I've played the Project P-100 demo three times at this point, twice at E3 and once yesterday at a Nintendo demo event in New York City. My takeaway from it is that this is a game I want to play right now, and I hope it makes the Wii U launch lineup. It looks like it could be something special.

Project P-100 is a bonkers action game from Hideki Kamiya, who directed Bayonetta, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, and Devil May Cry. That high-quality pedigree shows, as the action in this game feels great. Combat is easily managed, even with your large crowd of heroes, and almost every move is responsive and awesome. It's also got a wonderful sense of humor, with Toilet Bowl Man and a blocking move that turns your group into a jello mold.

The one thing that I'm not sold on is the implementation of the touch screen-drawn moves. To get into one of three special attack forms, you need to either draw a circle (for the fist), line (for the sword), or L-shape (for the gun) on the touch screen or do the motion with the right analog stick. After three times through the demo, I still couldn't get a full grasp on it, as it seemed like you had to hold the shape in place for a bit to get it to stick. For such a fast-paced action game, it's a buzz kill. Still, I would err on the side of "it was finicky because it was an E3 demo" caution. But that level of finickiness makes me wary of Project P-100 seeing release in 2012.

When the game gets into puzzle and/or traversal mode, the touch screen controls work great, as you, for example, draw an upwards line to make your group transform into a ladder. The Game Pad is also used in interesting ways for interiors, as your character enters a building, he shows up on the Game Pad screen. To solve the puzzle, you need to look at both screens and figure it out. In this case, you look up at the combination listed on the TV, and then try to change it to the one listed on a locked door. It was simple, but if there are more puzzles like that in the finished game, it could get very devious.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what else comes out of Project P-100. It has the potential to be a wonderful launch title for the Wii U, especially if the tease of multiplayer co-op/competition in the E3 trailer is any indication of further modes.