Scribblenauts (DS) Review

5th Cell’s Scribblenauts is an odd game. Odd, why? Because it’s one of the few games that is actually new and innovative in this day and age. Forget first-person shooters in drab brown colours or DS games starting with Imagine and ending in “Z”, Scribblenauts is an original, outstanding and fun game for the DS that everyone can and should play—it’s just not perfect. Scribblenauts has a had a wealth of hype surrounding its release since E3 a few months ago. Everyone who played it had nothing but good things to say about it, but that’s playing the game for a few minutes at a trade show; how does it stack up as a final game?

Scribblenauts is what it says on the box: “Write anything. Solve everything.” The title screen is the best place to test this with the title screen being a sandbox of sorts for you to muck around and test the game out. There is a limit to the amount of things you can spawn and bigger items like Houses, Castles and Space Shuttles will hit the limit quickly. All items are entered on the bottom touch screen with either keyboard entry or hand writing recognition; the keyboard is your best bet as, like all handwriting on the DS, it’s patchy at best.

Scribblenauts doesn’t feature a story and nor does it have to. All you need to know is that you need to collect objects called ’Starites’ and you can use anything and (nearly) everything to get them, from a variety of different puzzles across two modes. You play as ’Maxwell’ the rooster-hat-wearing avatar (which can be changed) as you traverse numerous worlds to get a Starite. There are no cut scenes; you just pick a level and away you go. The main game has two modes; these are either Puzzle or Action stages. Puzzle stages have the Starite hidden with a simple hint given at the start being your only clue as to how to get it. Action stages are a little different, with the Starite on display and numerous obstacles in the way.

Despite the differences in the modes, the Starite must be collected on par. Each stage has a set amount of items you should use to get to the goal. You can use as many as you like but to get awards and ‘Ollars’, the currency in the game, you need to do it in as less moves as possible. Ollars can be used to unlock new avatars to play as instead of Maxwell, music tracks from the game and more.

As we’ve learnt since the game was announced, there is a fair amount of words in the game’s dictionary. Now I wouldn’t say there are too many but there are a couple of problems with the words in the game. While the game promotes being as inventive as possible to solve puzzles, it’s often the simpler way that’s the easier. While you can glue things (with ’Glue’) and stick them together, there is often another object that you can type in that’ll achieve the same result without having to go all out. You can drive cars, ride animals, pick up guns, animals will attack other animals and cops will chase down robbers, so it’s much more than just writing something and watching it appear. The non-inanimate objects you can spawn are very much alive.

If you’re not as creative as some people, you’ll play the game using safe items like rocks, flames or various animals which are formidable opponents to other animals. On the flip side, there is the more complicated way to play; instead of simply attaching wings to Maxwell to get over a shark-filled pool you could type in ’Pterodactyl’, tame him, ride him with a rope attached to his foot and put glue on the end of that rope to pick up the Starite. It really is up to you in terms of how much inventiveness you can display and, consequently, how much fun you can get out of the game. Be prepared to think outside the box to solve some puzzles and don’t expect to get gold stars on all the levels right away. In fact, on the later levels, you’ll be stumped to even finish some of them; they’ll require a ton of thinking on your behalf.

At this point in the review, I could go through a list of items, how they interact with each other and how they don’t. I could also list a bunch of things that aren’t in the game, but that would defeat the other point of the game. Yes, testing out what works and what doesn’t is half the game itself. The hours spent just thinking up as many things as possible to place in the game are a bunch of fun. Seeing the limitations of the game and engine are all part of the charm and, yes, there are limitations. A lot of the things you’d think are in the game aren’t, and a lot of things you’ve never heard of, are. There is also the limitation with modifiers. Words like ’big’, ’huge’ and ’small’ won’t change the size of objects. So, for example, houses, bridges and cars will spawn in a single size no matter what you stick on the front of the word.

5th Cell also broke a few of its own rules within the game. While you can’t have any swear words, anything rude and are restricted to nouns, there are a few internet and pop culture references in the game. These include phrases like “longcat”, “ceiling cat”, a certain video game message board, 80s pop singers and more. It’s all very impressive.

So this is where the other shoe drops. While 5th Cell has gotten down pat how the game works, there are problems with controls and, again like the game itself, the controls are going to be different for everyone. You see, games like Phantom Hourglass are controlled entirely by using the touch screen. The buttons are used solely for camera controls. Maxwell is controlled by tapping and moving the stylus wherever you want him to go. You tap to pick up items, drag them around and place them in the world. This sounds fine in theory, and for the most part you shouldn’t have too many problems early on, but it’s when you reach the later levels that you’ll need to have intricate control over everything. One wrong move and the level will end, and all your object planning will go to waste.

The problem isn’t that the controls are broken but rather that they’re difficult to use and don’t work as you expect most of the time. It’s hard to move Maxwell with precision as he automatically moves a certain distance wherever you tap; on levels with spikes and gaps in the ground, this is a real problem. Small items like sticks and batons are hard to pick up due to scale of the game and the small playing field. Yes, you can move the camera with the buttons but eventually they’ll reset on Maxwell, causing grief if you’re setting up an intricate way to solve a puzzle. For the majority of actions, the game will do what you want, but it’ll be the action you need to execute that doesn’t, and this is an annoyance that is constant throughout the entire game. Fortunately this is the last footwear to fall.

The look of Scribblenauts is superb. It’s definitely unique, with everything looking like its been drawn and has come to life. The objects are all alive and animated, and there are sound effects for a great deal of them. For some items, there is repetition with different words spawning the same thing. Given the scope of the game and the space constraints of a DS cartridge, this is understandable. The items that are unique, though, are very detailed. There are dozens of different guns in the game and each one looks how it should. All different fruits and vegetables are there as well as different types of characters like a Police Officer, an American Indian, a Cowboy, a Biker, a Construction Worker and a Soldier to form your own virtual Village People.

Along with the huge dictionary and great art style, the sound in Scribblenauts also hasn’t been neglected, with a cheerful tune playing most of the time; it’s nothing remarkable but it fits the tone of the game well. As mentioned before, of all the objects you can spawn in the game, few have sounds, but the sounds of the objects that do have them are as diverse as the graphics that comprise them.

Once you’ve completed the main quest of the game, there is still plenty to do. For more points, you can go back and complete stages in entirely different ways, three times, to get points. There is also the level editor in which you can make and share (over local wireless and the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection) your own levels which add more hours of fun to the game.

Scribblenauts is an ambitious title. It does what it says it will do most of the time, and there is no doubt about it that it’s a ton of fun. The concept is just fabulous. However, you’ll sometimes struggle with the controls but this would only be a significant problem if the game wasn’t as fun as it is.

Graphics 9.0

A wonderful and colourful style, many many items to spwan to play with and see. Presentation is great.

Gameplay 7.0

The game part of Scribblenauts rocks, the controls have their issues and could be a problem for some. A brilliant and fun idea, but not without its problems.

Sound 9.0

Great whimsical and catchy tunes play throughout; sound effects for items that have them work well too.

Tilt 9.9

Both puzzle and action modes will take a while to continue, plus youre encouraged to go back multiple times to try the puzzles a different way. The level editor and sandbox mode will also provide hours of fun.

Value 9.0

The hours youll spend just experimenting with different items and how they interact will number in the hundreds. The most fun Ive had on the DS for a while.

5th Cell have done what so many companies havent done for a while on the DS. Theyve made a new and innovative game that uses the most out of the DS and is a ton of fun to play. Like the game itself, the experience with Scribblenauts will be different for everyone and how you play it will dictate what you get out of it. But if you like having fun, Scribblenauts is for you.