The original Scribblenauts was a sleeper hit. Selling over 1 million copies, the game was a spark of creativity and originality, that encouraged different thinking in unique scenarios. The game's "Write Anything. Solve Everything" campaign has been expanded on in the form of Super Scribblenauts, which retains all the original's charm, but leaves you wanting more from the gameplay.
There is little plot in Super Scribblenauts to speak of at all. You play as Maxwell, the young hero tasked with collecting Starites, which are stars scattered around his world. You have the aid of a notebook and pen, within which you can write any word you can think of, and it will come to life in the game and help you with your objective. Each level plays out differently, and they all have different goals that will make the Starite available. For example, you may need to find something in common between three people. This is where you use your brain, and you can write whatever you need to help you reach your goals.
This mechanic works flawlessly, just like it did in the original, and it's this mechanic that you'll use to advance through the games numerous levels. It's only a shame, that there wasn't more to it. It's just like the original, plus adjectives. In terms of replay value, there isn't much here. You're encouraged to replay each level three times, and be creative in each one, but there isn't much incentive and the reward is unsatisfying. Thankfully, the level creator has been revamped. Instead of editing previous levels, you can now create your own from scratch, and it's a lot of fun designing interesting scenarios that you can share with friends. It does have its problems, and there are limitations to what you can do, but it's still a fun diversion.
New in the sequel is the ability to write adjectives, that help modify your items to make them more specific. There are special adjective-based levels that are loads of fun, and you'll laugh out loud at some of the combinations you can create. As if a plaid elephant isn't funny enough, you can even add more than one adjective and get crazy with it. Adjectives are a lot of fun, and it's a shame that they aren't used more often. The controls in the original Scribblenauts were a mess. Stylus control for Maxwell didn't work at all, almost to the point of frustration. Thankfully, in the sequel, you have the option to use the DS's d-pad, which works ten times better. This is a welcome addition that is definitely for the better.
The visuals in Super Scribblenauts are simple, but purposely. The cartoony-drawn style of animation seen in the game is a lot of fun, but some items look really stupid, and sometimes they don't behave as you'd expect. The music in the game is clean and fun, with the main theme sticking out as the star.
Super Scribblenauts is every bit worthy of this sequel to its predecessor. The game's writing mechanic has been untouched for the better, and, although you'll want more, it's still a fun game that is worth your time.
Pros:
Brilliant Writing Mechanic
Updated Controls
Great Tunes
Level Creator Works Great
Cons:
Not Much To Do After
Weak Visuals
Overall: 7.5/10.0
