'Scribblenauts Showdown' Review Roundup
"Scribblenauts Showdown," the remake of the original puzzle game, is now back as a party game in the mold of "Mario Party." What the new title gained in multiplayer, it may have lost in the sense of freedom the original has before it, though, at least according to early reviews.
The original "Scribblenauts" games have always been about creative puzzle-solving, which later on expanded into an open-world exploration kind of game where players are free to go and draw as they wish, as Pocket Gamer noted.
"Scribblenauts Showdown," on the other hand, has buckled down into being a party game for players in the titular "Showdown" mode, where up to four players race across a game map filled with tiles. There's an option to play with the AI, as well. Unfortunately, however, players can't mix and match and play co-op against the computer as of now, according to Game Axis.
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During a player's turn, they can use a card to start a mini-game. Only when they win the mini party game do they get to claim a reward, which ranges from advancing a few tiles to sending an opponent back several places.
That's where some of the problems with the game start, though, as Digital Trends pointed out. There's the "Take Flight" mini-game that takes liberal inspiration from "Flappy Bird," while a similar "Tower Topple!" looks like a shoddy remake of "Angry Birds."
There are about 27 "Speedy" mini-games overall, most of which involve button mashing to dig out treasure, blow up a balloon, break a pinata, or win a tug of war, much in the style of "WarioWare." Some of these are able to use the Joy-Con motion controls of the Nintendo Switch, which takes out some of the button mashing.
They may be fun for the first few minutes, but it looks like they won't be enough to save "Scribblenauts Showdown" from a dismal 47 Metascore rating, though.
