Have you ever thought I sure wish I knew what Batman looked like buff and with horns? What about wished that games gave you the freedom to truly come up with your own solution to their puzzles? Scribblenauts Megapack for Nintendo Switch is a two title re-release of Scribblenauts Unmasked which is a DC tie-in, and Scribblenauts Unlimited. Together, this package makes for hours upon hours of silly fun as you come up with clever solutions to puzzles.
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In Scribblenauts, you are tasked with earning Starites. These are rewards that you earn for completing various tasks spread throughout the game. Some Starites require interaction with NPC’s. Others won’t be visible until you use your “Starite Vision” to reveal their location on the map. In order to complete these challenges and collect the Starites, you have to use the game’s dictionary to generate new items, or to add adjectives to existing ones to complete challenges. You may be fighting supervillains or simply washing a pig, but there’s no shortage of odd challenges. There’s never only one solution to a problem in Scribblenauts.
Gameplay consists of starting a level, having Maxwell, your character use “Starite Vision” to find the available Starite shards, and then coming up with a clever way to get it. Some NPC’s hold shards and provide you with a simple hint to earn it. Maybe you need to get a kitten out of a tree for a little girl by attaching weights to it. Maybe you need to transport a prisoner by making him tiny. Sometime tasks will require you to reset the level after you’ve altered or added something. This is because a Starite has become unavailable or even been destroyed. There truly is a huge variety of tasks and challenges in this game.
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Initially, there was a concern with my spelling ability, but it turns out that the developers had considered this. You can scroll thru vocabulary options after you enter a single letter making it easy enough for even the worst of spellers. Even my six year old was able to find the words she wanted despite being a fledgling reader and speller. The more letters you enter, the smaller the word list becomes eventually leaving only one option. I feel they missed an opportunity by not allowing for touchscreen entry as it can become a bit cumbersome using only the buttons.
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Audio tracks such as background music are (mostly) simply songs that repeat often. Due to the simplicity of them, I never found they rose to the level of annoying which can be the case with repeating background music. The quick “pop” noises, the clicks, and even the shimmer sounds of the Starites feel right at home with both games. Considering the charm oozing out of this game from its seams, it isn’t surprising that the music and sound effects are equally charming. To its credit as well, Scribblenauts Unmasked has some cheeky DC Universe sound effects they sneak in.
There’s nothing complex or complicated about the visual presentation. Simple designs combined with the occasional “POOF” of a new item keep the game grounded. Most levels have a layered background, where you can see some objects from one side of the screen, but they are blocked by something (such as a building) from the other side of the screen. DC Heroes looks very similar to their comic book counterparts, even allowing for multiple versions of each hero. Want a 90’s Batman? You got it. Rather have Bizarro Batman? No problem.
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Nothing about Scribblenauts Megapack makes it GOTY material, but that shouldn’t stop you from wanting to spend time with it. There’s replayability in spades with all the possible options to collect the Starites. When shared with others, Scribblenauts Megapack can deliver an experience you can not get anywhere else. Not to mention, it’s a ton of fun.
