I was extremely lucky to go to PAX this year. Not only to cover the event for NWR, but also to pick up The Wonderful 101 over two weeks early. I have been looking forward to this game ever since Nintendo revealed it at E3 2012; it gave me a newfound sense of faith in the Wii U as a whole after a disappointing press conference. Thankfully, the game was worth the wait, despite a few instances that really made me despise it.

Don’t get me wrong, the game is absolutely fantastic. It’s has the typical Platinum action that I’ve grown to love, mixed with an over-the-top story inspired by classic Power Rangers/Super Sentai series. I even love using the game’s touch screen to unite my allies into giant weapons, as it really makes me feel as if I’m actually helping the team. The issues I have tend to be on the more cultural insensitivity side. The fact that the sole dark-skinned main protagonist is a beatboxing, breakdancing black kid named “Wonder Black”, and the fact that we find him in the African jungle really made me sad, even though the game tells us that he’s from New Dehli. I wonder if anyone at Platinum or even Nintendo thought that maybe that wasn’t a good idea. Also, whenever there’s a new female character introduced, the cinematic camera purposefully zooms in on her breasts and butt, making me feel feel incredibly uncomfortable and annoyed. If they want to make their heroines and villains sexy, that’s fine, but making me a creeper by proxy isn’t the best way to go about it.

Despite giving my reasons to hate it, I’m absolutely enamoured with every other aspect of The Wonderful 101. So far, it’s my favorite game on Wii U and is quite possibly going to be my personal Game of the Year. I just hope that if there’s ever a sequel, Platinum will realize that racism and sexism isn’t so wonderful.

I give The Wonderful 101 an 8.5/10