Scribblenauts Unlimited
Publisher: Warner Bros. Developer: 5th Cell Platform: Wii U Players: 1-4 Release: 2012 Genre: Puzzle / Sandbox Rating: 8.6 \ 10.0: Fantastic
Above is Maxwell alongside Mario and his pals
Let me tell you, I've played this games two predecessors, Scribblenauts and its sequel Super Scribblenauts. The concept if original: you control Maxwell, a boy with a magic notebook. When a word is written in it, it becomes real (in virtual reality)! You had to obtain objects called Starites by solving problems with the right objects. But why does Maxwell need Starites? And where did he get the notebook? Well, this game explains. Maxwell's parents, Edgar and Julie, were adventurers. They discovered magical artifacts throughout their journeys. After a while, they settled down and had 42 children: 41 sons, and a daughter whom they named Lily. Each child received one of the artifacts their parents had obtained throughout their travels. Maxwell got the notebook, and Lily got a globe that could take her anywhere in the world. The children were spoiled. One day, he and Lily came across a hungry beggar. When he pleaded for food, Maxwell conjured the beggar a rotten apple. Upon eating the revolting fruit, the beggar revealed that he too had magical powers and put a curse upon Lily that slowly turned her to stone. The only Maxwell could save her is by earning peoples' gratitude to get Starites. And so began his quest. There's a whole new way to explore the world. Now, there are aren't nearly as many full missions due to the new Starite Shards. Worlds are now travelable 2D maps, and by tapping the Starite in the corner of the Wii U GamePad's touchscreen, the screen will go dark and several objects will glow gold. By tapping on these people / objects, you will be given a hint. Satisfy the object and you will receive a Starite Shard, 10 of which form a full Starite. And another great new feature is the Wii U-exclusive Object Editor. By tapping on an object you can rename it, apply adjectives to it, change its size, its color, its look, its behavior, even replace its parts with different objects... completely recode it! And finally, there's multiplayer! Up to three other players can join the game with Wii Remotes, and by pointing at an object and pressing A, they can take control of it. But as great as Scribblenauts Unlimited sounds, it has its downsides. There is only one save file, so the game doesn't have nearly much replay value. There is no level builder. And instead of buying avatars with Ollars, you unlock Maxwell's brothers as playable characters by getting Starite Shards from them. However, the game has an awesome new Wii U-exclusive feature: you can create Nintendo objects! The catch is, however, that you can create characters and items only from the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda games. Still, it's fun to create an epic Fire Mario and Link riding Epona wielding the Master Sword versus Bowser and Ganon battle! Additionally, a step up from the still-impressive sprite-based graphics of the previous entries in the series, this game features incredible hand-drawn HD visuals (it's only a coincidence that "hand-drawn is abbreviated the same as "high definition"). Overall, Scribblenauts Unlimited isn't nearly good as its predecessor. In fact, I gave Super Scribblenauts, this game's 2010 DS counterpart, an unbelievable score of 9.9 / 10.0! But these are but small faults, and they don't stop Scribblenauts Unlimited from being another fun, creative game. It's still a total blast, and its issuess shouldn't stop any Scribblenauts fan from enjoying it.
Ups
Maxwell's origins revealed
New Object Editor
Multiplayer
Special Nintendo content
Amazing visuals
Downs
Not as much replay value
No level builder
Not as many avatars
ESRB: E 10+ Content: Cartoon Violence and Comic Mischief Price: $29.99 (Retail)
Above is Maxwell alongside Mario and his pals
Let me tell you, I've played this games two predecessors, Scribblenauts and its sequel Super Scribblenauts. The concept if original: you control Maxwell, a boy with a magic notebook. When a word is written in it, it becomes real (in virtual reality)! You had to obtain objects called Starites by solving problems with the right objects. But why does Maxwell need Starites? And where did he get the notebook? Well, this game explains. Maxwell's parents, Edgar and Julie, were adventurers. They discovered magical artifacts throughout their journeys. After a while, they settled down and had 42 children: 41 sons, and a daughter whom they named Lily. Each child received one of the artifacts their parents had obtained throughout their travels. Maxwell got the notebook, and Lily got a globe that could take her anywhere in the world. The children were spoiled. One day, he and Lily came across a hungry beggar. When he pleaded for food, Maxwell conjured the beggar a rotten apple. Upon eating the revolting fruit, the beggar revealed that he too had magical powers and put a curse upon Lily that slowly turned her to stone. The only Maxwell could save her is by earning peoples' gratitude to get Starites. And so began his quest. There's a whole new way to explore the world. Now, there are aren't nearly as many full missions due to the new Starite Shards. Worlds are now travelable 2D maps, and by tapping the Starite in the corner of the Wii U GamePad's touchscreen, the screen will go dark and several objects will glow gold. By tapping on these people / objects, you will be given a hint. Satisfy the object and you will receive a Starite Shard, 10 of which form a full Starite. And another great new feature is the Wii U-exclusive Object Editor. By tapping on an object you can rename it, apply adjectives to it, change its size, its color, its look, its behavior, even replace its parts with different objects... completely recode it! And finally, there's multiplayer! Up to three other players can join the game with Wii Remotes, and by pointing at an object and pressing A, they can take control of it. But as great as Scribblenauts Unlimited sounds, it has its downsides. There is only one save file, so the game doesn't have nearly much replay value. There is no level builder. And instead of buying avatars with Ollars, you unlock Maxwell's brothers as playable characters by getting Starite Shards from them. However, the game has an awesome new Wii U-exclusive feature: you can create Nintendo objects! The catch is, however, that you can create characters and items only from the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda games. Still, it's fun to create an epic Fire Mario and Link riding Epona wielding the Master Sword versus Bowser and Ganon battle! Additionally, a step up from the still-impressive sprite-based graphics of the previous entries in the series, this game features incredible hand-drawn HD visuals (it's only a coincidence that "hand-drawn is abbreviated the same as "high definition"). Overall, Scribblenauts Unlimited isn't nearly good as its predecessor. In fact, I gave Super Scribblenauts, this game's 2010 DS counterpart, an unbelievable score of 9.9 / 10.0! But these are but small faults, and they don't stop Scribblenauts Unlimited from being another fun, creative game. It's still a total blast, and its issuess shouldn't stop any Scribblenauts fan from enjoying it.
Ups
Maxwell's origins revealed
New Object Editor
Multiplayer
Special Nintendo content
Amazing visuals
Downs
Not as much replay value
No level builder
Not as many avatars
ESRB: E 10+ Content: Cartoon Violence and Comic Mischief Price: $29.99 (Retail)
