So today I hopped on a bus and grabbed myself a copy of the only DS game I think I've ever given a damn about, Scribblenauts. In case you haven't heard, its a puzzle game where the objective is to get a star. To get said star you have to do specific things, like rescue a kitten or gather flowers. Now I know what you're saying to yourself, You're saying
"But good sir, I have testicles and am far from amused by this girly tomfoolery."
And yes, admittedly, it does SOUND about as girly as a bright pink bike with streamers and a dildo on the seat, but thats only the thin disguise for this game's true potential. See, the main instrument of your star retrieval is what I can only assume is God's Blackberry; a device that instantly creates whatever you enter into it. You want a tiger? You want an Egyptian god? How about a Botanist or a helicopter? A monster truck, a cheese grater, a hypogryph or a jet pack? All there. Wanna put a rabbi in an oven? You can do it. Find out who would win in a fight between a shark with wings and a flaming tiger? Only a few clicks away. The freedom is, surprisingly, just as free as they promised. As long as it's not trademarked, a race or a dirty word, then it's probably in here. Also, although the game looks very kiddy, it can be quite challenging, especially on the higher difficulty levels, where you have to beat a challenge 3 times, never using the same item twice. So while giving a farmer 3 farm animals is a piece of cake the first time, by the third time you're guessing Ostrich and hoping to get lucky.
Now, thats not to say its all good, there are a few problems with this otherwise epic masterpiece of potential lawsuits and hilarity. The biggest problem is the control, since your main character, maxwell, isn't under your direct control. Rather then using the d-pad, you have to click where you want him to go, which I suppose was meant so players wouldn't have to switch between the pad and the buttons. The problem is that this control can actually get you killed. Like, say for instance that I create a scalpel, and it appears above a shark tank. Now, as I go to click and grab the tiny little scalpel, I have to be very careful not to miss, otherwise maxwell will run forward with retarded glee, straight into the shark's toothy embrace. This, along with maxwell's headgear, makes me suspicious that this ultimate create power has fallen into the hands of a hyperactive, braindead monkey child. Another, albeit minor, nuisance is the fact that you have to buy the soundtrack of the game. Thats right, you actually have to go to an in game store and spend "Ollars" to purchase the other songs in the game. This doesn't make sense to me; I can understand buying the extra avatars the game lets you use (like a ninja, zombie, shaman, pirate, etc) but why the songs? Its like having to pay for a pause button. Speaking of the pause button, there is one last minor complaint, and that is that the game does not pause when you enter the typing screen. Its not usually a problem, but some levels have time limits or other constraints which make the time chicken pecking out those letters much too wasteful. It's a small gripe, but a valid one.
Overall though, Scribblenauts is a great game; It's unique, it's puzzles are fun and challenging, it's main idea (item creation) is well done and fun to use and it's faults are all relatively minor. It's definitely worth a buy for the price, and will probably offer more hours of play time then many, more expensive console based games. If you're looking for a unique puzzle game, or just a way to see who would win in a shotgun battle between a chemist and a hippie, then Scribblenauts is the game for you.
Ps: entering republican or democrat gets you the same thing, a guy in a suit. Biting political commentary or developer laziness? YOU DECIDE!
"But good sir, I have testicles and am far from amused by this girly tomfoolery."
And yes, admittedly, it does SOUND about as girly as a bright pink bike with streamers and a dildo on the seat, but thats only the thin disguise for this game's true potential. See, the main instrument of your star retrieval is what I can only assume is God's Blackberry; a device that instantly creates whatever you enter into it. You want a tiger? You want an Egyptian god? How about a Botanist or a helicopter? A monster truck, a cheese grater, a hypogryph or a jet pack? All there. Wanna put a rabbi in an oven? You can do it. Find out who would win in a fight between a shark with wings and a flaming tiger? Only a few clicks away. The freedom is, surprisingly, just as free as they promised. As long as it's not trademarked, a race or a dirty word, then it's probably in here. Also, although the game looks very kiddy, it can be quite challenging, especially on the higher difficulty levels, where you have to beat a challenge 3 times, never using the same item twice. So while giving a farmer 3 farm animals is a piece of cake the first time, by the third time you're guessing Ostrich and hoping to get lucky.
Now, thats not to say its all good, there are a few problems with this otherwise epic masterpiece of potential lawsuits and hilarity. The biggest problem is the control, since your main character, maxwell, isn't under your direct control. Rather then using the d-pad, you have to click where you want him to go, which I suppose was meant so players wouldn't have to switch between the pad and the buttons. The problem is that this control can actually get you killed. Like, say for instance that I create a scalpel, and it appears above a shark tank. Now, as I go to click and grab the tiny little scalpel, I have to be very careful not to miss, otherwise maxwell will run forward with retarded glee, straight into the shark's toothy embrace. This, along with maxwell's headgear, makes me suspicious that this ultimate create power has fallen into the hands of a hyperactive, braindead monkey child. Another, albeit minor, nuisance is the fact that you have to buy the soundtrack of the game. Thats right, you actually have to go to an in game store and spend "Ollars" to purchase the other songs in the game. This doesn't make sense to me; I can understand buying the extra avatars the game lets you use (like a ninja, zombie, shaman, pirate, etc) but why the songs? Its like having to pay for a pause button. Speaking of the pause button, there is one last minor complaint, and that is that the game does not pause when you enter the typing screen. Its not usually a problem, but some levels have time limits or other constraints which make the time chicken pecking out those letters much too wasteful. It's a small gripe, but a valid one.
Overall though, Scribblenauts is a great game; It's unique, it's puzzles are fun and challenging, it's main idea (item creation) is well done and fun to use and it's faults are all relatively minor. It's definitely worth a buy for the price, and will probably offer more hours of play time then many, more expensive console based games. If you're looking for a unique puzzle game, or just a way to see who would win in a shotgun battle between a chemist and a hippie, then Scribblenauts is the game for you.
Ps: entering republican or democrat gets you the same thing, a guy in a suit. Biting political commentary or developer laziness? YOU DECIDE!
