Tonight, I completed Scribblenauts Unlimited.
Some of the “object shards” are a bit obscure. If you don’t know the literary reference, pop culture reference, or specific name of an item you may have only seen on TV, you’ll likely need some help to fully complete the game. Not everyone is an expert on topics such as Don Quixote, types of badgers, and very specific types of boats. Some of the “puzzles” are really just trivia.
But since I have now completed the game, you can expect a review soon. Despite a few minor annoyances, the game has been a lot of fun, so expect a high score.
The Wii U eShop now has two new demos, for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and Rayman Legends. I downloaded and tried them both. Wii U demos are different from Wii demos, in that you can only play the demos a certain number of times. The Sonic Racing demo allows 15 plays and the Rayman Legends gives you 30.
I first tried out the Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed demo. I played the only race available at the start, a Panzer Dragoon themed course. It felt like pretty standard kart racing at first. But even within a single race, each lap is different. Very different, in fact. At various points, your car changes into a boat or a plane. It reminded me of Diddy Kong Racing, which had car, hovercraft, and plane races. But DKR didn’t change vehicles mid-race like Sonic does. So that’s pretty cool.
The only other thing available from the start was a boost challenge. You have to get a certain distance by hitting all the boost areas in a course. I failed at it twice and didn’t feel like trying any more. It seems like a decent game, but I don’t plan on buying it. Especially since only one person in a race can be any given character (such as when racing online). So if someone else is already using your character, you have to choose a different character. That’s one thing I hated about the Wii game, and unfortunately they didn’t change it in the sequel. It seems so stupid. More than anything, that is the main reason I won’t be buying this game.
I then tried out the Rayman Legends demo. Three levels are available; I started with the Teensies Trouble level. After starting out as Rayman, the game soon prompted me to call in Murphy. So the focus shifted from the TV to the gamepad. Using the touch screen, you have to manipulate objects (pull platforms, cut ropes, tickle enemies) to allow Murphy to advance. It’s moderately fun, but the constant change (going from TV to gamepad and back and forth) made it seem not only gimmicky, but a bit annoying.
The second level, Toad Story, was all Rayman. The level is reminiscent of Rayman 2, where the big gusts of wind can carry you upwards if you glide. This level was also fairly enjoyable.
The third level was called Castle Rock. And it really caught me by surprise. A fire is on the left side of the screen, moving towards you, so you have to constantly run. This forces the action along, but it’s for a good reason. The entire level is set to music, much like in Bit Trip Runner. Every sound effect of hitting enemies, things blowing up, everything goes along with the song. It’s freaking awesome. This is one of the coolest levels I’ve seen in a platformer in years. I don’t know if the final game will have many levels like this, but I sure hope so. Rayman Legends wasn’t really on my radar before this, but it sure is now.
Despite having bigger, more varied levels, the gameplay stays true to the arcade original. You use the control pad to move around and avoid obstacles, while rescuing five baby frogs in each level. There are also coins you can collect for bonus points. I’m only a few levels into the game so far, but I am enjoying it more than I first thought I would. Look for a review in the coming weeks. Here are a few screenshots of the game in the meantime.
