Day 258, Game 258 - The Wonderful 101

Well, it finally has happened. The Nintendo Wii U, after several long months of obscurity and silence on the game front, there's finally big name titles rolling out for the console that everyone loves to hate. Sure, the launch was packed full of games, albeit ports of older games, but regardless, there were lots of choices on launch day back in November. Since then, however, the console suffered from a severe lack of games, with only Lego City Undercover being the one "big" title to hold early adapters of the system over. It was a long wait, but with the arrival of Pikmin 3 last month, I declared the drought finally over. Since then, we've gotten Disney Infinity (despite it being mult-platform, I count it since I got it for the Wii U), and the spectacular Rayman Legends. 

With the release of The Wonderful 101, the game that was shown a long time ago as an example of what the system was capable of, Wii U fans can rejoice for the dawn of a new era; the era of the Wii U being a viable gaming console. 

I chose not to pre-order The Wonderful 101 from Amazon, as I have chosen recently to take advantage of Amazon Prime and get most of my games from there. The reason I didn't order it from them this time? Simple. Nintendo likes to release games on Sundays (or any day they feel like it, to be honest), and since mail or package deliveries don't happen on Sundays, I didn't want to wait to get this game. 

Unfortunately, I was feeling super unmotivated to actually go to a store and pick it up. Someone on Twitter suggested I just download it from the eShop, but because I am still a shill for physical media when it comes to video games, I didn't even consider that an option. Granted, for the PS Vita, I am strictly all digital downloads for my games, but that is only because it is so unbelievably difficult to switch those tiny cards in an out of the Vita. So without downloading the game being an option, my only decision was to go to the store, or not. Ultimately, as you can see, I made the trip.

It was worth every shred of energy it took.

This game is awesome. It's bright, colorful, action-packed and just a whole lot of fun. The characters are endearing, and the premise of the game is fantastic. Instead of just controlling an army and sending them off to battle, you fight alongside your army, and use them to form super weapons and tools that allow you save the citizens, fight the enemies and solve all the puzzles you come across. 

You use either drawing motions on the GamePad's touch screen with your finger, or the right analog stick to draw figures and shapes that turn into weapons like a giant fist, a powerful sword or a pistol, all of which are made up from super powers combined with all of the other Wonderful heroes that accompany you as part as your team. Aside from weapons, you can also use them to form ladders, chains and hang gliders, all of which help you get from point A to point B, usually in the interest of saving citizens in need. 

The action in this game is absolutely chaotic, and while sometimes hard to follow, luckily the move set and controls are tight enough to quickly and effectively get you out of trouble when need be. Some reviewers complained about the drawing controls being inaccurate, but I haven't ran into that problem at all. Of course, I'm not deep into the game, and maybe the drawing controls get harder to execute with moves later acquired, but maybe it was just an overreaction. Regardless, I'm thoroughly enjoying my time with the game, and I'm really glad I dragged myself out of the apartment to go pick up The Wonderful 101.

Now if Nintendo can just start releasing games on Tuesdays like normal media companies, that sure would make my life a little easier. 

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