‘Wonderful 101’ review: this remastered video game gets a second chance to shine

One of the best games on the Wii U gets some remastered love and a second chance to shine and be Wonderful 101

Sandwiched between the successful Nintendo Wii (of the early 2000s) and the peppy handheld hybrid Switch of today, there was the ill-fated Wii U. An extension of the Wii, while it had some interesting ideas, the console faded into obscurity. Even though it had several excellent games. The most noteworthy of them is PlatinumGames’ The Wonderful 101, created as a Wii U exclusive and played by just a handful of gamers.

The Wonderful 101: Remastered


   •  Developer & Publisher: PlatinumGames


   •  Prices: ₹899 on Steam, ₹2000 upwards on Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch

Created by the directors that brought you Okami and Viewtiful Joe, 101 was a spiritual continuation of the latter. It was also a concept game, from a studio that was already known for its outrageous explorations into action games. While 101 was a brave and unique concept put into motion, it is not an experience that is meant for everyone.

Why play as one superhero, when you can play as an entire team of a hundred and one, at the same time? In the wake of an invasion by aliens known as the GEATHJERK Federation, you play a mild-mannered teacher who transforms into Wonder-Red, the newest Federation hero in The 100.

Inspired by Japanese tokusatsu, special effect-heavy television drama genres such as Super Sentai, sentai meaning taskforce or squadron, was a sub-genre in the superhero pop culture that inspired Power Rangers. It involves teams that fight together and occasionally combine forces for some sort of mega move. The Wonderful 101 encapsulates the genre perfectly, also tying in nicely into the Viewtiful sort of superhero style Platinum has been creating.

Build those combos

Played from an isometric perspective, your colourful protagonists mill about the screen like little ants, but you control the entire team as if it were one organism. Essentially, your lead character fights, and as combos progress, the rest of the team jumps around in various feats of acrobatics to form the rest of the combo hits. It is a unique fighting system that blends the best of what Platinum has learned so far — sort of like Lemmings meets Streets of Rage-like beat-em-up.

Most of the frustrations creep in when you have to execute the Unite Morph abilities which imbue your lead character with a giant weapon comprising your team. In order to unite them, you have to draw some sort of shape which is frustrating on the controller. Add to that the moving camera in isometric view and you do have a classic case of ‘why did the developers not address this in the remaster?’ Surely it would have served Platinum better if they sort of retooled some of the frustrations of the original.

The remaster of Wonderful 101 is more of a re-release, with the graphics largely remaining the same, with just a boost in colour and framerate. While it is great to take on-the-go, the tiny lemmings-like characters and the appropriate fighting pyrotechnics get a bit messy on the small screen, so either the PC or PlayStation 4 is advisable. With director Hideki Kamiya’s new game in the Viewtiful series coming out — Project GG — focusing on the kaiju-beating superhero sub-genre, 101’s remaster comes at a good time.

Despite its issues, The Wonderful 101 is undoubtedly a lot of fun, especially if you enjoyed Okami and Viewtiful Joe. Though if you did play the original and found a lot of issues, you may want to skip the remaster. For newcomers interested in something different, check out gameplay videos to see if the action is worth finalising a buy.

The writer is a tech and gaming enthusiast who hopes to one day finish his sci-fi novel