One time. ONCE!

I'm still getting it, though I'm honestly not surprised to see complaints about the controls. Lock's Quest (same developer) is also a decent game, but the controls can get really annoying!

Obviously the reviewer doesn't get the multitude of joke references in the game if he's complaining about "misspellings" like "Merit Get!", which references the infamous "Shine Get!" phrase whenever Mario gets a shine in the Japanese version of Super Mario Sunshine.

I'm still getting this game come hell or high water tomorrow, and like twesterm, I'll be scoring that $15 gift card at Toys R Us as well... I'll probably pick up Bowser's Inside Story as well, which IGN just gave a 9.5 to.

Finally I'll be able to keep my DS dust free for awhile... now if only I could do the same for my Wii... come on Nintendo and release NSMB Wii already!

IGN also reviewed it, they also complained about the controls.

All the reviews that are out so far were criticizing the controls. I think that line about washing a car and turning that into a water fight is the greatest comparasing I've seen so far. It's not about playing the game, it's about playing around in the game...

If they only managed to polish the game before releasing...

so is this game overrated?

^
It seems most of the problem with the game comes at the controls.

Need to take into consideration, that replay value of the game is highly dependent on your imagination. The game might appear pretty shallow for those who lack imagination or too lazy to use one's head (e.g. me, most of the time). Scribblenauts is a game you either love it or hate it, and, I guess, future reviews will reflect this split of game's audience opinions.

Design idea of Scribblenauts is more about a toy than a game (all games are toys, but not all toys are games), i.e. play with it rather than just play it (Sim City, Sims etc. serves as best examples of 'toys'). Though a campaign mode with numerous goals is included in the game (so unlike Sim City, Sims etc. the game could be completed, i.e. has it's logical end), you'll get more fun defining own goals or meet certain circumstances while playing (merits are handy here). The ammount of objects and interactions in the game is practically endless, so there's enough content to build long logical chains of object interactions rather than just complete the level with minimum actions required. Not to mention build-in level editor that enhance game experience.

All in all any numerical reviews of this game are useless. It's fun is pretty much dependent on what kind of gamer you are. It may suck if you suck and vice-versa.

What the sir above me wrote.

Then maybe a person with these qualities should review the game, not some Gears of War or GTA freak...