The Wonderful 101 was originally released in 2013 for the Nintendo Wii U to an underwhelming reception. The Wii U as a system itself never really caught on, and the second screen gimmick was confusing and unnecessary to most consumers. The Wonderful 101 made use of the addition screen, but not in a way that did the hardware justice in the eyes of naysayers. Despite the rocky start, The Wonderful 101 Remastered is here after a crowdfunding effort on Kickstarter. The game is available digitally for the Nintendo Switch, PC, and PlayStation 4.
Platinum Games has always looked at The Wonderful 101 as squandered potential that they could definitely revive and capitalize on. Executive producer Atsushi Inaba, spoke with The Verge about their desire to develop a remaster, saying “The Wonderful 101 is a game that unfortunately didn’t reach the audience we hoped, so it’s always been a title that we wanted to revisit at some point in time.” The studio is committed to the title, and the game does have a sizable cult fanbase. However, the remaster has been criticized for lacking approachability and attraction to new players. Even without the second screen mechanic encumbering the gameplay, playing The Wonderful 101 Remastered is an eccentric experience.
The combat system, which was inherited from the original game, can be intensive and intricate. A glimpse of this can be seen in the launch trailer at the 48-second mark. The majority of the game is displayed in a zoomed-out perspective, often likened to fellow Wii U game Pikmin. That’s about where the similarities between the two end, besides maybe the cartooney art style both games employ. The Wonderful 101 Remastered offers colorful, vibrant, and over the top graphics and affects reminiscent of other Platinum Games’ action titles. The developers have doubled down and remained true to what fans of the game loved about the title, and truly gave back to its Kickstarter supporters.
Physical copies of The Wonderful 101 Remastered will be available beginning June 30th!