Rating: E
Players: 1-4
Genre: Fighter/Simulator
Publisher: EA Games
Release Date: October 2009

RENT

When I first got this game, I thought it would be an interesting, easy game. I’ve always wanted to try a Spore game, so this one seemed like a good place to start. I like the concept of the creature creator, so that was a lot of fun. One thing that really bothered me was that you can’t tell by looking at the body/base of your creature if you’re facing the front or back. The only thing that will give it away is when you put the arms and legs on, which is after you give your creature a mouth and eyes. If there’s a way to change this, I didn’t find it. There is a lot of different things you can put on your creature, like bat wings and fronds. The variety is really cool and could easily consume a good bit of time trying to make the perfect creature.

After you finish making your Spore creation, you go through a little bit of opening story. Then your ship crashes. Great, right? Well, this leads you into a tutorial about food, what kind of food is for which kind of creature, and how to eat food. It also teaches you how to move your creature. You move with the touch screen and stylus. Holding left on the d-pad charges your creature, and pressing the A button will make your creature attack by swiping it’s claws/grabbers/whatever you chose to give it.

A little more story later and you’re off to learning about combat. The controls are pretty simple. Left or A is a slash attack. Right or Y is spit. Up or X is bite. Down or B is block. You can use either the d-pad or the letter buttons to attack/block, which is pretty nice if you need the touch screen to move. Another control that’s good to know is that Start is, like usual, your pause menu.

A nice thing about the combat is the Bio powers. There are three different types. Some of the Bio powers are a thunder-based attack that stuns all of the enemies on your screen, and a flamethrower-style move that you can use then spin around to hit all of the enemies you can see. You can activate these by pressing either the left or right trigger and using your stylus to tap the button of the power you want to use.

More exploring leads you to fixing your spaceship and getting a tour of the things that it can do, like giving you the option to edit your spore creature and going to other planets. Interplanetary travel is a big part of the game. By going to other worlds, you can fight other creatures and work on a 100% completion of red and blue fragments, body parts, and bio powers.

If you and some of your friends all have the game, you can use the built-in wifi network on the DS to play with up to three other people. You can fight it out with your own spore creatures and share creature designs. It’s a good way to practice or just have fun if you’re stuck or bored with the main storyline.

Overall, this was a decent game. The whole concept of it is to travel to all the various worlds, fight against AI opponents, fight bosses, and collect the fragments. If you’re not a fan of the Spore franchise and silly though sometimes challenging combat, don’t bother, but if you like the controls and the concept, this game is definitely worth renting and trying out.

Review product was provided by EA Games and does not affect the outcome of this review.