Scribblenatus is an amazing puzzle game experience, but some control quirks keep it from reaching true heights.
First up -- this game is genius. The concept takes ideas from games like "Crayon Physics" or "Drawn To Life" and makes them much more charming and playable. That said, it is not without a few flaws.
You could almost think of this as a cross between Crayon Physics and Portal -- you're presented with a series of physical puzzles, and you must solve them in -- literally -- any way you can think of. You type in an object, and with a dictionary of 21000+ nouns, your object most likely appears. You then use that object to help you reach your goal. Some interesting interactions:
1. I completed the tutorial level where you simply go up a single high ledge in many different ways. I used: Stairs, ladder, escalator, elevator (couldn't get that to quite work), helicopter, airplane, trampoline, and a couple of others. All of them worked (except the elevator...it looked like it wanted to work, but didn't).
2. On a level where you are asked to satisfy any two of a fireman, policeman, doctor, and chef, I had a field day. The little folks stand there and wait for you to give them stuff. I have won giving the doctor a stethoscope, a tongue depressor, and even a patient (yes, a little bandaged person appeared). I won once where I gave the policeman a gun, which he held but didn't use, but then I beamed a "criminal" into existence who immediately ran over and fist fought with the cop, and the cop shot and killed the criminal and was satisfied. I gave the chef a cupcake, which caused a fistfight to break out amongst the characters who all wanted the cupcake.
It goes on and on like this. To enhance your experience, you get post-level bonuses for using items you've never used before, for using non-lethal force, for helping someone, for doing the level quickly etc. You apply these bonuses to unlock more content. It's genius.
How could this go wrong? Well, it doesn't completely, but has some quirks you'll need to muscle through. The movement of your little avatar can be imprecise at key moments where you need to grab or jump or fly, but the resolution of movement vs. your stylus fails you. Or and object may not interact quite right with something else unless you align them perfectly. Or you may be trying to move or scroll to the edge of the screen, but instead cause an object to move or fall or rotate, ruining your puzzle.
These quirks really, REALLY bothered me through the first few worlds. However, I soon realized my frustration was really due to my own inability to think. I was either overthinking or underthinking -- trying to brute-force a level, or just making it too complex. When you take a step back, get REALLY creative, the levels are as smooth as can be, and it's a beautiful thing to behold. However, again, over time I found that the quirks were really forcing me to rethink levels to get around the issues, which is likely the DS' fault... But all in all, it's a solid game.
The good:
* Amazing physical puzzle game
* Incredible vocabulary with 21000+ objects you can beam into existence
* Clever level design
* Very likable, "cute" visuals
* Unbelievably deep and unexpectedly hilarious interactions between in-game objects -- I can't believe how much interaction logic was required to make this game!
The iffy:
* Slightly buggy stylus controls and a few nonsensical interactions (which is forgivable given the crushing number of combinations)
* Very minimal music or other audio
Overall, I really would qualify Scribblenauts as a Must Buy for puzzle lovers, but how long it lasts is somewhat dependent on your patience level, and how deep your own creative well goes.