The Wonderful 101 has an extremely deep and satisfying combat system. While you control your team of heroes with the left analog stick, an integral part of the action comes forth with either the right analog stick or on the GamePad screen. When you draw a shape and press the A button, your Wonder-Liner magically becomes a Unite Morph. With this ability, your heroes become a weapon. A circle becomes Wonder Red’s Unite Hand, a line becomes Wonder Blue’s Unite Sword, an S becomes Wonder Pink’s Unite Whip, and so on. As more characters are introduced, the Unite Morphs become slightly more difficult to draw, the most notable being Wonder Yellow’s Unite Hammer, which forms when you draw a line, then a circle. (It’s a bit tough to explain.) Yet, even the hardest shapes get easy to draw over time, and there comes a point where you can pull off everything with ease. And the combat slows down a bit as you draw a Unite Morph, which is a nice touch.
The best thing to do in combat, though, is to use Unite Morphs sparingly, after attacking enemies with a Mass Attack (repeated presses of the X button), because the power used in Unite Morphs doesn’t come for free. A battery power gauge, called the Unite Gauge, warns you if you’re using too much. Moreover, The Wonderful 101 scores points for upgradability as well, with an item shop called the Wonderful Mart selling recovery items, new Unite Morphs, Custom Blocks (which enhance your abilities) and Skills. Here’s a very useful tip: buy the Unite Guts and Unite Spring as soon as possible, as they allow you to block and dodge attacks, respectively. And two useful skills to get are the Attack Liner, which gives enemies damage whenever you draw a Wonder-Liner, as well as the Speed Liner, which makes it faster to draw a Wonder-Liner.
Platinum’s titles are renowned for their amazing boss fights as well, and The Wonderful 101‘s are among their finest. While they can get occasionally long, they’re entertaining, to say the least. Echoes of everything from Star Fox to Punch-Out!! can be found throughout the boss battles, and there’s quite a bit of joy in killing off GEATHJERK scum. As expected in boss battles, there are a few quick-time events to go through. Normally, I think that this particular mechanic is the bane of modern gaming, but the QTEs in The Wonderful 101 are pulled off with a lot of panache and seamlessness. There’s a lot of satisfaction in drawing a huge Unite Morph within one or two seconds.
Many of Platinum’s games have been short, but The Wonderful 101 is longer than most of their previous work. The main game can be cleared in about 13 hours, yet the replay value is quite good. Completionists will have a field day with this game, as there are secret levels to unlock, new heroes and GEATHJERK files to find, and Pure Platinum medals to try and attain. Even Bayonetta‘s eponymous heroine, as well as fellow characters Rodin and Jeanne, can be eventually unlocked, but you’re going to need to do quite a bit of work to collect all 100 of the Wonderful 100.
As for The Wonderful 101‘s flaws, they never proved frustrating enough for me to give up on it or mark it down. While some mechanics, especially Wonder Build and some of the Unite Morphs, are not fully explained at first, they easily caught on for me within one or two tries. Also, many of Platinum’s titles are hampered just a bit by awkward cameras, and The Wonderful 101 is no exception. Even when it gets in the way of the action, the 3/4 overview still works quite well, all things considered. The game’s GamePad-based puzzles are inventive, to say the least, but the decision to use the GamePad’s accelerometer and gyroscope as the camera adds to the already steep learning curve. With that said, though, the more time you spend with this game, the more you will be rewarded. The minor niggles get much less apparent over time, and by the end of Operation 009, I could find absolutely nothing wrong with this game.
In short, I think it’s a lot more rewarding when a game is extremely ambitious yet occasionally flawed, as opposed to being an excellent rehash that, nonetheless, wins lots of critical acclaim and commercial success. The Wonderful 101 is definitely in the former camp, and it’s yet another one of those games people will either love or hate. In my case, I believe this is Platinum’s finest hour in terms of creativity, style and gameplay. I will absolutely not hesitate to herald The Wonderful 101 as the game the Wii U needs most— and if you’re willing to take on the challenge of mastering this “mass hero action” title’s difficult yet rewarding nature, I think you’ll agree. Well done, team!
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Review copy purchased by reviewer
