As part of a surprise mini-Nintendo Direct presentation today, Nintendo showcased an intro trailer for Platinum Games’ The Wonderful 101, revealing a bit of backstory and a new gameplay mechanic for the upcoming Wii U title.
The setup for The Wonderful 101 is that the United Nations has secretly created a group of super heroes called the “Centinels,” and has tasked them with defending the Earth from alien invasion. Members of the group appear to live out their normal civilian lives incognito, until disaster strikes. When called upon, the special combat agents of The Wonderful 100 (pronounced one-double-o) then use their “Wonder Pendants” to change Clark Kent-style into their Centinel suits, to fight the alien threat and save bus-trains full of innocent school children!
As for gameplay mechanics, we are shown more of The Wonderful 100’s ability to join together in a “Wonder Lineup” — which allows them to combine their “Wonder Energy” for large combat attacks. Additionally, the The Wonderful 101 trailer introduces a new ability called “Unite Build.” This allows players to slow time and build up certain environmental structures. The example given in the trailer showed the group using “Unite Build” to make a ramp, which was then used to send an empty bus flying up into the air.
Sadly, this new trailer didn’t show off any gameplay footage, so it is a little hard to judge how all of this will come together in the final product. With that said, The Wonderful 101 has tons of charm, and it should go a long way towards beefing up the Wii U’s software library.
The Wonderful 101 will be released for the Wii U on September 15th in North America, and on August 23rd across Europe. Check out the intro trailer embedded below, and let us know your thoughts on the game in the comments.