The Wonderful 101 is a whirlwind of superhero spectacle, throwing you into the role of a leader commanding an ever-growing army of tiny heroes. You'll morph your team into giant fists, swords, and other forms to battle colossal aliens, utilizing quick reflexes and strategic thinking in equal measure. It's visually dazzling and incredibly unique, but the unusual controls and occasional chaotic camerawork can make mastery a challenge. Still, The Wonderful 101 delivers pure unfiltered fun for those willing to embrace its joyful absurdity.

While the Wonderful 101 is just focused on being a video game. Over-the-top moments of battle and adventure. Shifts and turns of gameplay at the drop of the hat. With odes to Star Fox, Punchout, and more. Every one of the gimmicks extremely rewarding to master. Just shallow-enough story and characters to get you moving, until you get more and more attached to them. They’re not trying to be the next big thing, they’re just trying to make something that’s fun.

By the end of the Wonderful 101, I had a big dumb smile on my face. I had so much fun, and it was fun completely orchestrated by the game. The fun didn’t have to come at some cost of victory, or fun under a set of circumstances my friends and I created. It was just pure fun playing a video game. A game where every moment of the 10 hours were crafted to be FUN.

Gaming has changed, and I don’t think in every way for the better. I think while we dump hours and hours into a game we’re playing wether it’s with friends or by yourself, we should ask ourselves. Am I having fun?

Anyway, it’s a video game, isn’t that it’s job?

I think I wrote this when I was high.

when i say that this game saved my life, i mean it in every sense of the word. this game holds such a deeply important and foundational part of my being, and i truly can't recommend it enough. for everything that it's done for me, i firmly believe it can do for everyone who plays.

our story begins with a rag-tag team of heroes one hundred strong, battling it out with otherworldly threats every other day to decide the fate of the earth. as the game progresses, you get a chance to see the many ways they interact with each other and the world around them. it's well paced and has plenty of twists & turns along the way. replaying the game all the way through will give you context you would have otherwise missed, to boot.

this game is a fun and unique experience initially crafted for the wiiU, with the main crux of the gameplay being the unite morph feature; wonderful ones link together in single file line, creating the wonder-liner. by drawing shapes, you can morph your allies into weapons, objects, tools and more. the best way i can think of to describe the gameplay is something akin to super sentai pikmin, what with how you command an army of bite-sized heroes to do what you want.

now before anything, what issues do i have with this game? quite literally only one. and it only applies to the remaster.

the gameplay translates well onto other platforms, with the sole exception of the fact that the dual screen is clunkily implemented. while on its home console it would be as simple as looking down, the single-screen adaptation of this game brings with it challenge. most of the time you either need to have the screen brought up with a button combination, or have the main screen shrunk off to the side to make room for the sub screen. neither method is particularly well done, but it's honestly decent enough for the purpose it serves. most of the time the main screen is all you need, but it's in those finicky (and honestly gimmicky) moments that it becomes an issue.

aside from that, everything else in this game is absolutely stellar. the characters are well fleshed out and engaging, the story is easy to follow with genuinely intriguing beats, and the gameplay is unlike anything else i've seen. by far, this game has some of my favourite mechanics in any video game.

combat flows smoothly and rapidly, divided into operations (sections) that provide ample opportunity for things like speedrunning and perfecting your craft. if there's a level you enjoy, you can work at it over and over again to earn the prestigious pure platinum ranking at the end of the level. you can repeat any mission at any time, with most being split into 3 operations. you must play through each operation from the beginning, though; so going through in one straight shot is the only method of grinding out difficult parts.

if collection is more your speed, the game provides for you as well; collectables are rife in this game, providing you with lore, gallery pieces, achievements, hidden surprises, and much more. crafting is a smaller part, but it provides you items to use in levels once you have collected enough resources. the game rewards you for exploring through these things. slow or fast, whatever you want; the wonderful 101 provides and accommodates.

in that gameplay, there is also room for customization. finding your main and building a kit that works for you is part of the charm. the progression of this kit is resource-based, but well implemented. the crucial bits of the base kit are cheap, and any upgrades to those scale accordingly.

now, onto what i said earlier. this game genuinely did save my life. i was 11 in 2013. if it wasn't for the wonderful 101, i would not have been around to celebrate my 20th this year. it's hard to believe it's been that long since the darkest point in my life, but i'm a testament to the fact that awful times can and will get better with a little help.

i won't go into detail, but the only joy i found came in watching nintendo trailers with my brother. i think we used to watch them in the 3ds eshop. but lo and behold, the trailer for the wonderful 101 showed up one day. i was obsessed right from the get-go. a team of super heroes that work with and rely upon one another in such an intimate way to save the entire earth... something about it struck me. i watched that trailer over and over and over again, every single day. and when the wonderful 101 extended trailer came out, i watched that into the ground as well. i can still quote it word for word.

i played that game every single day. it was my light. when things were bad, i knew the wonderful ones would have my back. i felt like part of something. i genuinely did. the opening cinematic reminded me of that every time i booted up the game. "i knew we forgot someone; you." it gives me chills to this very day. i would seek out any and all fan art, i wrote fan fiction placing a gaudy little self insert into the world of the wonderful ones, i based everything i did around it. it became my life. it was my hope. it was everything to me. that little light at the end of the tunnel.

this is a game where the characters are accepted as they are, and regardless of their flaws they were still a part of the team. their unique abilities become something that is worked with, instead of repressed. they still contributed something to the world regardless of what they were. whether they were a teacher, a student, a prodigy, a detective or an artist, they all became equal when they put on the mask.

for those unaware, "masking" is a neurodivergent term that essentially equates to pretending to be "normal" in the eyes of others. it involves suppressing your symptoms and ignoring what comes naturally to you. masking costs a lot of energy to maintain. when you let the mask down, when you doff what is expected of you... that is where the true, authentic self is. the symbolism of the mask in this game is present; in the mask, there comes a level of detachment... yet there also comes power in letting that mask down, as you'll see later on in the story.

i experienced all of this far before my diagnosis with autism, but i feel that my experience with the wonderful 101 was a major cornerstone in understanding myself and the way i interact with the world because of it. it resonated with me for that exact purpose. everyone in the game is flawed, they interact with their surroundings in a unique way... yet they are not shunned for it. in fact, it becomes a mechanic, this unique individual contribution. this was my first true special interest, and it persists to this day.

the wonderful 101 is about finding yourself. finding others who, despite any differences, appreciate and respect you. and it's about working as one despite these differences. more than anything, it's about pushing past the trauma you have experienced, and becoming better for it. over and over again, characters are shown to be broken, hampered, hurt by their past... yet always, no matter what, they push past. they find their stride, and walk that path with power and confidence. finding who you are in relation to your unique circumstances, that's how you grow. that's where true power is.

unity, found family, appreciation. that's what this game is at its core. the explosions and supermassive monsters are the fun little cake on top, but that true meaning is there if you look. and it means something different to everyone who plays. that's the magic of this game.

replaying and rediscovering this game that means so much to me is like a dream come true. and now that it's accessible to more people than ever before, i urge you to play. i urge you to become a part of the wonderful 101. it might just give you what it gave me all those years ago.

putting it into words is nearly impossible, but i've done what i can here. it's something truly wonderful.

Another game that started out high for me and quickly dropped and dropped in my opinion. Man, they make games too long.

First off, I think this is really good for what it is. I also don't think I personally like this style of action game, more on that below. I mostly don't get why people complain about it. There's a couple silly obtuse things like buying the guard and dodge, but it's still a fairly straightforward button masher (on normal).

I don't think the overhead combat is as fun as a Bayonetta style. I also don't think the color indicator style of combat is good at all. It lacks expressivity. When using the guard you have to learn what sortve colors and moves (I think?) will actually be guardable. And then certain enemies can only be attacked with certain of your weapon types. That's not good gameplay imo. It's still cookie cutter, the designers are still telling you the only action you can take, there's no creativity.

Leading into my next point and why I gradually just couldn't bare to load this game up anymore. There is A LOT of combat. I literally would see the combat initiate and start exhaling in frustration, until I realized that's the whole game of course and decided to abandon the thing. But it's almost comical, there starts to be two guys to take down of every guy youve already seen, the same combat arena has multiple spawns. I mean it's just too much combat. Your attacks never get stronger so you never go through health bars quicker. Why did they make the bosses health bars so long? It's almost funny, maybe the jokes on me? You see so many different colors. And losing battery makes things slower, but not more interesting.

Overall, besides combats, I really like the vibes! The shiny character portraits, the bombastic set pieces (end of chapter 1 was a highlight of everything I played), the music is silly and so is the dialogue. People are being rubes to complain about any of that stuff. Level theming is good (It does devolve a little into ice and fire generic levels it would seem - another complaint tied into length). If this was half the length I would've happily beaten it and awarded a whole star or 1.5 higher honestly!

first playthrough reviews are hard to be written. especially when the guy who made the game you're reviewing says that your first run is a tutorial. if that’s so, i just beat TW101 and honestly that tutorial alone was one of my best gaming experiences.

firstly, what the fuck. what the actual fuck. remember what i said about auteurism and shit in my Viewtiful Joe review? Taking notes from that, TW101 is the Most “Kamiya” Kamiya Game Of All Time. at least, from what i played. it’s also the Most “Platinum Games” Platinum Games Game Of All Time. i swear, the developers went INSANE in this shit right here and now i can say Bayonetta 3 is no longer my favorite PG title. (but i’m still an apologist)

it multiplies the best and the worst of Kamiya by 101. it’s Kamiya in his 101% potential. it’s Kamiya making 101 games in one. it’s 101- ok sorry

but seriously, when Kamiya said “your first playthrough is the tutorial”, he meant it. the mechanics are fantastic, it’s probably the most creative combat system in any action game, and as curious and interested as i am, i explored most of the options offered to me, and when it works – it’s such an unique feeling. but when it doesn’t, it’s somehow because of its slow progression and tough learning curve, the game throws A LOT OF STUFF in your face but at the same time it doesn’t give you room enough to play around the “stuff”. “First playthrough” it’s definitely not one of Kamiya’s strengths and that’s one of the reasons why one-and-done players don’t vibe too much with his design philosophy (which is ironic since he tends to focus a lot on the spectacle part. kind of hit or miss), with Bayonetta being the worst offender and Viewtiful Joe the most polished one in that sense.

The Wonderful 101 though? it’s an unstoppable rollercoaster with some of the worst tutorials and most unintuitive progression of all time, environmental hazard all the fucking time (bayo1 ptsd), a lot of puzzles, a lot of setpieces, a lot of QTEs, color-coded enemies, a lot of exploration and secrets, and I can’t even count on my fingers how many minigames there are. i guess it’s 101

some environmental hazards are intuitive to make through, some puzzles are good, most of setpieces are impeccable, the QTEs are honestly my favorites from any game, some enemies with weapon-coded gimmicks are great, the exploration is genius, and the minigames… i wouldn’t say i prefer them over the moment-to-moment overall gameplay but it definitely has some of the best PG has ever made. (i think it’s the same case as Bayonetta 3 but for some reason the latter is much more criticized)

the game has A LOT of stuff and i’d say it’s the most "messy" Kamiya game with the highs being the best thing ever made in humanity and the lows super rage-inducing. in Viewtiful Joe i said i was happy all the time, but in TW101 i felt many other things besides happiness. i had a similar experience as i had playing Bayonetta for the first time but the difference is that TW101 captivated me much more. i was never bored or indifferent, i never thought of “stopping playing” because the game is ALWAYS reinventing itself in the most creative ways you can imagine

it also has probably the best storytelling of the genre. there are some really good ones like DMC3 and Sifu but TW101 it’s from another world. it’s not “really good”, it’s WONDERFUL. the ludonarrative is, honestly, perfect – capitalizing 101% of its mechanics and structure to convey a message and tell a story is something that only The Wonderful 101 can do. (there are some games that do this pretty well, but only up to the 100% limit)

the mindblowing and over-the-top conclusion pretty much synthesize everything i said here, going down in history as one of the best ending in gaming (now it’s probably in my top 5 since i can’t even write about it without getting static for every word, it’s really THAT good, it’s one of the only endings i can think about that pretty much 101% of it only works because it’s in a videogame)

i’m still jawdropped because of the ending but how would i end this review? in my Viewtiful Joe text i said i had high hopes for this game and now i can say that it met 101% of my expectations, that unfortunately backloggd has a 5-star limit but this game def deserves a 101 stars rating, that i'll definitely replay this game 101 times, that Kamiya and PG have 101% of my respect and i'm 101% sure that Project G.G. will be another masterpiece, that- ok it's not even funny at this point.

The Wonderful 101 was one of the most unique experiences I had in gaming and despite its frustrating pieces, bad tutorialization and the remastered problems, I'd say this is easily the best Platinum Games title (yes, recency bias) and it's one of the games I have that feeling "they made the game especially for me" but that would go against the meaning of the game.

While Viewtiful Joe emphasizes a specific style with its metalinguistic narrative and aesthetic appeal, The Wonderful 101 emphasizes a specific theme using 101% of its game design and I'm not even joking; Devil May Cry with its aesthetics, Viewtiful Joe with its story, Bayonetta with the cutscenes style and… these games are always stylizing their own motto inside and outside the game design; but they are also always showing some love for the audiovisual in some sense. On the other hand, The Wonderful 101 tries to be the most pure gaming experience Kamiya ever made; in the stylistic sense of the word working together with the game design. Of course the mechanics play a big part of his other games even outside of the main appeal (combat), but I feel that PG and Kamiya went 101% crazy into how mechanical TW101 is as a whole. It’s also probably the one with the lowest frequency of “cinematic cutscenes”, most of them are either dialogues or… quick time events (and that speaks for itself).

Lastly, if Viewtiful Joe was about "everyone loves a hero", The Wonderful 101 is about "everyone can be a hero", and to end the review without this obvious interpretation (still true and genius tho), I'd like to add two actually relevant things:

1. i really need to watch some tokusatsu
2. they REALLY DID THAT FUCKING spoilers ahead