

Of course, in the greater scheme of Scribblenauts Unmasked, a missing character here and there is pretty minor because there’s so much to work with. That might sound pretty nitpicky to those of you unburdened by longboxes full of comics cluttering up your closets, but it means something to us geeks! is in there - remember them?), but poor Sun Boy got left out. The Legion is represented (heck, even L.E.G.I.O.N. The weirdest omission for me was when I needed the perfect hero to counter a villainous rampage by the frigid Killer Frost and attempted to call upon Sun Boy, one of the Legion of Super Heroes’ most prominent members, only to find him missing. Due to licensing issues, DC’s Milestone comic book characters like Static Shock have been excluded from the fun. That said, there are some odd exceptions. (Fun Easter egg: Type in “Jim Lee” or “Geoff Johns” and you’ll summon DC’s creative bigwigs.) As a hardcore DC fan, I absolutely loved the incredible diversity and staggering breadth of DC toys to play with in this sandbox.

Some available characters, like lovable rugrats Sugar and Spike, were published by DC Comics but aren’t even a part of its superhero universe.

There are characters in here so obscure that they may have only ever appeared once in the comics. I’ve always considered myself to be a walking repository of useless DC trivia, but Unmasked showed me what a chump I am. In fact, Scribblenauts Unmasked’s database is so packed with DC characters and iconic items - over 2,000 of them - that just browsing through the lot can be daunting. If a citizen needs medical assistance, why type in “doctor” when you can summon the sorcerer Doctor Fate instead? (Doctor Mid-Nite works, too.) Extra creativity will be rewarded with more reputation points that can be used to unlock new areas, superhero outfits for Maxwell, and origin stories for DC’s most famous heroes. It doesn’t require that you know the difference between the Golden Age Red Tornado (Ma Hunkel) and the modern android Red Tornado, for example, but familiarity with their existence and powers can enhance your experience exponentially. Solving puzzles as Maxwell, the Scribblenauts series’ rooster-haired protagonist, tests not only your creativity but your knowledge of the DC universe and its vast array of characters. Its total freedom to create almost any object or character out of thin air emphasizes that your greatest superpower is your imagination. Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure gives you the power to summon almost any hero or villain from DC Comics’ nearly 80-year history to help solve puzzles ranging from simple to deviously clever in this endearing, kid-friendly adventure.
