular being perfect for the focus of a rhythm mini-game given his less-than-stellar clarinet playing showcased in the series. Mrs. Puff being a driving instructor allows her to possibly act as the focus of a driving mini-game like the ones found in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie game.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is in development for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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