Scribblenauts

A brilliant ability to create anything almost worthy of a 10 is hindered by horrible controls.

User Rating: 8.5 | Scribblenauts DS

By BlackDeath1423 | Review Date: November 1, 2009

5th Cell once again attempts to make a game where your imagination rules. This is by far their best attempt. Scribblenauts will wow anybody right when they pick the game up. In the game you write a word, and the object/person/animal/etc. you write will come to life. This includes anything from a T-Rex to a cup of tea. Messing around with the Maxwell's (the main character) amazing ability to create anything using his sketchpad. It's fun just to create stuff and watch how they react. Obviously you a worm will squirm away from a hydra. But watching a spawned aethiest running from god gives quite a laugh. And that's just part of the fun.
There's actually a story mode too. I estimate more than 200 levels are contained in it. In one of early levels you have to give santa something that he wants. A present, reigndeer, or many other things would give you the starite, which lets you win the level. Unfortunately some levels are extremely unfair or vague. For example in one of the later levels you are asked to "Find the imposter!" On the screen are three perfectly identical construction workers. I have tried interrogator, spy, and getting a gun and killing them all. I still have not figured it out. Levels like that decrease the fun, but there are many good levels too.
There is one thing that ruins the game, the controls. To move, you tap where you want to go. This is very imprecise and conflicts with many other controls. To move an object you spawn you drag it around with the stylus. This can make you move when you want to drag or vice versa. After you create many objects and set everything up the controls may kill you causing you to restart. If the movement was used with the D-Pad (or if you even had the option of doing so) I would give this game a 9 or 9.5.
Scribblenauts has it's ups and downs, but mostly ups. The game is overall pretty good. It has an amazing idea executed very well. But the controls and some levels bring it down. If you have a DS and some money buy or at least rent this game. It's worth it.

Other Helpful Reviews for Scribblenauts

• Rating:8

  "Write Anything, Solve Everything" is a huge overstatement, but Scribblenauts still delivers solid gameplay

  By J-man45 | Review Date: Oct 23, 2009 | DS

  Scribblenauts got everyone excited with its debut announcement at E3 2009, and had everyone eager to start playing and be able to write anything they can think of and watch it "come to life." But does Scribblenauts reall... Read Full Review

  8 of 8 users found the following review helpful
• Rating:7.5

  Ambition Over Gameplay

  By GeekyDad | Review Date: Sep 17, 2009 | DS

  I greatly anticipate the majority of readers to look at that score, completely ignore my review and give it a thumbs down. That's a shame, too, since many folks will miss out on what I feel are valid issues that probably... Read Full Review

  7 of 8 users found the following review helpful