Scribblenauts is one of those games that many marveled at when it was first demoed. The idea of the game was that you could write any word into the screen and that item would appear ie. you write the world umbrella and sure enough an umbrella would come down for your character to use. You would then use the items to solve puzzles such as crossing gaps and defeating dragons. The concept sounds ingenious but in practice it doesn’t translate so well.
Scribblenauts really shines in its list of recognized words. The list itself is over twenty thousand. Looking at that number can be rather decieving however as many of the words repeat such as “boat” and “ship”.
The gameplay of Scribblenauts consists of the main character, Max, trying to get through one of two types of stages, action or puzzle, and get a star. In an action stage the stars are out in the open and all you have to do is get to them by platforming and fighting foes. In a puzzle stage the stars are hidden, and a series of clues help to guide you towards it. After completing a stage you are rewarded in “ollars” which can be used to purchase new worlds and avatars. You earned ollars based on how little items you used in each stage and how creative you were, even if the game is not really accurate at measuring the latter. You must complete each level 3 times to clear it, however you are not allowed to repeat words used in other playthroughs. This may sound complicated, but you can just use synonyms to get through.
The graphics of Scribblenauts resemble a drawing of a young child, that is to say, they are scribbles. By no means is this game pushing the limits of the DS. The audio as well is nothing to impressive, with some simple, upbeat whistles and bells. The presentation is moderate at best.
Where Scribblenauts really fails however is in the controls. To move Max, you have to tap the stylus. The directional pad is used to pan around the level. However the stylus is impossible to be accurate with. Too many times you’ll come up with the perfect solution, only to fail because the controls are so imprecise. Its overly frustrating, and ultimately brings Scribblenauts down.
It’s really sad because Scribblenauts is a game you want to like. Its so unique in its concept and yet better controls could’ve made this game much better than it is. So sad.
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