Scribblenauts Review

Scribblenauts
Nintendo DS

With probably the most hype a DS game could have in recently memory, Scribblenauts filled our minds with hopes of creating a unimaginable array of new ideas and things to play with. A game that could please our every whim with the touch of a button sounded almost too good to be true. It certainly, and without a doubt, was. While Scribblenauts is definitely not the masterpiece many sought for their DS handhelds, it certainly rivals the latest DS releases at some level (which isn't much, considering I haven't bought a fairly good DS game in a while).. Still, it is almost disappointing that a game with that much flair and finesse could fall flat on its face with almost the same amount of skill. Scribblenauts is the game many of you waited for, will still play, but won't experience the same title many drooled over months ago.


Sure, throwing the donut looks good, but he'll probably turn around and shoot me regardless.

Scribblenauts is as simple as a game can really get at this point. Solve the puzzle, move on to the next one. Solve that puzzle, advance once more. Not that hard to grasp. That's really about it. Don't look for some sort of hidden campaign extra that sends you to the bowels of hell trying to save a damsel in distress. However, the system works well, for the most part. The levels are spread out in a fashion similar to the Super Mario Bros games of years past. Beating one level unlocks more levels to play. To advance to the next “world”, which has another stack of puzzles to play, you'll have to collect Ollars. This poorly-named currency is your ticket to unlocking whatever unlockables the game offers, which isn't much, but I'll get to that later. Your main usage of these Ollars will be to unlock the next world in the game. Ollars are granted simply by completing puzzles, so don't expect fetch quests either. Actually, just don't expect much from really anything.

The main attraction of Scribblenauts, however, is obvious. Think of any word, type it in, and blam, it appears before you. Most of the word bank in Scribblenauts, if not all of it, is full of common nouns, so explicits, verbs, adjectives, names (save for some rather famous ones, like Einstein) won't be there to add to your army of word choices. You can then use your creations in the two kinds of puzzles found in each world. The first is rather simple: complete the objective to reach the Starite, the (you guessed it) star-like object that is your focus to collect in these kinds of puzzles. The other is along the same lines, but is more puzzle like, as in, there is no Starite collecting and the way to finish these puzzles is to just complete the task at hand. The latter kind of puzzle gives you a bit more freedom to use your imagination, but collecting Starites in the first kind are almost a bit more challenging.


I don't even know what I'm trying to do here...

That's really it. Collect the Starite or complete the objective. Nothing else. The game becomes more of a challenge as each level is played, but may come off as a bit irritating and almost worthy of breaking your DS in half. Some levels are just ridiculous and the learning curve of the game itself takes a steep climb way too early into the game. Not only that, but the hints given before each level are so vague you could have gotten better information from a brain-dead chimpanzee.

Another misstep in Scribblenauts is that there is too much freedom. When a person has limited freedom, they think of all the things they think they should be able to do. But, when you give that person all the freedom they want, they can barely think of more than a couple of things. Don't be surprised when every puzzle, which allows you to create essentially anything the game allows, ends up being solved by the same three items over and over again. Sure, I can create any kind of vehicle I want, but when I realize this, I almost get a type of writer's block and just choose the UFO to get myself around. Even if I could get a dictionary to find all the cool things I can use, I'll only choose the most effective. Why go through everything else when I can solve every possible puzzle with a large boulder, a shotgun, and a jet pack?

Past all of that, Scribblenauts is bone-dry. The menus aren't plentiful, which may be a good thing in retrospect. Unlockables are also barely there. Ollars will unlock you different songs, costumes and other unnecessary things, but, like said, they are completely useless in the main game. Dressing up as a ninja was cool for the first five minutes, but I completely forgot about it not that long afterwards.


When I tap to try and dodge the giant crab about to eat me, Maxwell decides that it is a good idea to go sightseeing.

Another major dilemma is how the game is controlled. Everything, aside from controlling the camera, is done on the touch screen. In theory, that could all pan out, but in execution, it fails miserably. Players will have to resort to typing in words if you want to get things done quickly, as the other option, the notepad that allows you to literally write letters, is faulty at best. Controlling the main character Maxwell is just a nightmare. Tap where you want him to go and he has a body spasm and decides he wants to jump on top of everything and do everything but go four inches in front of him. Have you laid out an elaborate plan to get a Starite? Forget about it. He'll ruin it ten times faster than it took you to step it all up. Why couldn't we just use the D-Pad for this kind of thing? That's what it is there for.

However, I'm a little torn on the sights and sounds of Scribblenauts. At some points, I have marveled at the cute, cartoon design of the game, as well as keeping in tune with the boisterous noises everything makes. At other times, I can barely understand what I'm seeing and every annoying squeak or background track that shows up makes my ears bleed. It may just be about taste, but I didn't find it surprising that keeping my DS's volume off was a good idea.


My life's dream has always been this...

Unless you really find making all sorts of things pop up in-game, don't expect to pop this bad boy back into your DS on a routine basis. Playing with a friend is almost non-existent. Creating levels to play on isn't as fun as it should be. Sending them to players around the world isn't either. Still, if you really want to have fun, the most you'll find is on the title page, where you can just make anything pop up for no apparent reason. I spent most of my time there rather than hitting Start and actually playing the game.

Scribblenauts is the story of not reaching expectations. It had all the potential to be a magnificent game and, for some reason, was the complete opposite. It isn't a terrible game, quite the contrary. Many may find it to be the game they've been looking for all their lives. As for me, I didn't find it that extraordinary, which saddens me, as I found it to be rather interesting before release. Maybe one day a developer will make a game that actually reaches its potential. Maybe a game will come out that is actually as good as it sounds. Or, we can just wait for Modern Warfare 2 to come out. I'll stick with that one.


I typed in Modern Warfare 2, not a vampire!