‘The Wonderful 101′ To Save Earth From Aliens Tokusatsu-Style In September [Video]

While it's been on some gamers' radar since E3 2012, I confess I've been a bit in the dark regarding Platinum Games' upcoming tokusatsu-flavored superhero video game The Wonderful 101. Turns out I'm not alone, though, as there hasn't been a ton of marketing for the title despite its looming September 15 release date on Nintendo's Wii U. Now, as I dive into PG's latest blog posts and gameplay videos I can say that I think a lot of superhero fans are going to want to give this thing a try.

At a glance The Wonderful 101 seems evocative of Capcom's Viewtiful Joe games, and that's fitting considering it's made by VJ veterans director by Hideki Kamiya and producer Atsushi Inaba. It's colorful and cartoony characters in a colorful and cartoony world dispatching foes with finesse.

The Wonderful 101's premise is simple, but also beefy. The game takes place in a version of Earth where governments rallied after an alien attack 40 years ago to create a team of 100 superheroes from all over the planet to fend off and defeat the next wave of aggression. These heroes are part of the CENTINELS Planetary Secret Service. The game's "101" title includes all of these heroes plus, you, the player.

Gameplay begins as the latest alien attack kicks off, gradually introducing players to the title's four main playable characters -- all of whom boast elaborate henshin transformations, uniform-y costumes and cohesive code names (Wonder Red, Wonder Blue, Wonder Green and Wonder Pink). The game's main guard act as leaders for what're basically swarms of the remaining 96 heroes, which are summoned to help you as you travel from stage to stage, clearing wreckage, saving civilians, fighting henchmen and eventually squaring off against powerful bosses. Adding to the gameplay, of course, looks to be quite a bit of animation and cutscenes fleshing out the world of the game and each character's story.

You can take a look at some screen shots from the upcoming game below, and stay tuned to CA for further impressions. Something tells me Chris Sims and I are going to have to team up Super Sentai style to review it when the time comes.