Wii U owners will have the chance to unleash their inner superhero when The Wonderful 101 lands on the console on 23rd August.
Developed by Platinum Games, the team behind the critically-acclaimed Bayonetta, The Wonderful 101 puts the player in control of a group of superheroes, who are plucked from their everyday lives to battle the Geathjerk, an alien horde intent on conquering the Earth. Will Wedgewood is a teacher at the Blossom City Elementary School, with a secret identity as ‘Wonder-Red’, the leader of the titular ‘Wonderful 101’, fighting alongside heroes such as Eliot Hooker, a detective who dons a mask to become ‘Wonder-Blue’. To aid in the fight against the invading Geathjerk, the player can also recruit a wide variety of other characters, including ‘Wonder-Green’ and ‘Wonder-Pink’, as well as some more unlikely heroes like ‘Wonder-Bonsai’ and ‘Wonder-Toilet’.
The Wii U GamePad is used to control the heroes and unleash their signature Unite Morph powers. These powers are unleashed by drawing the correct shape on the GamePad, allowing the group of heroes to transform. For example, Wonder-Blue’s power sees the heroes become the “Unite Sword”, a power melee weapon, whilst others see the heroes become the “Unite Hand”, the “Unite Whip” or the “Unite Gun”. These powers grow stronger as the group of heroes grows, so recruiting terrified citizens of Blossom City to join the battle is important in defeating the Geathjerk. A small group of heroes will only become a pistol when “Unite Gun” is used, but a larger horde of heroes can become a much more powerful machine gun to tackle the trickier Geathjerk invaders.
The “Unite Hand” power being used to fight a Geathjerk.
The GamePad is also used to conquer some of the puzzles that the player encounters. For example, the player can transform the Wonderful 101 into ladders, bridges and gliders to scale buildings and cross large distances. When entering buildings, the action changes to the touch screen where the player’s motions are used to explore the environment. The GamePad can also give the player a more traditional third-person viewpoint during normal gameplay to add another perspective to the usual top-down camera angle.
After completing an operation the player gains ‘O-Parts’ based on their performance. These O-Parts serve as the in-game currency, and allow players to purchase upgrades and extra powers for their heroes from secret hide-outs called Wonderful Marts. These upgrades include include “Unite Guts” which protects players by encasing them in a near indestructible material, and “Unite Spring” which allows heroes to turn into a spring to jump obstacles or evade enemy attacks.
The Wonderful 101 also gives players the opportunity to compete with up to four of their friends. Players compete to see who can get the highest score as they battle the Geathjerk hordes side by side. The game also allows players to capture screenshots of the game to share on Miiverse with friends.
The Wonderful 101 hits shelves in Europe on the 23rd August, and North America on 15th September, exclusively for the Wii U.
