SCRIBBLENAUTS SHOWDOWN review

(Reviewed by Tommy Stuart)
Ugh. I've only played this game for a few hours, but because of how little it has to offer, I think I already have enough playtime to fairly rate this game. Let's review Scribblenauts Showdown, the first Scribblenauts game in more than 4 years. I must warn you now, though: They didn't pull a Sonic Forces; they did something much worse.

First, let's get some little details that might explain what happened with this game. This game is the first Scribblenauts game not made by Fifth Cell. Apparently Fifth Cell didn't do so well; Shiver Entertainment made this game instead. With a new group being behind it, of course it's different from the other games.

Now that I've told you that, I want to do a sort of recap over the other Scribblenauts games. The first Scribblenauts games had no adjectives. It wasn't all that great for creating original ideas, but it was a cool puzzle game at least. Super Scribblenauts was the first game to bring in adjectives. It didn't lose any of the puzzle part of it as a sort of sacrifice. Scribblenauts Unlimited was the first to have an actual story, and it was of Maxwell's backstory. Introducing his relatives, it also makes it so the game is no longer just a bunch of levels, but instead it has many worlds that have many problems to be solved within them. It also had some Nintendo characters and an Object Editor (except on mobile consoles). Scribblenauts Unmasked brought in DC characters, worlds, and stories. You were able to learn a lot about DC from that game, and it also had a Hero Creator similar to the Object Editor (again not on mobile consoles). I played all of these games on some type of DS. These games were amazing. Their puzzles were fun, and creativity could be used to many great lengths.

Let's compare that to this new game now... in our minds, because this is going to be long enough without comparison. Let's just say Showdown is like a baby being compared to 4 different giants (all still giants though they may vary a little in size).

Let's describe this game, since it is so different. It has 3 modes: Versus, Showdown, and Sandbox. Versus is just playing against an opponent in a bunch of minigames. Sandbox is similar to playing Unlimited or Unmasked. Showdown is like putting the minigames of Versus into a board game where you have to play your cards right to win.

Let's look for at the creativity in this game. Some of the minigames require players to make an object that fits certain categories/rules and is most advantageous for its use in the minigame. This CAN take some creativity every once in a while...if you make it so. Sandbox could obviously have some creativity. Unfortunately, the controls are so awful for this game that creating a bunch of things becomes much more of a chore than how it was in the previous games. Thus, even I end up avoiding creating things. The process takes SO LONG. Adjectives aren't even used in any modes besides Sandbox. Then in the Sandbox, it seems every adjective must be added one by one in the same long way of creating objects. It's a pity... I thought the addition of adjectives in Super Scribblenauts was a great move on Fifth Cell's part. There IS the "My Scribblenaut" function, but it is very limiting. It dare not say that it is like the Object Editor or Hero Creator.

Well, what about the puzzles? Clearly it must take a little bit of thinking for those minigames and trying to in general win in Showdown... it doesn't take anywhere near as much thinking as puzzles in the other games do. There are a few puzzles in Sandbox that are harder, but at that point it becomes annoying. The hints toward what you're supposed to do to get Starites and solve puzzles are so vague. Then the puzzles may seem so simple that one just realizes that they weren't worth their time. Jeez...

... what good DOES this game have? Maybe we should look at the story... Oh wait, what story? They got rid of the stories! I also thought adding stories was a good move on Fifth Cell's part. Since there are no stories, I don't really have any plot, characters, dialogue, etc. to review. The characters are all quiet. They made all the dialogue be symbols, just like it was in the first two games. That was a step backward, especially since, when trying to use them to solve characters' problems, they sometimes are confusing and vague.

I guess I should just start talking about the negative things... there are too many to count. Prepare yourself for many paragraphs of negativity.

Maybe you guys want some elaboration on the "My Scribblenaut" function. Well, it doesn't let you use adjectives. I'll let that sink in... instead, it gives you a few lists of things that you can swap out on your character. For instance, if you want a cowboy hat, then you better hope you have the option of a cowboy hat in the list of hats (I think you would). The pants and the shirt are all reduced to one list, meaning that if you want a good ol' sheriff shirt, then you'll need to deal with the good ol' sheriff pants too (if sheriff clothes are even an option). The only things that can have even color changed is the hair and skin. That's it. I swear, it's like they used everything in their power to keep as little creativity as possible without completely ignoring creativity.

Let's go on to more general stuff. The graphics could probably be better. I haven't actually found any glitches, though I've otherwise found mistakes. I do know that the previous games all had their own mistakes and glitches; some were obvious and some weren't. The controls are different from previous games, as all the other games were on consoles with touchscreens. One can get used to them, but trying to move the joystick and press one of 4 buttons to type one letter for each and every object or adjective gets really annoying. Then, when adding adjectives, players have to stop and start the process for each adjective. Forget creativity! The awful controls make it too much of a hassle.

Many of the minigames in the modes other than Sandbox are too simple. Some of the "Wordy" minigames (ones where you have to type in a word that fits a category / has a certain first letter and is good for its use in the minigame) could be won by someone who typed in a good word in a matter of seconds. Some Speedy minigames (ones where a word is not inputted) are just easy to get through quickly, and those wouldn't vary based on something like a pre-selected word. Then, the wordy games have a few mistakes in the identification of objects. If I remember correctly, some minigames were set to have a durian not count as tropical, an oasis to be considered heavier than a continent, and a mosquito to not be considered fast. Perhaps I am wrong in thinking that the other two are incorrect, but I am fairly certain that a continent should be far larger than an oasis. Therefore, not only do the minigames seem simple, but they are actually complex due to mistakes in identification and comparison.

The Showdown mode is terrible. Not only does it include those lame minigames, but then it involves cards with a variety of effects. One could have a card that instantly sends him/her forward a few spaces. That's not challenging. It makes it so that this mode is pretty much a game of luck. Sure, you can swap and steal cards, but then there are some cards that allow for a player to swap places with another. Why did a series about a boy with a notebook that can be used to create almost anything get turned into such an uncreative board game?

The Sandbox mode is probably the best mode in the game, but even it has flaws. It is sometimes hard to know what the needy people want. There are only 8 worlds. Each world has their own set of words that can be unlocked for them. Starites (the prizes for solving people's problems) can be used to unlock some stuff for the "My Scribblenaut" function. None of these rewards seem worth it. Each world seems to have only a few problems to be solved, making Sandbox mode easy & quick to complete. Though, you are only clearly told when you solve a problem. If you make a problem unsolvable, then you will likely only find out many minutes later after you've already tried many things to solve the problem and gave up. This mode would be so much better if players had better controls to make stuff with. Unfortunately, everything seems to have something wrong with it in this game.

I feel that this game deserves a sad 1.5/10 rating. It's just not Scribblenauts. It's not worth $40. For goodness sake, it does not belong on a video game console. It is more appropriate for maybe a cheap mobile game. It doesn't belong on the Switch. I am well aware that $40 is a low price when talking Switch games, but this just doesn't take advantage of being a Switch game, and thus it makes all those Nintendo games seem like they are worth $100 when one compares them to this $40 piece of wasted material. The title is deceiving. This is not Scribblenauts: It is just Showdown. It's Showdownauts.

Disgusting

Summary:
Primarily due to a lack of story, creativity, puzzles, and many other things, this game is nothing like its predecessors. Scribblenauts did not come back, because this game should not be considered a Scribblenauts game. It deserves a rating as low as 1.5/10. Good riddance.