The Wonderful 101 - PS4

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Release Date: 5-19-2020
Moby Score (1-10): 7.3
Genre(s): Action, Fantasy, Diagonal-down, 2D scrolling, Direct control
Media Type(s): Physical

Strength in Numbers

As Wonder Red, leader of the Wonderful 100, you will unite your band of Wonderful Ones to morph into powerful transformations such as a fist, sword, glider, gun, and more to battle invaders throughout Blossom City and across the world. The Wonderful 100—and YOU—are the city's best weapon. * Unite your horde of heroes and morph into powerful weapons to crush the invaders, or synthesize into bridges, chains, and other objects that help you move through the world's different environments. * Explore each stage to find helpless citizens and empower them by enlisting them to join your army of heroes. The more heroes you gather, the more powerful your Unite Morphs will become. * Clobber bad guys with fast-paced, engaging combat. String together combos, dynamically switch between Unite Morphs, evade and defend against alien attacks, and rack up points to earn the best scores and rewards.

It's up to you and your team of superheroes to take on colossal robots and alien masterminds bent on obliterating everything in their path. But don't worry—you're not alone!

The Wonderful 101 is an action game where 100 superheroes from 100 cities around the world collaborate to defeat the Geathjerk, alien terrorists who attempt to invade Earth. The additional member refers to the player. The Wonderful Ones are members of Centinels, a planetary secret service created by the United Nations to defend Earth against alien invasions. The game takes place in Blossom City and starts with Will Wedgewood, who was saved by his superhero father when he was a boy and was passed on the Wonder pendant for the superhero group. He became a teacher at an elementary school and hides his powers, but he is in a school bus when the aliens attack and wants to save the children and the Blossom Elementary school building. By using the pendant he turns into the superhero Wonder-Red with a powerful suit. He is soon joined by a second character called Wonder-Blue and eventually the player gets to meet 100 characters as they are recruited throughout the course of the game. There are seven main characters (Red, Blue, Green, Pink, Yellow, White, and Black) and the others have a support role. Each of the seven characters is tied to a specific symbol (weapon) and it possible to switch between them when they are part of the group. The others follow and some members only join temporarily.

The game follows a linear path in a 3D environment shown from an isometric viewpoint. The character often needs to save citizens and is able to (double) jump and attack and combine attacks into combos. The most powerful ones are performed through Unite Morphs. The superheroes then combine their energy to form a Wonder-Liner. They merge to form a large shape that does a lot of damage using short quick time events. They can for instance form a large first through Unite Hand by moving the right stick in a circle or Unite Sword by drawing a vertical line. This can also be done using the touch screen on the GamePad. Unite Chain is used to cross gaps, Unite Build constructs parts for structures, Unite Guts counters attacks, Unite Spring is used to dodge attacks, Unite Gun shoots projectiles, Unite Claw can freeze enemies, Unite Glider provides flight etc. They are often used to solve environment based puzzles as well. Regular team attacks are also possible and new attacks are introduced as additional members join the group or by acquiring additional skills. Members are tied to a specific Unite Morph and the amount of members available for a specific type of attack determines the strength and whether it can be performed at all.

A single Unite Morph can often be used in multiple ways. Unite Hand for instance can turn knobs and adds immunity to fire, Unite Sword opens locks and conducts lightning, Unite Gun can be leveled up into Unite Launcher and Unite Cannon, Unite Whip can be used to swing from hooks, Unite Hammer activates switches etc. In some cases it is possible to split up a group in multiple attacks with the other ones briefly controlled by the computer. Later in the game a number of Special Morphs can be performed when all 100 heroes are together, such as Platinum Forever, Wonderful Forever and Unite Big. Unite Morps are tied to a battery system that regenerates slowly, also by using regular attacks, to prevent players from using the most powerful attacks all the times.

The game sometimes offers brief sections with different gameplay, such as a classic shoot'em up, a boss battle that is played like a boxing match from the Punch-Out series or a section that references Panzer Dragoon. The GamePad has a number of dual screen moments, with a flying section where the cockpit is shown on the GamePad and a maze section where completing the maze on the GamePad clears fog on the TV screen. During the game additional battery energy can be collected as well as O-Parts to buy support items in the Wonderful Mart. These include health consumables and new Unite Morphs. There is a simple crafting system where new items can be synthesized from space vegetables.

The game is split up into circa 25 operations (stages) with multiple sections. At the end of each section a medal is awarded based on the time it took, the highest combo and the damage received. At the end of an operation an overview of all medals is shown with a final trophy. The game supports cooperative multiplayer for up to five players. One player uses the GamePad and the other four Wii U Pro Controllers. The game has a bright, cartoon vibe and often uses slapstick moments and conversations for humour.

The 2020 Remastered version for modern consoles was funded through kick starter and self-published to reach a larger player audience than just the WiiU. Being a game tailor-made specifically for the WiiU with it's possibility to play on the gamepad alone, the remastered version mostly addressed these controls and handling the action with "picture-in-picture" or "side-by-side" screen display. The graphics and sound quality also have been retouched.

*** Data by MobyGames.com ***

× Some Disclaimers

  × Video games are pre-owned unless otherwise specified

  × Disc-based video games come with their case and cover art unless otherwise specified

  × Cartridge-based video games come with just the cartridge unless otherwise specified

  × CD & DVD based discs are resurfaced before we put them out for sale