This puzzle game has a staggering amount of ambition, but the charm begins to dwindle only a few hours in.
Gameplay: You play as the little boy, Maxwell, in his journey to solve anything and everything with the power of the all mighty dictionary! See, this game asks you to meet certain objectives by solving the problems using any word imaginable to conjure up an object to meet the requirements and be rewarded with a starite. Of course, there are some restrictions as the tutorial will blatantly tell you. Nothing foul, nothing racial, nothing copywritten, and by no means, anything having to do with that terrible thing we call alcohol, (le gasp!). Besides that, you're pretty much free to complete any of the dozen or so levels in countless ways you see fit. Some of the stages might ask you to perform something simple like, spawn a turkey and slip it in the oven for a chef. Or, give the trick-or-treaters candy or other sweets as they pass. The levels start out easy, but grow into more difficult and thought-provoking puzzles. The problem with a lot of these is that they really don't enforce you to let your imagination run wild. Instead, you can pick the most obvious solution and get by as you would if you had decided to try something a little more extreme. Because of this, the creativity this game throws at you seems optional. You can try and use a terradactyl to cross a body of water, or you can go the conventional route and just make a platform. You can try and give a cop a flower pot to beat an escaped criminal with, or you can just give him handcuffs and call it a day. It's these "options" that hurt the experience, and is really only what you, the player, make of it.
Another low point for the gameplay are the controls. Now most everybody has mentioned this already, but it is a serious issue. You use the touch screen to move Maxwell about a level, and also to spawn, move, and interact with the number of things you write up. The buttons on the DS are used for camera control, and for occasionally bringing up a menu, (which you can already do with the lower screen.) The hassle with all this is that trying to get your character to complete a stage can either end in one of two ways: success, or absolute disaster. By having the touch screen do the majority of the work, trying to interact with the various people, objects or animals, without leaping off a ledge or destroying your whole setup, can be more problematic then it should. The controls aren't busted beyond belief, but they nevertheless come close.
Graphics: One thing that Scribblenauts does have is a artsy look to it. The style is very colorful and upbeat, which fits the kid-friendly setting like a glove. Also, the way your written creations are brought to life and interact with one another, are animated beautifully and can be a joy to watch! Its not the most vibrant game ever conceived on the DS, but its certainly the one with the most personality!
Audio: Like the it's cheery appearance, the music does its part and cranks out some truly memorable, truly hum-worthy tunes! There's some 30+ songs and most of them are so catchy that trying to remove them from your head will more or less be met with failure. There's even a music player in the game to listen to any of the purchased tracks, so audio is definitely not lacking.
Value: And yet another aspect where this title shines brightly! The replayability to this game is nearly endless! You got tons an tons of things to complete in the main game, plentiful unlockables, downloadable user-created stages via Wi-Fi, and even a robust level creator that allows you make your own masterpieces of creative genius, or of comical design. The boundless possibilities, coupled with the easy-to-use creator tool, makes this mode ideal in every way! And that, combined with the rest of the package, makes for one content-heavy experience!
Conclusion: Scribblenauts is a puzzler that tries to do so much, but collapses under its own weight as a result of that. There's alot here, but the lax requirements makes the design falter. There is nothing else quite like it, to be sure. And it might provide you with more amusement than it did me, but only a few hours in the game's novelty starts to wear thin, and eventually the realization of the many problems are inevitably pushed front and center. And, to be frank, a feeling of missed opportunity as well.