Yeah, despite how much I want paid mobile game to be a thriving market, I still have to face a fact that no game is perfect. Even after you pay the game while most other choices are simply free to play. SpongeBob: Cosmic Shake is definitely the game that doesn't feel "mobile" at all, means it's PROPER good game, but with one Achilles heel that really broken.
Graphics wise, it's TOP NOTCH for a game on Android. You get everything big boss consoles have, such as Dynamic soft shadows, Ambient Occlusions, Screen-space Reflection, Global Illumination, they are all here! Very rare on mobile but you'll see why in a second.
Performance is definitely one of the big part in why these games has bad reviews. Cosmic Shake actually a very well respected platformer game on PS5 and other consoles. Because at graphics this "simple", those can run this 4K 120fps without a hitch. In mobile though, a completely different story.
The game defaulted my Snapdragon 870 as Low graphics. Just everything low. When I set the fps cap to 120fps, ... The game only runs at best 90fps, mostly hovering in 60fps with some mild stutter. Not a great start! Yes 870 is aging but it's raw performance is still beating 87% population out there despite 4 years old at this point! And did I mention Low literally banishes all important good visual effects that I listed before?
So I don't wanna play in low graphics. I want something comparable to at least Switch version of the game. I set everything to Epic and... Oh Boy this game looks so stunning! Not a mobile game at all. Although... Yeah it runs at 30fps, if I'm lucky that is, because the game loves to stutter every some seconds of gameplay. Not to mention recording the gameplay for this review doesn't help!
So understandable that tons of negative reviews came from these unfortunate souls who paid the game but found their phone to run it so badly. Most of them identified to be something at $150-250 phones equipping Helio G85 or G99, which got me thinking who's fault this review actually is? What's the problem? On one side, The player should've known their phone that barely plays PUBG or Mobile Legends at medium settings play a game that supposed to run on Big consoles priced more than 3x their devices. On the other side, the publisher should've put a clear barrier on who can purchase the game right from Play Store, a minimum requirements that ensure good and enjoyable gameplay.
With all that issues tho, the rest of the reviews follow those that has been written for other console releases. Because when you throw out performance out of the window. THIS GAME ACTUALLY GOOD! You get all the nice stuff about being not a free-to-play game on mobile, that is A PROPER game on mobile. Very good mechanic, nice story, amazing voice over, insane animations, and overall the game feels so high budget and AAA. Y'know, like ALL GAME should've been.
Well the point is. You have a good time if you didn't meet the performance issues.
So that leads me to the last point. But definitely not least, because this game packs everything a proper game is. You will enjoy along 10-20h of gameplay campaign. Definitely without interruptions of... Ads (ew), or micro transactions (barf). It's just full enjoyment and perfect game for me.
What I really love the most is all characters voiced fully. None of that "man do I have to read this?" moments anywhere. Also there are many collectibles. The adventure feels never ending, but you always find new stuff because of these "dimension portal" mechanic. Like all stuff feels different and new everything you visit this game again. There are also secret places hidden everywhere. It's, again, a Proper game you can play on your phone. All that while maintaining only 5GB storage usage. Which I really appreciate for something this full.
Conclusion:
Hey do you know the game is at all low discount right now? JUST $2 for full game! How is that possible while you have to pay 2 digits for the console releases??? Just grab it now! If your current phone can't play, it's okay, at least someday you'll upgrade and that nice game already in your Library ready to launch!