The Wonderful 101

The Wonderful 100 are an elite squad of international superheroes, chosen to defend Earth. When a batch of aliens launch a particularly vicious attack, everyone leaps into action! But wait – there’s only 100? Of course – the 1 is you.

It’s this kind of cheesy opening that sets the scene for the kind of game 101 is. I found myself thinking of Bayonetta and indeed Clover Studios’ Viewtiful Joe. There’s a certain sparkle to those games that can also be found in 101, it gently pokes fun at its own heroes while still paying homage in the most flattering of ways. In 101’s case, it takes inspiration from Japanese tokusatsu generously seasoned with humour.

For example, early on you see Wonder Red’s elaborate henshin sequence but then it’s cheekily undercut by a narrator’s comment that the 30-second animation you just watched in reality only happened in three billionths of a second. 101 takes every single trope of the genre and runs with it from to eye-poppingly impressive boss battles and chase sequences to universal characters like the grizzly old general and the rookie hero who has leadership thrust upon him. The game doesn’t take itself too seriously, knowing exactly what it is, where it’s come from and where it wants to take you. You just have to hold on tight and buckle up for the journey.

Using the Gamepad is the best way to experience this game. You control a leader and an accompanying army of superheroes with the left stick while the right stick is used to draw simple shapes that swap leaders and organise your characters into a weapon or activate special powers. Draw a circle for Unite Hand to punch your way through, draw a line for Unite Sword to slice up your opponents and… well, I won’t spoil the rest of the powers you get as you progress through the game.

The Wonderful 101 is relentlessly fast-paced, almost merciless in what it expects of you. But when it comes together, my goodness does it come together.

The Gamepad’s screen acts mostly as a basic kind of item hub. Every now and then though, the action switches up and you’re forced to look down. You navigate into a building and suddenly the Gamepad will become your main screen, showing you the action inside while the television shows to what is happening outside. It starts off simple, but eventually it builds to jaw-dropping sections of sheer madness both inside and outside, where you frantically manage what’s happening on the Gamepad while trying to deal with what’s happening on the television.

The Wonderful 101 is relentlessly fast-paced, almost merciless in what it expects of you. At times it’s painful to try and follow what’s going on. It takes a lot to maintain your cool and not get frustrated with how everything just seems to come at you all at once and one mis-step costs you a big chunk of your health.

But when it comes together, my goodness does it come together. Like other games in its genre (Bayonetta springs to mind most immediately), you hit that beautiful zen moment where you can see where the enemies are, where their attacks are going to land and you react accordingly. You’ll Unite Sword at just the right moment to block a laser, following it with a sweep then a Unite Hand punch before dodging an attack from one side with Unite Spring to quickly form Unite Block and bounce back an enemy’s cannon ball right into its own face.

Everything then explodes, covering the screen with chunks of machinery and clouds of chaos but once the smoke clears and you see your squad still standing and you get a medal for your performance, the satisfaction is so strong that you almost can’t help leaping out of your seat to do some kind of victory dance or yell some kind of taunt. I took to yelling “YEAH! SUCK IT, GEATHJERK!” and you know what? I’m not even ashamed.

The game delivers these bitesize chunks of satisfaction by splitting episodes up into little acts – sequences that cover only one or two areas and score your performance accordingly. Medal hunters and treasure hunters can have fun trying to achieve the highest rank, exploring areas for collectible figures or picking up hidden heroes all very cleverly designed (Wonder Toilet is appropriately hilarious) and then uploading a screenshot to gloat on MiiVerse. Do well in levels to unlock powerups and skills that make your battles easier, but no less furious.

With a game that charges ahead with such blistering speed it’s no surprise that 101 is not a massively long adventure. However, I think its pace matches it’s length, charging straight through to a fantastic conclusion. Still, that doesn’t diminish its brilliance. It’s a game that’s bursting with imagination, energy and impressive setpieces that can barely be contained. Music, character and level design all combine to get your heart racing – Platinum Games have delivered one of the most surprising and difficult but satisfying titles I’ve experienced so far this year.