SpongeBob SquarePants, the massively successful character from the eponymous Nickelodeon series, has featured in a significant number of video games since the early 2000s. The quality of these games has been all over the place, launching on a variety of platforms over the years.
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SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a dimension-hopping 3D platformer based on the series. Although it’sa competent game, you may be looking for similar games you’d enjoy more or games without the baggage of being based on a licensed property not initially related to games. Luckily, there are plenty of titles that fit the bill.
8Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
An enhanced Nintendo Switch port of the Wii U’sSuper Mario 3D World, which includes the Switch-exclusive Bowser’s Fury packed in, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury allows those of you who missed it to play one of thebest 3D Mario games.
Super Mario 3D World mixes aspects of past 2D and 3D Mario games to create a unique experience. Levels have more room for exploration and co-op multiplayer, but they still feature some elements of the 2D games. Bowser’s Fury, however, is a 3D Mario game where you take on various challenges to help Baby Bowser free his father from the Black Sludge overwhelming Lake Lapcat.
7Kirby And The Forgotten Land
Kirby’s second Nintendo Switch outing,Kirby And The Forgotten Landforgoes the typical 2D and 2.5D side-scrolling levels for 3D levels. As usual, Kirby can swallow enemies and gain their powers by using his copy ability, with a mixture of both old powers and a few new to the series. These powers can also be upgraded to make them stronger.
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Kirby can also use his new Mouthful Mode to shape himself around cars and other large objects, helping him reach areas he might not be able to reach otherwise. Kirby And The Forgotten Land also has a few new minigames to play if you want to take a break from the main game.
6Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
A PlayStation 5 exclusive,Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apartis the 17th entry in the Ratchet & Clank series and serves as a sequel to Ratchet & Clank: Into The Nexus. Rift Apart sees the titular duo separated across dimensions. It introduces new characters, Rivet and Kit, who come from a universe where an alternate version of Dr. Nefarious — named Emperor Nefarious — has never been defeated.
Like the series' previous entries, there’s a decent variety of weapons for Ratchet and Rivet to obtain, use, and upgrade while they traverse through different environments. Rift Apart also introduces the new Rift Tether system, with the four main characters quickly moving between inter-dimensional portals to get past various obstacles.
5The Smurfs: Mission Villeaf
A surprisingly recent 3D platformer based on The Smurfs, Mission Vileaf sees four playable characters — Brainy Smurf, Chef Smurf, Hefty Smurf, and Smurfette — platform their way across five different areas. The aim is to free all the Smurfs that have been imprisoned by the Viletrap seeds produced by the evil wizard Gargamel’s Vileaf plant.
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Like many other games in the genre, Mission Vileaf has all the jumping, gliding, and diving that you have come to expect. It is a competent 3D platformer best recommended if you’re a fan of the series, as it may not be as enjoyable otherwise.
4Crash Bandicoot: Warped
The third game in theCrash Bandicoot3D platformer series, Crash Bandicoot: Warped, sees the eponymous character traversing levels throughout various time periods to stop Doctor Cortex, Doctor Nefarious Tropy, and Uka Uka from collecting time crystals to conquer Earth.
Warped has all the usually expected running, jumping, and spinning gameplay that the series is known for, with both Crash and his sister Coco as playable characters. While you may need to dust off your old PlayStation or PlayStation 2 to play the original game, it was also remade as part of the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy alongside its predecessors.
3Lil Gator Game
Lil Gator Gamemay have more in common with the 3D entries inThe Legend of Zeldaseries than SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake, but it is still a 3D platformer starring an aquatic creature.
Lil Gator Game has the titular character going around the island and helping its inhabitants with various tasks, so that his older sister will play with him again the way they did in the past. It’s also a more relaxing experience than the games it’s an homage to, since there’s no world-ending threat and no damage to be taken at all — including fall damage.
2I Am Fish
I Am Fish is a quirky physics-based 3D platformer from Bossa Studios, the same people behind I Am Bread. It stars four fish — Goldfish, Pufferfish, Piranha, and Flying Fish — as they try to make their way to the freedom of the open ocean. Each fish plays differently and has a unique ability that the others don’t. You’ll need to utilize all of them if you want to get to the ocean unscathed.
Like its predecessor, the characters in I Am Fish can be challenging to control properly. You’ll likely find yourself more entertained than frustrated, getting better each time you reattempt controlling these characters.
1Spongebob Squarepants: Battle For Bikini Bottom Rehydrated
The game that led to the development of The Cosmic Shake, Battle For Bikini Bottom Rehydrated is a remake of 2003’s SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle For Bikini Bottom, which is perhaps one of the mostbeloved games based on the series.
SpongeBob is the main playable character, but he can be switched out for Patrick or Sandy when at a bus stop, depending on the current level. While it’s primarily a single-player 3D platformer similar to The Cosmic Shake,Battle For Bikini Bottom Rehydratedalso adds a local and online multiplayer horde mode for two players that includes content cut from the original game.
