PlatinumGames delivers a jubilant brawler where you command a swarm of heroes who morph into giant weapons. The pace is intense, sometimes confusing, but the spectacle and sheer inventiveness are hard not to admire.
Your verdict
Category
Action5 players12+
Co-op
Description
A hundred tiny heroes unite into giant weapons to repel an alien invasion of Earth. Published by PlatinumGames, released worldwide in 2020. Gather a crowd of characters, draw shapes to form a fist or sword, with up to five players in co-op.
The Wonderful 101: Remastered review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
3/5
Story
★★★★★
"Solid"
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Massing a crowd of heroes to morph them into a giant fist, sword or pistol builds a combat system of rare depth, baffling at first, luminous once tamed. The distant camera and occasionally muddled readability slow the learning curve, and the remaster didn't smooth it all. Yet the inventiveness stays exceptional, and five-player co-op extends the fun. Recommended to action devotees willing to persevere.
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Captivating"
Difficulty
"Easy"
Lifespan
"Long"
Technical info
💾5 GB📅19/05/2020
Published by PlatinumGames
The Wonderful 101: Remastered (Nintendo Switch) price, value & rarity
Excess by design at PlatinumGames: The Wonderful 101 pits a swarm of heroes against colossal GEATHJERK whose sheer scale strains the screen. Drawing Unite Morphs with the stylus, weathering dizzying shifts of scale and chaining spectacular QTEs turn every boss into a crescendo. It is an explosion of colour, heroic music and gloriously unhinged mechanics.
An underrated gem
Praised by a niche of demanding players, this Platinum title still gets widely overlooked, a casualty of an intimidating combat system many drop too soon. Drawing shapes to summon weapons put people off, but those who stick with it find an exhilarating, inventive action choreography. Its five-player co-op is its own kind of mayhem. For beat'em up diehards who love being challenged.
Better with friends
Uniting a crowd of heroes up to five is exhilarating co-op action where each player draws their weapons and unleashes onscreen chaos. The fun comes from shared spectacle and collective improvisation against massive assaults, with everyone winging it at once. The flip side: the screen saturates fast and you sometimes lose your character in the scrum. Messy but jubilant, a blast to relaunch among players ready to embrace the clutter.
Is The Wonderful 101: Remastered still worth playing in 2026?
The Wonderful 101: Remastered asks a learning effort few games still demand, and that is its singularity. Gathering a crowd of heroes to draw giant fists, swords or pistols creates a deep combat system, chaotic at first, brilliant once mastered. The pulled-back camera and sometimes muddy readability put people off early, and the remaster did not fix everything. But beneath that demanding surface hides one of PlatinumGames' most inventive action titles. For genre lovers willing to persevere, with up to five-player co-op as a bonus, it keeps real value today.
