5th Cell is one of the few developers on the DS that anyone would likely refer to as renowned for creating creative experiences. With the wonderful Drawn to Life series and the magnificent Lock’s Quest, they’ve shown an astounding grasp of development for the system, second only to Nintendo itself. With Scribblenauts, 5th Cell attempts to take their knowledge of the system and game design to the next level, allowing players to control Maxwell – a young protagonist with the power of anything. By writing nearly any word, Maxwell can summon it into existence, creating limitless possibilities. To say that the game was hyped would be a tremendous understatement; it was craved, needed, and heralded as a Game of the Year contender in an already tight race.

Does Scribblenauts live up to the hype? That depends on what the hype was truly for. When most people see the game in motion, they immediately start shouting out words. “Type Megalodon!” they yell. “Write mailbox!” they scream. “Can you make an Axe Murderer?” they ask, and giggle when you create a murderer and equip him with an axe. 5th Cell programmed and supplied art for over 22,000 objects, and most of them do exactly what you’d think they do. Cats meow, keyboard cat plays the piano, long cat is long, and ceiling cat is always watching. Oh, and Spartans fight. Spartans might look a bit like barbarians, and plenty of other objects share assets at well, but the achievement of Scribblenauts is in living up to the promise of allowing players to write anything and solve everything. It’s right on the box, as plain as day.