Platform: Nintendo DS
Developer/Publisher: 5th Cell/Warner Home Video Games
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E10+
Genre : Action, Puzzle
Scribblenauts is one of the most unique games I have ever played. What makes it so unique is that there are so many possibilities. For those of you who don't know, this is how the game works.
Basically, you want to get this star thing called a "starite" to beat a level. The way you get the starite is completely up to you. Now, what makes this game so interesting and unique is this. You can write down a noun and it will appear on the screen. For example, if you write "dog", a dog will appear. Then you use these objects to help you beat the level.
There are two types of levels. Those are "puzzle levels" and "action levels". In the puzzle levels, the starite (the thing you have to get to win a level) isn't in the level to begin with. You have to make the starite appear by solving the puzzle. If you are supposed to "help the logger do his job" for example, you could write "chainsaw" to cut down the tree. When you do that, the starite will appear. In the action levels, the starite is already somewhere in the level. The starite could be in a cage, or buried underground and you have to figure out how to get it.
I personally prefer the puzzle levels over the action levels. The puzzles are fun to try and figure out, but the action ones can get frustrating sometimes. If the levels are too simple and easy for you, it gets challenging. After you beat a level, you can try to beat it three times in a row without repeating an object. It may not seem challenging to "give the farmer three farm animals" at first, when you think right away "Pig! Cow! Chicken!", but by the third time, you're thinking "Sheep, Donkey, ...Moose?" Another great thing about this game is that you can have plenty of fun just trying out random words. The start screen is what's called "The Playground" where you can just do whatever you want. Maybe see who would win in a battle to the death - Abraham Lincoln riding on a t-rex or a clown in a rocket ship. Maybe jump into an ocean full of deadly sea creatures (such as giant squids and ninja sharks) and see how long you can survive. With over 22,000 words, the possibilities are endless.
Unfortunately, this game isn't perfect. My biggest problem with Scribblenauts is that the controls could have been better. The stylus controls everything in the game. This is a problem mainly because, if you try to drag something with the stylus and tap slightly in the wrong place, your character could move, which could lead you to your death (and you gotta start the level over). Another big complaint I have is the level editor. Instead of being able to make your own levels from scratch, all you could do is literally EDIT levels you have beat. And although you can share these levels with other people over WiFi, you can only share them with your friends. My final complaint is that you have to actually buy the different music in the game with Ollars, the in-game currency. The problem i have with this is that there is 39 different tracks... but when you are buying them, the only difference you can tell between them is their number (track 12.. track 34.. track 7..).
These problems are minor and don't really ruin the fun of Scribblenauts. When you pick the game up, you won't want to put it down.
To Sum it Up:
Pros:
- Creative and unique
- Huge word list
- Plenty of Gameplay
- Doesn't get boring
- Variety of music
Cons:
- CONTROLS
- Level Editor
Buy or Rent?
Buy, you won't want to put it down.
Final Score
9/10
Buy, you won't want to put it down.
Final Score
9/10
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Second Look
Alright, so I wrote this review back when Scribblenauts first came out, and I decided, why not post it here? But the thing is, my views on this game have slightly changed since then. Although I still say it's unique, it kind of got boring after the first month or two. Eventually, you have tried every word, and a lot of different words come up with the same object. Another new problem is, eventually you will buy everything in the store, but you keep making money that you can't spend on anything! Scribblenauts is still fun to go back and play once and a while, but you're going to put it down after about an hour.
Although, with the new Super Scribblenauts just around the corner, I might get back into it. Super Scribblenauts promises to fix the problems with the first one, and adds to the word list with the addition of adjectives. Anyway, this is a Scribblenauts review, so here's my score.
Pros
- Unique
- Big word list
- The Playground
Cons
- ..Controls!!!
- Limited level editor
- Gets boring after a month or two
- Limited store
- Useless Ollars
Buy or Rent?
I still say buy, it has a month or two of great gameplay.
New Score
7.5/10
