In what was almost a surprise release for
the week, Warner Bros published the Nintendo
DS famous title Scribblenauts to the App Store.
Thanks to Iron Galaxy Studios and 5th Cell
Media, iOS gamers can now play Scribblenauts
Remix - a pint-sized mash-up of content from
the first two games in the series... and do
you know what that means?
It means 'Adjectives'.
And why do we love adjectives?
Because now we can make giant winged rainbow
beaver's to clear out entire forests in style.
If you're not familiar with the game series,
you're presented with the unique ability to
name any object your mind can come up with
(given certain ratings-related restrictions)
to solve a series of platforming puzzles.
Want to see if Cthulu can take on a T-Rex?
Go ahead!
Sadly one of the gaping holes in the first
title (aside from its spotty platforming controls)
was the lack of support for descriptive words,
leading to the game accepting 'big fish' and
'fish' as separate entities - an easy exploit
for those stuck on levels requiring multiple
unique solutions.
This more than anything else makes the adjective
system a huge boon as each level takes on
a real puzzling challenge not easily solvable
by a jetpack, a rope and a violent dinosaur
or two.
There are currently five areas, each with
ten puzzles to solve, ranging from the basic
'make something to satisfy x' to 'adjective'
puzzles that require a bit more thinking outside
the box to solve.
Despite having 50 levels, it's easy to blitz
through them all in a handful of hours, but
once you're done the true challenge of fulfilling
'achievement' requirements opens up and they're
not so simple either.
None of this takes in to account the control
system, which is disappointingly lackluster,
with 'smart' taps determining whether you
move, automatically jump/swim, grab on to
an object or perform a range of different
actions.
Movement is decidedly difficult, so it's no
surprise to see most of the 'platforming'
style of levels not making the cut in favor
of levels requiring more of a cerebral approach.
Virtual pad options are available if you really
want to mess around with things.
If you're already a fan of the series there's
not a whole lot new to experience here, but
having a pocket version of the game (or rather
one that doesn't require bringing your DS
everywhere) is neat.
If you've never played it before, do yourself
a favor and devour this whole.
