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When you're young, you spend most of the time daydreaming about having superhero powers. Would you rather be invisible, or have x-ray vision? Do you want the power of flight, or to be the fastest person in the world? Every situation would benefit from one superhero or another, but they never seem to be in the same place at the same time, unless it's in their contracts. Renowned developer PlatinumGames and Hideki Kamiya are all too aware of this, and their desire for a better world has resulted in the fast-paced, frantic, yet always fantastic The Wonderful 101.
Originally introduced as Project P-100 at E3 2012, The Wonderful 101 follows a team of elite agents with truly hidden identities, known collectively as The Wonderful 100. The heroes are positioned all over the world, each with a certain special power, but only in their time of need will they attempt to unite in order to vanquish evil. This time, the team is coming together to fight GEATHJERK, a federation of galactic enemies whose only goal appears to be to wreak havoc wherever they end up. Unfortunately, in this case, they've ended up on Earth, forcing The Wonderful 100's hand lest global destruction be nigh. Or, perhaps, just a really big mess.
When you start the game, you'll find yourself with just a fraction of The Wonderful 100, which means the team won't be quite as powerful as you'll find them to be later in the game. You'll begin with two offensive powers, called upon with Unite Morph, which allows your team to literally transform into items used to attack enemies. The main character Wonder-Red is able to use Unite Hand to attack and punch, while Wonder-Blue can use Unite Sword to swipe at enemies. Throughout the game, you'll meet with more allies, including the gun-morphing Wonder-Green and the whip-wielding Wonder-Pink.
As you progress through the game, you'll find new uses for each power, and you'll also find defensive Unite Morph powers which will allow you to evade and counter-attack your enemies' hits. You'll also learn new tactics to use in battle, such as the ability to fight in more than one group at a time. This will allow you to go on the offensive with multiple Units Morph powers at once; for example, you're able to create a Unite Hand and then break off to make a Unite Sword. You create a Unite Morph by drawing a Wonder-Liner, either on the Wii U GamePad's touch screen or by using the right control stick on your controller, and a single button press will let you break off to create more Unite Morph powers. However, always keep in mind that multiple people will be needed to create a single Unite Morph, and two 20-people Unite Swords might not be as effective as one large 40-person weapon depending on your circumstances at any given time.
This, probably all sounds rather complicated, so in case you're under any illusions as to how difficult this game is: it's difficult. Even on the easiest difficulty level, it's a tough game, because there's a fair amount to learn and because enemies won't just fall over when you kick them in the shin. The Wonderful 101 does a brilliant job of teaching you when you need to know about new abilities or actions, but it never holds your hand: it won't happen to mention the fact that there's a door over there that's got a lock on it that your Unite Sword might just fit into; it won't ask you if you think Unite Gun might just be a little more effective on a certain enemy; and if you're using the wrong Unite Morph and not doing a blind bit of damage, nobody's going to tell you why. It's all down to you to figure out what to do.
Some players will undoubtedly find this to be somewhat unnerving, especially those who are already concerned about the game being too difficult for them. True enough, at times, you'll be left high and dry with no idea what to do, and that can be frustrating, but it doesn't happen very often. Think about it this way: the game tells you what you need to know, when you first need to know it, before letting you get on with the matter at hand. The Wonderful 101 would definitely be less fun if it resorted to endless hand-holding, and by learning on your own, you'll find yourself dealing with matters much more easily, particularly with no interruptions.
Also consider the fact that, by not being guided through the entire game, the satisfaction when you defeat a difficult enemy, complete a mission, or just figure something out for yourself is immense. A lot of tougher games often leave you feeling as though the hard graft wasn't really worth it, but The Wonderful 101 is the complete opposite, giving you a huge sense of pride after completing some very hard tasks. Fighting the same type of enemy numerous times gives you the confidence to keep doing it, since you'll start to learn their weaknesses and the best ways to defeat them.
The game's story is split into larger and smaller missions, the former of which can be replayed at any time. For example, Mission 004 might indicate a particular story arc in a certain location, while Mission 004-A is a large part of that story, followed by Mission 004-B. These are the missions that can be replayed, as you'll be ranked at the end of each and your progress given in detail. Each of these missions also includes a number of smaller objectives, which you'll need to complete before you can progress. The first objective within a large mission is Mission 001, for example, and this might require you to save members of the public or, more often, to defeat an enemy or a group of enemies before continuing. You'll receive a score and rank for each of these as well, and they'll all be detailed on your final mission screen. It's possible to miss objectives - they might be in a hidden location, for instance - so replaying missions not only gives you the opportunity to better your score, but also to find all the objectives.
Throughout missions, you'll also come across members of the Wonderful 100 who have been lost amid the chaos, and you'll be able to recruit them as permanent members of your team. However, in order to get your numbers up, you can also recruit bystanders as temporary members who will then remain with you throughout the mission. You'll recruit people by using the Wonder-Liner to draw a circle around them, thus adding them to your team, and every so often you'll find a member of The Wonderful 100 amongst them. This allows you to build up your team quickly and efficiently, which is absolutely vital in the latter stages of missions, though finding members of The Wonderful 100 is also crucial as you'll need to recruit fewer bystanders if you have more permanent members with you.
It's always vital to have a good grip of a game's controls, but with The Wonderful 101 this seems all the more important because of the fast pace of much of the game's action. At its core, it seems fairly simple, as Unite Morphs are created either with the right control stick or the GamePad's touch screen, and attacking with created morphs is fairly easy as well. However, you then have to consider much more with tougher enemies, like dodging, counter-attacking, making multiple Unite Morphs and so on, though the game does slow things down when you use the Wonder-Liner to create Unite Morphs. These might all be single button-presses, but it's having the ability to know which button to press in a pinch, and to recover if you accidentally draw the wrong Unite Morph. Players who get a really good grasp of the controls are rewarded not only in successful gameplay, but are also more likely to be able to use some of the game's tougher combo moves.
For all the work that's been put into The Wonderful 101's gameplay, you might expect other aspects of the game to be somewhat unpolished. In actual fact, the game's only flaws lie in the gameplay itself, which we've already noted can leave you absolutely high and dry at the worst of times. Other parts of the game are actually very well presented, not least the impressive visuals and the great soundtrack. A game about superheroes is bound to have a fairly corny script, though this is outweighed considerably by a number of very funny moments, including a blatant disregard for political correctness at times: only a young man from Los Angeles would dare tell an overweight Frenchman where his croissant is best left stuffed.
In conclusion, if you're a gamer who doesn't enjoy difficult games, or someone who doesn't like putting a great deal of effort into a game in order to get the best results, The Wonderful 101 is probably not for you. It's a game of varying difficulty - ranging from "hard" to "impossible" - and it's going to require a fair chunk of your time, effort, and concentration. Don't even think about letting your defences down, lest hordes of angry metal monsters come down upon you so hard, you'd wish it had just been a ton of bricks instead. That said, even if you feel alienated by this game for whatever reason, we strongly suggest downloading the game's free demo from Nintendo eShop on Wii U and giving it a try. That's what demos are for, and you might find yourself wanting more.
For the many gamers who will put the hard work required into The Wonderful 101, the rewards will seldom be greater. This is a fantastic game which never fails to delight those who work away at it, providing an exhilarating and satisfying experience throughout with the exception of a few frustrating moments found within. It's great to see Nintendo and PlatinumGames continuing to share new and unique experiences, especially in the case of The Wonderful 101, which is one of the highlights on Wii U so far. It's another fine addition to the PlatinumGames portfolio and will surely make an equally excellent addition to anybody's personal library.
