The Wonderful 101 impressions

Nintendo have been giving The Wonderful 101 a lot of attention lately, as part of the deal they announced with Platinum Games to bring Bayonetta 2 and The Wonderful 101 to the Wii U as Nintendo exclusives, and now Nintendo have given us a playable demo so we can experience it for ourselves. Don’t have a Wii U? Not to worry, our impressions will tell you what you need to know.

First thing that you will notice is the framerate. In an age where so many game developers were obsessed with giving us crisp 1080p picture, but then ruined the experience by only moving at 30FPS, it’s excusable to forget what it’s like to see a clear 60FPS move so fluidly. Unless you have a nice PC rig, in which case, you probably know all about how beautiful a game can be running at 60FPS.

Earlier this week, Nintendo broadcast a new Nintendo Direct dedicated to The Wonderful 101, which demonstrated in detail mechanics like “Unite Morph” and the different possibilities this can bring into the game, and at first, The Wonderful 101‘s controls are confusing, at best. This is not quite your typical action game. The controls are tight, and they force you to be accurate. It’s no use holding the block button to deflect enemy attacks, your timing has to be right.

The length of the demo is roughly twenty minutes, thirty if you include a small Mission Mode sample, but during that time I died three times in Normal mode, but this can mostly be put down to the, at first, baffling control scheme. Stick at it though, and what you’ll find is an incredibly rewarding combat system! The game forces you to be accurate with your timing when it comes to blocking and avoiding enemy attacks, but when you get used to it, it feels fluid and fantastic.

Unite Morph is when your team of up to 100 superheroes join together to create impressive weapons, those shown in the demo being a sword, hand and gun. The sword is convenient for broad attacks to a crowd of small enemies, whilst the hand is better for singular, larger opponents. The hand can also be used to rotate dials and switches, unlocking other areas of opening item crates. The Unite Gun is, as you would expect, better used against distant opponents, and in the demo there aren’t many opportunities to use it.

To quickly summarize this demo, it’s difficult, beautiful, but rewarding. The Wonderful 101 launches August 23rd is Europe, and September 15th in the US (August 24th for those of you in Australia or New Zealand), and it looks like we’re in for a real treat. If you have a Wii U, download the demo immediately, if you don’t have a Wii U, find someone that does!