A World of Trouble
Though Scribblenauts has no storyline whatsoever to speak of, the Challenge mode, which serves as its campaign, will give you more than enough content to cover for its lack of a plot. Challenge mode features ten worlds, each with twenty-two levels. Eleven of them are action levels and the other eleven are Puzzle. In case you’re bad at math that comes out to 220 levels in total.

In each level, whether Action or Puzzle, the goal is always to obtain a Starite in any way possible. When playing an Action level your only requirement is to get to the Starite, which may be hidden or at the end of a road lined with enemies. Conversely, Puzzle levels demand that you think a little more, as you may be tasked with a duty such as livening up a party in order to be rewarded with a Starite. In such a case, you might create a Disco Ball and streamers or a band and stage to put them on. Once done, though, you’ll always see a Starite emerge and be permitted to pick it up.

You Think It, We Build It!
Maxwell, the game’s protagonist, has no remarkable abilities except for one. Whereas Spider-man can swing from building to building and dodge bullets, Batman has his high-tech gear and training in martial arts, and the Hulk… smashes, Maxwell writes. Maxwell writes really well; so well, in fact, that whatever you doodle into the little pad on your touch-screen or type with the keyboard (also on the touch-screen) will be summoned into the game for your use.

As a result, no task becomes mundane. Were your mission to retrieve a Starite from a tree, you could create a trampoline and jump up and get it, create a fireman and give him an axe so that he cuts the tree down, or use a fishing rod on the Starite and pull it down. No matter what you think of, whether it be one of those things or none of those things, it will definitely be logical in the Scribblenauts world and almost definitely possible.

The term “almost definitely” is used because the objects at your fingertips only include words that are nouns, are not copyrighted, are not vulgar, do not reference race or religion, and do not reference drugs such as alcohol. That doesn’t mean the game includes all nouns, though. While playing through the game you may find a few menial words that aren’t completely necessary omitted from the list of items, but besides that you won’t be disappointed at all by what’s available. Unless you wanted to see Lex Luthor fight Baby Jesus. If that’s the case you will cry.

You control Maxwell by using the stylus and tapping the direction you’d like him to go. You also use the stylus to select and manipulate items, interact with environmental elements and characters, and attack enemies. What comes of that is a situation which may kill the fun completely at times.

In levels that require a swift hand and sharp mind, mistakes can mean the difference between achieving the ultimate goal and suffering the ultimate doom. So when you try to select an object which is thin or very small, such as an eel, rope, apple or what have you, you may end up missing it and having Maxwell sprint to where you tapped, which may ultimately lead to his death.

On top of that, Maxwell’s movements are sporadic, bordering on spasmodic. You may want him to take a small step closer to an edge or perhaps slowly pull a fragile item from the fray. What you’ll get for all your want is a sharp, quick, rushing sprint in the direction you tapped. It’s frustrating and completely unnecessary because simply swapping control over Maxwell from the stylus to the directional pad would’ve allowed camera control to be mapped to the touch-screen. That way, should you miss the item you’re trying to tap, you wouldn’t have Maxwell running headlong into failure.

Those issues aside, you’ll have a blast trying to complete each level. Each is given a par, which represents the least amount of items absolutely necessary to complete the level. Should you go over par, like in golf, you’ll receive fewer points, and should you stay under you’ll be rewarded with more. These points are called Ollars and are used either in Challenge mode to purchase new worlds or in the Ollar Store to purchase images and songs.

Other than the purchasable worlds, the few items in the Ollar store and the start screen templates gained by writing in objects you’ve never before used, Scribblenauts offers no unlockables. Most platformer veterans will have grown fond of and used to unlocking new abilities to use in missions that were previously impossible. In Scribblenauts, rather than returning to earlier levels with unlocked abilities you’ll find yourself going back with newfound ideas. At the end of most levels that challenge you, if you’ve figured out a brand new way to accomplish a task, you’ll probably take a moment to marvel at the ingenuity you never knew you had.

Well Isn’t That Cute?

The visual representation of the game is both cutesy and comical. Scribblenauts seems more like it’s taking place in the mind of a four year-old than in a video game, and the way the game looks can clash with what’s actually happening in the game at any given time, which can be pretty humorous. Watching a chimp ride a helicopter over a flaming ditch filled with the carcasses of a Chupacabra army probably wouldn’t be as pleasing with Gears of War graphics.

What, Am I In Daycare?
The soundtrack of Scribblenauts, unlike the gameplay, does not clash with the visuals very much. The tunes you’ll hear are detailed enough so that you know someone actually worked on them rather than some short sound bytes that oscillate over and over in each level. If you don’t like the songs available at the beginning, you can go to the Ollar Store and buy up to thirty-eight new ones.

Scribble Buddies
In the aspect of multiplayer, Scribblenauts is a bit shallow. You can create and share your own personal levels online via wi-fi, as well as play those created by others. Local multiplayer will have you doing the same, minus the uploading process. That’s all there is to it. It’s about as close as the game will probably get in terms of downloadable content, though, so players who run through the game might find the online to be their life-saving feature.

All Scribbled Out
At the end of the day, Scribblenauts is a multi-faceted game which can please players looking for something simple to jump into and out of during long bus rides, and those who need a new mainstay on their Nintendo DS. Though the flaws which mar Scribblenauts are as evident as the qualities which make it stand out, the overall package will prove fun for all fans of puzzle games and platformers like LittleBigPlanet. That in mind, it’s obvious why Scribblenauts is a must-buy for any DS owner searching for the next big hit.

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The Snorey
Story wise, I found myself unmoved. The game opens with a fair bit of destruction at the hands of an unknown maiden clad in armor, who is inexplicably destroying anyone who dares stop to strike a battle pose in front of her. All the while the story attempts to get off the ground by hinting that the maiden is escaping from a castle after supposedly stealing some sort of artifact of unknown power for an unknown reason which will lead to unknown events causing some sort of unknown disaster. Stick with me here, as it gets worse. Next we jump to you, the player. You control a little glowing orb referred to as “The Wisp” who apparently has the power to revive the recently deceased soldiers in the different battles you come across, who then fight for you.  As the game progresses, the history of your wisp is revealed through the deaths of these fallen knights, which plays out in a cut scene following every battle. Only the story is very patchy, and jumps around in the time line so much I want to give the game an injection of Ritalin just to settle it down.  Luckily, all cut scenes have a handy skip button which received a fair share of use and saved me from forgetting I had the game running while I looked at porn to pass the time between battles.

What she said...

The Gamefrey
When you aren’t mashing the skip button to get through the cut scenes, Knights in the Nightmare rewards you with some rather challenging, if not occasionally frustrating combat. First off, to really understand what is going on, you need to play through the tutorials before beginning the story. Luckily the tutorial does a good job explaining the game play, through ten lessons that hold your hand all the way through. The battles revolve around two parts, the prep phase and the actual battle. In your prep period, you can move your stylus over the different enemies on screen to find out their elements, movement paths, and hints that give away their attacks. This is also where you find out which knights you will be using for the battle. Every fight comes with a few predetermined knights with their own classes, which use a certain weapon, that you must have equipped in one of four slots. Weapons have elements, and every monster has an opposing element that it is weak to, fire vs ice, light vs dark, only  your weapons can only be used in one of two phases. Phases come in the law or chaos variety, and effect the attack patterns your knights use. If you don’t like the knights you begin with, you can switch them out for others given to you, or ones you have recruited yourself. Once you have your knights all set up and their proper weapons equipped, you are ready to fight.  Now the frustration begins, as there is no turn based nonsense here. You control the wisp with your stylus, moving to ‘grab’ one of the weapons you selected, then dragging it to the correct knight, all while dodging different enemy projectiles. Your knights do not take damage, but the wisp is what must avoid attacks, as being hit will damage your time, which is also depleted by attacking. So if you are hit less, you get more attacks in, which will lead to defeated enemies and ultimately victory after so many turns. Yet all the dodging of flying bats, flaming skulls, pieces of glass, and meth needles usually results in you accidently activating a knight to attack and waste additional time.

Scorch Drake

Great Graphics, Batman
When it comes to most RPGs, I have never been really worried about the graphics of story scenes. I have always wanted to see the biggest, brightest, and ultimately seizure inducing explosions imaginable. Knights delivers, with some attacks that have so many sparkles, lasers, and flying muffins that I will sometimes use certain attacks knowing full well it won’t do much damage and waste time, but it looks great. Enemies also come with some notable attacks which force you to hide your wisp in the bottom corner of the screen just because you don’t know what is about to happen. Your typically encountered monsters attacks are colored with their corresponding element, making it easier to find that particular enemy, and dispatch them after releasing a particularly annoying or difficult to dodge move. Boss fights have some of the bigger, nastier attacks which take up large portions of the screen with projectiles that explode outwards, or chase your wisp on screen making escape fairly difficult while you are distracted with shifting colors. Honestly, I was impressed with the games overall graphic quality, even all those cut scenes and their sepia tinted nostalgia for the days of SNES.

Oooooh, pretty colors...

A sound rebound
It’s there, but mainly for the cut scenes to set the sort of sad, regrettable mood you would expect when valiant knights are falling in the name of service and sales figures. Ultimately, music seems to be in the back seat here, and lets sound effects take the forefront. When charging attacks, you can make out an audible chime telling you your attack is ready. This comes in handy when you can’t afford to look to the side of the screen to see the charge bar, or else you might be hit and loose fifteen seconds of battle time. Otherwise the explosions of attacks sound robust, and each class has phrases they scream in a typical anime manner before executing. All around the sound could use to be turned up a notch or two, but it makes do and gets the job done.

Concluding the nightmare
For the overall experience, Knights in the Nightmare defiantly makes up for the little flaws in the game play. The learning curve starts off a little steep without the tutorials to get you ready for the first conflict, but once you understand the controls it just takes a little practice to take on some the of the more difficult battles. Then once you’ve sunk hours into playing the game and you earn your ending, there is a game+ mode, and other additional endings to come across. In addition, there are one hundred plus knights to pick up along the way, so you can satisfy the inexplicable urge to collect souls and make them battle to the death for your glory.

Avoid it, try it or buy it?
If lengthy RPGs are your thing, you will like this title. If you like a little challenge, it’s got what you are looking for. Give it a try, and if you like it then grab it up. Knights in the Nightmare was released in the US on June 2nd. At current this game is only available in North America and Japan.

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Bejeweled what?
On the off chance you don’t know the concept of Bejeweled, let me explain. You get a grid, each space filled with a shiny, coloured gem. By swapping adjacent gems, you can create lines of three, causing all three gems to disappear. Points are awarded. Getting lines of four or five awards bonuses and so on. Sometimes matching one set will cause another set to drop into place and this is called a cascade. There are a few more tricks and power-ups, but the basic idea is there. So, what’s the Twist?

In the new imagining, instead of swapping two gems over you rotate sets of four in a clockwise direction. The aim is the same, the way you match gems is just different. This is far from a quick update however; the new system completely changes the way you play. Any veterans of the original game will be surprised to find their skill, while not going completely to waste, turned on its head in spectacular fashion. Rotating the gems is just as much fun as swapping them, if not more so, and the game’s enormous amount of variety keeps you playing.

There are four modes of play; Classic, Zen, Challenge and Blitz. Classic is the basic game, where you must work through level after level trying to survive bombs (more on that later), while Zen is the same but with out the ticking nightmares. Challenge has a set of tricky puzzles and tasks for the tactical-minded and is a brilliant way to test your true skills. Blitz is designed perfectly for brief periods of boredom and limits each go to just five minutes! There’s definitely a mode for everyone, and every situation.

The game allows you to create profiles, each one having its own save game on each mode. This means playing the game on a family or shared computer won’t be a problem, although a password option would’ve been nice to stop little brothers from wrecking games!

Red ones, green ones, yellow ones…
Aside from the massive control change, Bejeweled Twist has a few tricks up its sleeve. Matching four gems will now combine them into a fire gem which will explode if matched. A line of five will morph into a lightening gem which zaps a fantastic cross-shaped fork of electricity when matched, annihilating any gems in its path.

BOOM headshot! Wait, I mean lightning gem!

I mentioned bombs before. These new threats will soon become the bane of your Bejeweled Twist experience. Regular gems with deadly, turn-sensitive clocks strapped to them, letting one go off will not only trash the grid but end your run and force you to start back at level 1! Rather than being a time counter, it’s a move counter, so every twist you make will reduce it. It becomes a panic-strewn nightmare when two or three bombs of varying numbers flood the screen and need to be dealt with swiftly. Missing a bomb doesn’t always spell immediate doom though. The game gives you a chance to disarm it by clicking to stop a spinning dial. If the dial lands on a gem, you’re saved. If it lands on the evil, red skulls it’s die time. Each time the dial is presented, the number of skulls increases as does your chance of failure. This single feature makes the game tense, exciting and brings a fantastic sense of reward. Clearing a bomb-ridden grid of its explosive nasties is satisfying and jubilant, as is getting away with a lucky spin of the dial.

In the stable of less game-ending stuff, there are locked gems and coal gems. Random gems will get a padlock slapped on them. In this state, they cannot be rotated, but they can be matched with other gems to get rid of them. At first they aren’t much trouble, but as the game goes on they become a bomb-trap. Coal gems can’t be matched, but can be destroyed with fire or lightening gems, giving you bonuses and Geodes. Geodes create random fire gems and prove very useful, especially if they’re carried over to the next level.

Although there’s very little to criticise about Bejeweled Twist, there is one thing worthy of mention. Numerous times I’ve been doomed to fail. A combination of bombs and locked gems can be lethal, and very occasionally there’s nothing you can do. A bomb gem that is miles away from it’s sister colours and is impossible to disarm will create a terrible situation; you know you’re going to lose but you have to keep twisting until it happens. It felt like the game was forcing me to lose a few times, and the epic loss of going right back to the start is occasionally too much to bear.

All together, it’s a fantastic package. The gameplay is solid as a rock and the simplicity of Bejeweled suffers none by being complicated with threats and challenges. The addition of action replays for your wildest cascades is a nice touch and never gets old. Even the interface is brilliant.

Jewels in space?
That’s right, Bejeweled Twist has a plot. Well, not really a plot, but the imaginative and interesting interface tells a story. Each grid is a mad sort of space-cube thing. The points counter on the left is a space ship and matching gems fills its fuel bar. Completely filling this bar causes the cube to explode and the ship to fly away in beautiful 3D, to the next cube. On the way it passes other shapes, nebulas and stars. All completely unnecessary but very nice to have and always interesting to look at. Challenge mode sets each type of challenge on a planet and has you whizzing around the solar system solving puzzles.

No it's not Star Trek...

The graphics are lovely for a game of this type. The gems gleam with beauty and the explosive effects are pure eye-candy. The interface is rendered in smooth, colourful style and just works so well. The semi-3D grids are a little harsh on the eye at first, but soon become the norm.

Sound as a gem
Sound-wise, the game shines. Spacey noises make transitions between levels an auditory joy and bring a level of retail quality to the game. Every gem pops and fizzes beautifully and makes every match an event. Bonuses take the top prize though, each having their own sound and immediately distinguishing themselves audibly from regular gems. The music is standard space-synth fare, but works well and doesn’t grate at all.

A jewel in the crown of independent games
I came at this review from the angle of someone who’s enjoyed previous Bejeweled titles but never been a real fanatic. After ten minutes with Bejeweled Twist however, I am now proud to call myself a fan. The simple gameplay is easy to learn but difficult to master and the bonuses keep the game fresh. The ‘one bomb and you are screwed’ mechanic is infinitely crushing but ensured almost unlimited replay value. The range of modes, styles and features serve to make this one of the best puzzle packages I’ve ever played. With no multiplayer to speak of it’s a solitary affair, but with so much to do and such an addictive streak it seems apt that Bejeweled Twist is a single player experience. It’s a lesson to not write off download games, because you just might miss a gem like this. There is no better way to spend a quick five minutes or a whole afternoon.

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