Scribblenauts Unlimited is game where you let loose the limits of your imagination.
With great power comes great responsibility, and although this is no Spider-Man game, that saying applies itself no less true to Maxwell. His parents Edgar and Julie entrusted to him a magical notebook that could create anything Maxwell's heart desired. Unfortunately, Maxwell's heart is still too young and he decided to play a mean trick on a wizard who asked him for something to eat. The wizard, having taken a bite from Maxwell's freshly created rotten apple, decided to teach Maxwell a lesson by cursing his sister Lily with a spell slowly turning her to stone. The only way Maxwell could lift the curse would be to gather magical Starites by using his notebook to help the people of the world with their needs. Maxwell swore to right the wrong that he made, so he grabs his notebook and gets to work.
The beautiful aspect of Scribblenauts is its accessibility. Nearly everyone can pick up and play this game without the need of being able to navigate platforms or have the twitch responses necessary to survive bullet-filled onslaughts. The object of the game is pretty straightforward: roam the many locations, find out what their inhabitants need, and type up words in the notepad to create a suitable object. Scribblenauts Unlimited is a game that promotes creativity, because there's no one right answer to get things done. If you need to start a fire, you can do so with a match, a flint, or even a fire-breathing dragon.
The game makes excellent use of your creativity, not just by the many people who need your help, but also with Starite quests. These quests are special events in each of the game's locales that involve a series of tasks following a theme. For instance, you might be aboard a space station as things are going wrong, and you need to come up with ideas to fix each of the crew members' problems. The Starite obstacles are usually more straightforward than the random person's request, and some actually require a very specific solution.
In order to progress through the world, you'll need to gather a certain number of Starites, and you can earn one by collecting shards. You can gather shards simply by helping the people you come across. Some are as simple as giving a clown a rubber chicken to make him more effective at his profession while others require more thought such as repairing a damaged relationship. You can also earn shards by fulfilling Object Shard objectives. This massive list contains simple commands from creating a toilet and using it to tasks that summon your knowledge of pop culture from movies such as Back to the Future II to more obscure Internet memes like Peanut Butter Jelly Time.
There's no real narration to speak of in the game, so you'll be disappointed if you're looking for a story. All there is is an animated prologue and an epilogue, and the rest is just Maxwell doing his job. That isn't to say the game's short on wit, though. Far from it. The game exudes charm and the extreme number of different ways you can do things practically guarantees hilarity will ensue, provided of course you don't keep taking the path of least resistance. The more creative you are with your solutions, the funnier and more entertaining the game will be.
If you play Scribblenauts Unlimited in long bursts, however, the novelty of the game will wear thin. It may seem like loads of fun to whip up random items out of thin air and watch what happens, but as you keep helping people, you'll notice that is all you ever do. The level designs are greatly varied because there's so little to do with the environments themselves, it's hard for them to really keep your interest. Once you've helped everyone in an area, it's immediately off to the next.
The art style of Scribblenauts Unlimited is as charming as the series has ever been. Great use of color and the Wii U's ability to display in HD makes the game as aesthetically appealing as a cartoon. The characters animate like paper marionettes that further establish the game's charm. It's a bit lacking on special effects, though, as many actions are depicted with nothing more than a shake of Maxell's hands. That's not to say there aren't special effects at all, because you can cause wildfires and watch as everything you created slowly burns away, or detonate a nuke and watch the screen white out from a mushroom cloud. It's just the game's taken a rather low-key approach to special effects. Also, there are many similar objects that you can create that share the exact same design making it seem a bit lazy.
To match the game's laid back nature, the audio is relaxing. The music is soothing and mellow and fits the game's charm nicely. For sound effects, there are pops and poofs as items are brought into creation and destroyed. Denizens of the world utter "Ooh"s and "Ahh"s when you give them something pleaseing, and cry out in fear when you create something scary to them. The narrator at the beginning and end of the game also does a great job voice acting, sounding like someone you'd hear as they read a picture book.
The one major flaw of this particular title is its price. Starting at 60 dollars for the Wii U version, it's almost impossible to justify buying it when you can get the exact same game for 40 dollars on the 3DS. Plus, Scribblenauts Unlimited takes no advantage of the Wii U's hardware outside of independent tablet gameplay, and you might as well play solely on the gamepad since there's so much touch screen interaction. If you play games on the PC, you can buy it for 30. If you can find Scribblenauts Unlimited for a competitive price on the Wii U, it's worth picking up. Just don't blow through the game in one sitting, and you'll be fine.