Thanks to Scribblenauts some of those long wondered questions can be finally answered...

Who would win in a fight God or Death?
What is stronger, a tiger or a lion?
What happens if you introduce a black hole to a pack of bears?

A relatively unknown gaming developer unleashed a very ambitious title that did what no other game did at E3. Scribblenauts has accumulated a lot of hype and awards for its ingenuity and just plain bizarre premise. Slogans read a game where the only restriction is your imagination, conjure up anything you want and more. But is it simply a case of too much hype?

The concept behind Scribblenauts is extremely simple and when you think about it, it’s incredible that 5th cell have actually accomplished what they have. You are given a scenario; it could be you’re outside someone’s house, on a small island surrounded by water or just in an open field. It is then up to you to grab a Starite using your own vocabulary and imagination.

The menu itself is a great way to test out your ideas and see your ultimate scenarios come to life. Ever wanted to see a knight tackle a dragon? Then you can. I can’t begin to tell you how many hours I’ve lost just writing in words to see if they work. And that’s where the beauty of this game is. Sure you’ll find the odd word that isn’t in the game, but honestly nearly everything you’d expect is here plus a bunch of unusual ones too. Manbearpig anyone?

Two modes make up the single player spanning one hundred and ten stages a piece spread over ten varying worlds. The first mode is a sort of puzzle option. Here every level gives you a short clue in which you need to summon objects that will help you solve the problem. For example (and I’m using a very basic example) a cat is stuck on a rooftop and a clue will read “Return the cat to the girl.” Now it’s simply a matter of figuring out how to get the cat. A mouse maybe? Fish? How about burning the house down? It’s entirely up to you.

The alternative mode is the action stages where the Starite is located on a level full of a series of obstacles and enemies. It’s almost like a platformer complete with gaps to jump, ladders to climb and so on. There is however a problem with this. If you have a ledge that’s too high to traverse you’ll often continue to use the same items such as a jetpack. Run across a tiger, bear or other dangerous creature and just summon Death. Sure it’s a boring way to go about things, but more often than not you’ll likely get lazy and depend on them a lot.

That’s where the option to go for gold stars tries to prevent this. Complete a level once and you’ll get a silver medal, complete it another three times after and you’ll be rewarded with a golden one. Trick here though is you cannot use repeated items and must figure out new ways to complete objectives. It definitely adds to the lifespan of the game and makes you think a little more. However it seems odd that your first of three repeated plays can simply just be what you came up with when you grabbed the silver medal. It feels annoying to have to just repeat the level again for no reason.

Once you’ve grown tired of the game’s puzzles, you can then create your own using a pretty decent creation system. Or if you’re too lazy then you can download via Wi-Fi or share with your friends. It’s a very nice addition to a pretty packed game.

The vocabulary itself is astounding including pretty much everything you would expect. Animals, buildings, food, plants, weather, people... you name it. There are some understandable restrictions that include swearing and trademarked names, but one that seems odd is the exclusion of any alcoholic beverages. Sure guns and weapons are fine but alcohol is just too far... erm why?

Perhaps the biggest problem with Scribblenauts is its controls. Rather than using the D-pad to manoeuvre Max around, you need to touch the screen where you want him to go. This wouldn’t be so bad had they not been so inaccurate. Often Max will overshoot the mark, jump randomly or spasm about till he gets to the point of interest. This is even more irritating when using items, for example trying to keep Max under control when using a jetpack is a nightmare. It isn’t game breaking but it certainly ruins what could have been a truly epic title and should have been sorted out before its release.

Visually the game takes a very bright and cartoony look with animations kept to a minimum. (Fighting for example is no more than the two competitors running into each other and bouncing around) With over 20,000 items that look as they should it, it’s an impressive feat in itself. It’s shame the same can’t be said for their behaviours.

One of the opening stages features a room full of spikes that when touched will kill Max or destroy the desired Starite. I figured it could work to place corks onto them to prevent any unnecessary impaling. Unfortunately rather than fitting nicely on, they just balance there easily knocked off by anything that touches them. I learned this as soon as I tried walk by them only for the cork to go flying and me becoming a victim of the sharp object. Ouch! Obviously it’s ridiculous to expect each item to do everything they should, but it’s still a bad feeling when you come up with a plan that should work that simply fails due to poor physics or characteristics.

The music in the game isn’t anything special, but does the job and matches the sweet, innocent-like visuals well.

Scribblenauts is a great game that is sadly hurt by a few annoyances. Had the controls been less frustrating and the gameplay more polished this could have been a classic. Even with its frustrations though Scribblenauts is unlike anything out there and if you own a Nintendo DS then it’s definitely worth checking out.