Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
One of the constants in the Scribblenauts series has been that the portable versions
aren't as good as the console versions. It's not like they're bad. They're just better
on consoles. And surprisingly, not even Batman can change that.
Must be Bat-fleck.
So less than a year after the fantastic Scribblenauts Unlimited, we get Scribblenauts Unmasked.
And the idea sounds promising, right? This is basically just Scribblenauts combined with
the iconic characters of DC Comics. And actually, it's kind of like the LEGO games...how they
can give almost any franchise that LEGO charm.
Scribblenauts does the same thing with DC in Unmasked.
It's, just...you know, Scribblenauts kinda had enough charm on its own.
Now, I'm not saying this is a bad idea...but isn't there something a little contradictory
about this? Putting the restriction of one particular franchise...on a game that's about
not having restrictions? I mean, it's cool, but it also feels slightly out of place. Prior
Scribblenauts games were designed for a very broad audience.
But this one? Mostly just for DC fans.
Which makes it the first Scribblenauts game to limit itself.
So if you've never played a Scribblenauts game, it's a really simple premise. You have
this magical notebook, and anything you write in it...just appears. And it's literally almost
anything. Write marshmallow, you get a marshmallow. But recent Scribblenauts games took it a step
further. So you can write giant purple marshmallow, and holy crap, the game gives you a giant
purple marshmallow.
And you use this power to solve puzzles. In fact, Scribblenauts is really just an elaborate
word game, only with 2D character sprites.
And freaking...large yellow vampiric monsters.
And
once again, that liberating, addictive...interactive thesaurus gameplay...is the foundation of
Scribblenauts Unmasked. But again, this is also the first Scribblenauts game to limit
itself...and its audience. See, the draw here is the concept. It's only an awesome idea
if you know the characters. And I mean know the characters. This freaking thing is a DC
encyclopedia, with over 2,000 items and characters.
I mean, you don't just have Catwoman. You get to pick which decade's Catwoman. And that's
awesome...unless you don't give a crap about Catwoman.
In which case, you should watch Batman Returns.
And you know, it's weird, but...the game also seems a little more vague and unclear than
prior versions. Like, I was stuck way more in this game than prior Scribblenauts titles,
so the puzzles feel a bit more obtuse than they did in Unlimited, for example. Which
is kind of a bummer. In fact, honestly...unless you're a huge DC fan?
There's no reason to buy Unmasked if Unlimited is sitting next to it.
And certainly not for the 3DS, at least. Believe it or not, playing Scribblenauts in HD makes
a huge difference. The game looks gorgeous on the Wii U, like an interactive cartoon.
And yet again, the handheld version also loses some features that are on consoles. So...DC
fan, loves Scribblenauts, doesn't have a Wii U.
If you fit all three, you'll love Scribblenauts Unmasked.
Otherwise...Unlimited is always better than limits.