Scribblenauts Unlimited user review

To Scribble or to Scribblenaut?

Review written by
AndPerSeAnd

January 10th, 2013

Scribblenauts Unlimited is the newest title in the Scribblenauts franchise. Created and developed by 5TH Cell, but also taking a whole new approach with Maxwell and his magic notebook. Were the changes made for better or for worse? Fans seem to have their own opinions.

Many of the changes from when Scribblenauts was first released on Nintendo DS were for the better; in the next advancement adding adjectives. Now Maxwell's world is open; rather than clicking the number of the puzzle you want you walk around and explore the world and find the characters who are in need of some magic. In this installment they at 5TH Cell tried to give Scribblenauts a back-story that hadn't been seen before; personally, I thought it was quite charming a story.

The removal of the playground on the main screen was a large criticism among fans, though with the open world it seems that the whole environment was meant to be a playground. I spent too much time giving things and people adjectives and adding decoration to the places I would visit.

Scribblenauts Unlimited was released on Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and PC - of which the cheapest option is the PC version and the Wii U version being the most expensive at a full retail price. The Wii U version does have its perks including the ability to make classic Nintendo characters, multi-player and an object editor. For me, being a Scribblenauts and 5TH Cell fan the price was justified and being able to make a 'giant baby shooting rainbow crossbow' sure is better than being without.

The graphics are similar to what you would expect from Scribblenauts, cute and kid-friendly. The music is good and the sound effects have that cartoonish charm. Scribblenauts is not a game to buy if you plan on staying inside the box; this game has almost infinite possibilities and hundreds of hours of playtime as long as you let your creativity take over and ignore that objective seeking mindset. So, sit back, open your creative side, and make anything your heart desires (within some limitations, of course).