Scribblenauts Review

Unfortunately, my good friend Jack Taylor forgot his password, so I have published this review for the DS game Scribblenauts under my account.

The Nintendo DS in the past had been known to only appeal to certain audiences. Now that the range of game styles is increasing on the DS more and more people start to turn to Nintendo’s newest franchise for handheld fun.

I was always an Xbox guy and I hadn’t played a handheld system since I was little. I recently invested in a used DS Lite just for the fun of it but it turned out to be a well-purchased item. I bought a few games to start off playing and since then have been on a roll.

Scribblenauts was among my first DS games I bought. This game has the appearance of a childish puzzle game that is limited in action and holding casual gameplay. Many people stay away from DS games for that reason. They ignorantly believe all DS games are in the same vein as Nintendogs and the Cooking Mama series.

I was under that assumption but Scribblenauts changed my mind. The graphics are simple but they grow on you. There is no need for the insane graphics of new games on a handheld puzzle game. Their simplicity adds to the fun of the game and doesn’t limit it to an eight year old and under audience. The graphics lend itself to the game’s sandbox atmosphere. The graphics match the game perfectly for its aim.

Next, Scribblenauts’ gameplay. You go through the game as a young kid named Maxwell who mysteriously wears a rooster hat (another creative quirk that just is funny). His goal is to receive the Starite located in each level. At the beginning of each level a little hint is given to steer you in the right direction to reach the goal. With the stylus the player is allowed to write in any object into the text screen and have it appear in the game for Max’s use. You can summon anything from cake and cats, to Cthulhu and zombies. In Adventure mode, there are more any enemies and the levels tend to be a little longer. These stages are focused on getting across the level to an “unreachable” Starite. Puzzle levels are more abstract and require you to use your imagination to get the Starite. More thought has to be put in these levels. One bad thing though is that moving Max sometimes can get a little glitchy. I’m not sure of the reason for this and it isn’t a major problem but it does occur and can frustrate the player.

The game’s length is surprisingly long. There is world after world that contains around 10-12 levels a piece creating challenging stages that don’t end after 20 levels. And after the Adventure worlds are complete, there are just as many Puzzle worlds to explore. And after those are done, you can go back and try to beat each level three times in a row using different techniques each time to challenge you. These are fun but they draw on. The game’s length is a strong point just to illustrate how much can be done in the game but really it becomes a nuisance. After a while you lose interest. The music also loops so that can really get to you. But that is all right because the game is simple enough where you can set it done for up to months and come back and still know how to play a reignite the original fun the game once had.

Scribblenauts is a great game with well-matched graphics, imaginative game play. The uniqueness of this game is what keeps you playing and I recommend it for all audiences even if these sorts of games are foreign to you. Scribblenauts is a must play.

Overview

The Good

· Graphics that fit the game well

· Imaginative game play

· Some replay value

· Unique

· Good for gamers not accustomed to the DS

The Bad

· Can be repetitive

· Glitchy at some points

· Repetitive music