The Wonderful 101 is a 2013 action-adventure game created by PlatinumGames and released by Nintendo for the Wii U. Hideki Kamiya directed the game, and Atsushi Inaba was the producer. It was launched in August 2013 in all major regions except North America, where it became available the next month. The game received mostly positive reviews but did not achieve expected sales.
A remastered version of the game was released in May 2020 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Windows. This version was funded by supporters through crowdfunding. A version for Amazon Luna was released in May 2021. The remastered edition is PlatinumGames' first title published by the company itself. A free downloadable content expansion called The Wonderful One: After School Hero was released in May 2023, followed by a standalone version the next month.
Gameplay
In The Wonderful 101, players guide a group of superheroes from above and can change them into special objects called "Unite Morphs." As players advance through levels, they must search each area to find citizens in need and invite them to join their team of heroes. The more heroes collected, the stronger the special powers of the "Unite Morphs" become. Using these forms costs energy from a battery meter, which can be restored by attacking enemies or collecting batteries dropped by defeated foes. Enemies also leave "O parts," which are used to purchase upgrades, new "Unite Morph" abilities, and other items. To transform the group of heroes, players draw specific symbols on the Wii U GamePad’s touchscreen or right analog stick, such as an "L" for a gun or a wavy line for a whip. In certain areas, the GamePad is used to switch the view to a traditional, third-person perspective, making it easier to explore narrow spaces like indoors or inside caves.
The single-player story is divided into levels. Each level ends with a score based on factors like how quickly the level is completed and how much damage the player receives. In addition to a solo mode, the game includes a cooperative mode for up to five players, with one person using the Wii U GamePad and the others using Wii U Pro Controllers.
The downloadable expansion, The Wonderful One: After School Hero, introduces side-scrolling gameplay with a single hero named Luka. Players use Luka’s goggles to shoot lasers in any direction and can switch between three types of lasers, each with unique benefits. The expansion includes 12 levels, unlockable bonus stages, score attack modes, and online leaderboards.
Synopsis
The Wonderful 101 takes place during the third war in a series of battles between Earth and the GEATHJERK Federation, a powerful alien space army that has invaded the planet. The only hope for Earth is the Wonderful 100, a group of superheroes who work for the CENTINELS Planetary Secret Service, an organization created by the United Nations.
The main heroes include Will Wedgewood (Wonder-Red), a teacher from Blossom City who leads the group after his father was killed by an alien named Laambo; Eliot Hooker (Wonder-Blue), a police detective whose brother was killed by an alien named Vijounne; Jean-Sebastain Renault (Wonder-Green), an expert with guns; Mariana Kretzulesco (Wonder-Pink), a fashion model; Ivan Istochinkov (Wonder-Yellow), a Russian soldier; Momoe Byakkoin (Wonder-White), a ninja-in-training; and Krishna Ramanujan (Wonder-Black), a genius video game player.
Supporting characters include P-Star, a robot helper; Laurence Nelson (Wonder-Captain), the leader of the Centinels who used to be Wonder-Red; Alice MacGregor, an operator for the Virgin Victory, a spaceship used by the heroes; and James Shirogane, a scientist who helps the team. Luka Alan Smithee is a student whose mother, Margarita, was a scientist who died while working for the CENTINELS. She helped create an artificial intelligence named Mother Platinum, which powers Earth’s protective shield called Margarita. Luka joins the heroes later and becomes Wonder-Goggles. Another character is Immorta, the last member of the Galactic Police Federation, and her brother, Prince Vorkken, who was brainwashed by an alien named Gimme. Vorkken becomes the leader of the Guyzoch space pirates and teams up with his right-hand man, Chewgi. The main villain is Jergingha, the leader of the GEATHJERK Federation, who wants to destroy Earth to take control of the galaxy.
The expansion, The Wonderful One: After School Hero, introduces Sue, a classmate of Luka. A GEATHJERK scientist named Wanna, who was a boss in the main game, becomes the main antagonist in the expansion.
The story begins with a school bus attacked by aliens from the GEATHJERK Federation. Will Wedgewood, the teacher, becomes Wonder-Red and teams up with other heroes to fight the aliens using special powers called Unite Morph. Luka, a student, expresses anger toward both the heroes and the aliens.
The heroes meet on their spaceship, the Virgin Victory, to plan their strategy. Earth is protected by a shield called Margarita, powered by five Super Reactors. The heroes must travel around the world to defend these reactors and fight aliens who break through the shield. They also work with Professor Shirogane, who explains that once the reactors are safe, they will use a satellite cannon called the Shirogane Comet to destroy the remaining aliens. During the mission, Wonder-Red struggles to lead the team, especially Wonder-Blue, who wants revenge for his brother’s death. Luka secretly joins the group to stay safe.
The heroes fight Prince Vorkken and Chewgi, who are searching for strong fighters to help him take revenge on the GEATHJERK. Vorkken uses powers similar to the heroes and challenges Wonder-Red. With the help of Vorkken’s sister, Immorta, the heroes defeat him, and Wonder-Red convinces Vorkken that his desire for revenge has made him evil.
At the story’s climax, Luka betrays the heroes and joins Gimme, revealing that his pendant controls the Super Reactors. Luka explains that his mother, Professor Margarita, died while working on the shield, and he wants the aliens to destroy Earth to get revenge. After defeating Gimme, Wonder-Red reveals that Margarita is alive and has become the artificial intelligence Mother Platinum. Luka gives up his revenge, and Mother Platinum creates a giant robot named "Platinum Robo." The heroes use the robot to reach the Shirogane Comet and destroy the alien fleet. Jergingha, the alien leader, attacks with a massive fortress and a bigger fleet, but the heroes, Immorta, and Vorkken combine their powers to destroy the fortress and save Earth. Vorkken and Chewgi help rebuild the worlds they attacked, and the heroes vow to prevent Earth from becoming an evil empire. Luka joins the Wonderful 100 to make up for his mistakes, and the team becomes the "Wonderful 101."
The story ends with the heroes saving a school bus from aliens, just like the beginning. Later, Luka starts training with the CENTINELS using a VR simulation program managed by P-Star. Strange glitches occur, trapping Luka in the simulation. He sees his classmate Sue inside and asks P-Star to send help to her home. P-Star rescues Luka but finds Sue unconscious. They discover that Wanna, a GEATHJERK scientist, survived his fight with the heroes and turned into a computer virus. He used Luka’s lost ID card to infiltrate the CENTINELS network, pulling Sue’s consciousness into the system. Luka demands to return to the simulation to stop Wanna and save Sue. P-Star agrees but gives him only 15 minutes before the network is shut down to prevent Wanna from taking over.
Development
The idea for The Wonderful 101 began when the Wii was popular. The original plan came from PlatinumGames' president, Tatsuya Minami, who wanted to bring together popular video game characters in one game. However, the idea of forcing players to use certain characters was changed. Instead, all characters would appear on-screen at once, letting players choose who to use at any time. PlatinumGames first thought of using Nintendo's own characters to work together, but Nintendo questioned how the game's mechanics could fill an entire game. Director Hideki Kamiya also doubted if Nintendo's characters could be combined into a consistent formula like in Super Smash Bros. Work on the idea was paused while Kamiya focused on another game. When that project was delayed, work on The Wonderful 101 continued. Kamiya decided to use a Japanese transforming theme, starting with five original heroes who could unite and change into weapons. Later, the group grew to 100 heroes, and the style changed to resemble American comic books.
The game's design document was shared by PlatinumGames after stretch goals in the Kickstarter campaign for the remaster were met.
Although the game was planned for the Wii, it became exclusive to the Wii U after PlatinumGames and Nintendo finalized their partnership. The developers wanted to use the Wii U's unique features, so they created a way to use the GamePad to activate "Unite Morphs."
The music was composed by several people, including Hiroshi Yamaguchi and others. The theme songs are called "The Won-Stoppable Wonderful 100" and "The Won-Stoppable Wonderful 101." They were sung by Foresta in the Japanese version and by Jimmy Wilcox, Rob McElroy, and Bruce Blanchard in the English version. A two-volume soundtrack was released in September 2014. For the remaster, Yoko Shimomura, Keiichi Okabe, and Yuzo Koshiro arranged some songs.
The Wonderful 101 was first shown at E3 2012, called Project P-100. In July 2013, Nintendo started a "Wonderful Wednesday" campaign to promote the game, releasing new character portraits each week before launch. However, Kamiya later worried about the lack of marketing for the game, noting it required more resources than Platinum's previous game, Bayonetta. The game was later shown in a Nintendo Direct presentation.
In 2018, Kamiya mentioned ideas for a Nintendo Switch port, creating internal plans for how to do it. In 2020, PlatinumGames launched a Kickstarter to remaster the game for the Switch, PlayStation 4, and Windows, with additional stretch goals for downloadable content. Kamiya and Atsushi Inaba approached Nintendo, the game's co-owner, about republishing it. Nintendo wanted the remaster to be exclusive to the Switch, but Platinum wanted it on more platforms. Nintendo allowed the remaster but did not publish it, letting Platinum self-publish. The Kickstarter helped test the game's popularity, cover costs, and support self-publishing. Platinum also adapted the two-screen gameplay from the Wii U version to work on single-screen platforms like the Switch.
The Kickstarter campaign quickly met its goals, raising over $2.25 million. Stretch goals included a 2D side-scrolling game featuring Luka. A Twitch stream after the campaign ended added funds for orchestral arrangements of two songs. The remastered version was released digitally in North America on May 19, 2020, in Europe on May 22, and in Japan on June 11. Additional downloadable content was released in 2021, including a free time attack mode and "The Prince Vorkken" DLC, which lets players control Prince Vorkken and use "Enemy Morphs" instead of "Unite Morphs." A side-scrolling DLC, The Wonderful One: After School Hero, was released in two parts in 2023, with a standalone version following later.
Although the campaign met its funding goals, some backers faced delays in receiving rewards like art books and custom controllers. The physical edition was also postponed, and codes for the Switch version had delivery issues.
Reception
The Wonderful 101 received mostly positive reviews from critics. It has an average score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic. Many reviewers praised the game’s creative gameplay and the complexity of its combat system. However, some people found the game difficult to learn, while others, like Michael Nelson from Nintendo Enthusiast, believed the challenge was a good part of the experience.
Most reviewers enjoyed the game’s silly and unusual story, characters, and humor. However, some critics thought the few jokes with adult themes were not appropriate for a game with a Teen rating. Some reviewers felt the game’s length and pacing were slow because of repeated enemies and boss fights. Others believed the game’s design, including new moves and upgrades, made these issues less important.
The way players create weapons by drawing on the GamePad received mixed opinions. Some found it easy to make simple shapes, like swords or fists, but harder to draw more complex shapes. Others said using the GamePad and the right analogue stick together worked better. The camera was criticized for being too far away to see all characters during battles and too close to spot enemies hiding out of view. Reviewers agreed the game was very challenging, with some saying the controls and camera made it harder.
Most critics liked how the GamePad’s second screen was used creatively. However, a few said using the controller’s gyroscope to move inside buildings felt awkward. Many enjoyed the multiplayer mode but had trouble keeping track of their characters, which some said felt added as an afterthought. The game’s colorful art style and exciting battle effects were praised. Reviewers also liked the game’s large bosses, set pieces, voice acting, and music.
Nintendo released 30,000 copies of the game when it launched in Japan. It sold 5,258 physical copies in its first week there, and a total of 27,028 physical units in Japan. The game reached 22nd place on the UK sales chart in its first week. In the United States, it sold 49,000 units by the end of 2013. This means the game sold a total of 79,000 units in Japan and the United States combined.
Legacy
Atsushi Inaba and Hideki Kamiya have said they want to make a sequel. In September 2024, it was announced that PlatinumGames bought the Wonderful 101 trademark from Nintendo.
The seven main characters from the game appeared as Trophies in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. The characters Wonder-Red and Wonder-Blue appeared as Spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.