Spore Creatures (Nintendo DS) - Review by Chris

Introduction

After what seems like a life time of success for the Sims franchise, creator Will Wright decided to divert his attention to another ambitious project to run alongside that established franchise. Spore made its first appearance on the PC in 2008 and once again showed why Wright is one of the leading designers in the industry. Having had a brief break in period on the PC, EA decided that they wanted to expand the series to other consoles, starting with an original RPG-like title on the Nintendo DS called Spore Creatures.

Gameplay

Spore Creatures puts you in control of a small seemingly insignificant creature on an unknown world where it must explore in the hope of finding its friend who has been mysteriously kidnapped. You'll have to trawl through various large connecting environments completing objectives and goals successfully to be able to continue your search and progress, with these goals being anything from collecting items to defeating unknown creatures in combat. With this setting the tone for the game, the gameplay unfortunately follows a very linear path because each of the locations has but one way through which you'll progress and you'll usually only have a handful of goals to meet to do so. The goals rarely change beyond those that you'll encounter from the start, with the differences being the creatures and items that you'll encounter. It takes some elements from the RPG genre, granting you an experience bar which fills for completing goals, defeating enemies or befriending the world's inhabitants.

Combat is a key part to your progressing, as you'll have to delve into many fighting situations. Initially, your attacks are very basic, coming down to simple slashes from your on screen character but as you progress and create a more established being and befriend other creatures, the combat becomes slightly less monotonous with the inclusion of Bio-powers, which cover everything from healing to attacks. Taking on enemies on your own is clearly not how the game was intended as, at times, you'll often have to fight multiple opponents and it all carries out in real time. As such, befriending other creatures is a must and doing this requires you to feed them and then complete a mini-game to show them that you are a friend. You never have control over your friends but it is a necessary part of the game to use.

The biggest thing that set Spore apart from many of the other PC games was its vast creature creation tools and while the DS doesn't quite have the same resources, the creature creation tool has made an appearance and definitely allows for an extensive amount of customisation. You'll pick up various pieces, such as arms, legs, etc., during your play that can all be used to create bigger and stronger creatures. It is a key element within the game because you will have to spend time in it if you wish to reach the end but it's never a chore to use, being incredibly easily to pick and place pieces in the position you want to. A nice inclusion to run alongside the creature creation aspect is the ability to trade designs with friends over local wireless or even upload them to the EA servers so others can see your work and even download them into their game world.

While the single player may suffer from a linear set of progression, the game itself will last a considerable amount of time as there is plenty to see and do. But some additions have been made that further extend the life of the game, such as the implementation of an in-game achievement system and an encyclopaedia for all the creatures that inhabit the world. Those who like to get the most out of their games will definitely like to delve deep into these aspects and doing so will have you playing for weeks, even months trying to get everything. The gameplay doesn't quite pack the punch of the PC original but it's definitely a companion title and does have some nice touches.

Controls

There is a mixture of button based on touch screen based controls and the combination does work although some don't quite work to the same standard as the rest. You move your creature around the world by way of the d-pad or the A/B/X/Y face buttons depending on whether your left or right handed. You can also use the touch screen to move and this seems to work the best because the button controls seem very strict and don't allow for easy diagonal movement while the touch screen does. You have free reign of the camera, courtesy of the left and right shoulder buttons and you will have to constantly readjust the camera, especially in combat and things can often and easily head off screen making it hard to keep track of what is happening. In combat, the touch screen is used for attacking, touching the enemy and making slashes across the screen but its fraught with issues meaning that they aren't always detected meaning you'll often die before you've had a decent go at the opponent due to the faults of the controls.

Graphics

The game blends a mixture of 2d and 3d work to create a strange yet interesting looking title. The environments and locations are all produced in 3d and the work is good and of a large and detailed scale, but at the same time it is a little on the basic side as everything does start to feel very familiar as the game wears on. The creatures have all been created in a 2d paper craft style yet during the game, they behave as if they were 3d. The best comparison would be that of the Paper Mario series as the characters behave exactly as they do in there. It does look strange at first having the creatures in 2d but it starts to work its charm and shows it to be for the best as it allows for a greater amount of customisation of your creatures to fall in line with the PC games. At the same time though, it doesn't look of the best quality on the DS' screens as the low resolution and size makes things seem a bit messy.

Sound

Musically, the game isn't spectacular but what it does provide is pleasant enough to suit the atmosphere and tone of the gameplay. Its very laidback, just as the game's graphics are, but it doesn't really do much other than set the tone of what is happening. Sound effects are weird and wonderful, with each of the creatures having their own distinct sounds depending on the parts that have been used to create them.

Dual screen

Touch screen shows the gameplay, allowing you to use it for attacks while in combat although it's not entirely responsive. Top screen shows a map of the area which is helpful as it can be disorienting. Menus and their respective components span both screens. So there is good use of the screens.

Final comments

Spore is a big game on the PC and bringing that to the DS would have been a difficult task. Yet, Spore Creatures has managed to take some of the best bits from that game and create a wholly unique and involving experience on the DS that will last for a considerable amount of time, with a lengthy story and plenty of possibilities for the creature creation aspect of the game. Add in an in-game achievement system and an encyclopaedia to fill, and the game easily sits alongside its brother title as a competent handheld game.

Pro: Lengthy single player, creature creation has endless possibilities, presentation is pleasant if a little laidback
Con: Game is very linear from start to finish, menus can be too complicated to navigate, combat is frustrating more than anything
Final score: 6.9

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