Buyer’s remorse often surfaced and dwelled as I waited for anything to justify my Wii U launch day purchase. With no games in sight, only 10 months later did Nintendo fans finally see Pikmin 3 release on Nintendo’s brand new console. To avoid breaking the one game per month streak, Platinum Games developed an action title full of inventive ideas players otherwise won’t see in a risk avoiding industry. With a handshake exclusivity agreement and the safe backing of Nintendo, Platinum Games created a Wii U title that takes the raw Nintendo hardware and combines it with the talent found in the Japan based studio. As a result of creative freedom, The Wonderful 101 challenges players with its adaptive combat and simultaneously rids of any regret with its unwavering creativity.
With an unexpected alien invasion, school teacher Mr. Wedgewood drops his daily disguise and fulfills his role as superhero, Wonder-Red. With the help of other Wonderful Ones across the globe, Wonder-Red leads The Wonderful 100 (one double O) to stop alien destruction.
Each Wonderful One brings a unique Unite Morph ability to create weapons. Using high-tech CENTINEL-Suits, Wonderful Ones combine to materialize weapons that players draw using the right stick or the Wii U Gamepad touchscreen. Drawing a straight line will create Wonder-Blue’s Valiantium Blade whereas drawing a ‘S’ shape will create Wonder-Pink’s Unite Whip. Depending on the size of the drawing, the weapon will output different damage. Until you acclimate to the speed and precision of the drawing technique, the combat will overwhelm any player, regardless the basic beginning shapes.
Once you understand the nuances of the combat and discover the tricks from the brief instruction, you begin exploiting enemy weaknesses without much difficulty. As you progress through the game, citizens can temporarily join your squad to help create larger, stronger weapons. Obtaining a full group of 100 Wonderful Ones lets you build one giant weapon, or divide half to create a Valiantium Blade and the other half to create a computer controlled Unite Gun.
Each weapon let Platinum Games design enemies who constantly challenge your ability to adapt to their strengths. While some enemies will easily fall to Wonder-Red’s punching Unite Hand, others will slice right through your Unite Guts block. Executing a well timed dodge, a life saving block and attack with multiple weapons in succession, makes moments of weapons spamming and helplessness worth the overflow of clarity and invincibility.
Outside of combat, Wonder-Red and the rest of the Wonderful 100 travel down the linear paths littered with secrets. Players will find some secrets as easily and drawing a circle around a deteriorated object to restore it to its original form. Items, O-Parts (in-game currency) and collectables will drop from these secrets while other secrets will award permanent members. Players can spend any O-Parts at the spontaneously sprouting Wonderful Mart to purchase consumables, Unite Morphs and Skills. The dozens of very expensive morphs and expertly hidden secrets will encourage multiple playthroughs of the story. When you acquire all skills and develop an understanding of the expectations of the combat, the second playthrough will best represent the creativity and challenge of The Wonderful 101.
Puzzles in The Wonderful 101 often use the Gamepad’s screen. Cues from the television’s image will help you solve the puzzle streamed to the screen in your hands. One puzzle put me inside a color coordinated cube. To escape the crumbling bridge behind me and move the cube forward, I needed to hit the inside walls painted with a different color. Looking at the television above and the screen in my hands, I determined the next weapon that corresponded to the correct surface color. Although fairly short, the uniqueness of each puzzle shows the games Nintendo potentially envisioned with the Wii U Gamepad.
The creativity spills into each section of the game, yet I came away from each boss encounter indifferent of the actual fight. Each boss fight brings forth the hilarity of each character and exposes the levity of the situation, but the actual fights expect you to follow strict directions. Bosses must die in a certain way and different events trigger at specific times. Each boss fight imbeds too many quick-time-events in favor of actually letting the player control the situation. With a final fight to round off each of the nine chapters, each chapter tried to achieve this balance of cinematics and complete character control, but instead creates a scripted scene that doesn’t match the freedom of the regular combat.
Uncharacteristically scripted boss fights aside, the combat freedom and the diverse set of enemies in The Wonderful 101, encourages learning new techniques even at the end of the first playthrough. Platinum Games may not tightly grip each player’s enough to left them comfortably head into combat alone, but discovering the strengths and weakness of your enemies and your weapons, entices you score well on each mission. The Wonderful 101 joins the small, exclusive club of games every Wii U owner should not ignore.
Final Verdict
8 out of 10
The Wonderful 101 was developed by Platinum Games and published by Nintendo. It was released on September 15th at the MSRP of $59.99. A copy was provided by the publisher for the purposes of review.
