Spore Creatures

Cheat Code Central (4 out of 5) (80%)

Spore Creatures is definitely not a replacement or port of the PC version of Spore; can be best described as a different experience altogether. It comes on a little slow, but if you put some genuine time and effort into this game, you can come away with a fun experience. As long as you don't expect the unlimited creativity and free-forming gameplay of the PC title, you won't be disappointed. The best way to play this game is to not even compare it to the PC version at all. When it stands on its own, it offers a unique DS experience and provides some fun and interesting gameplay that is both accessible and enjoyable.

IGN (7.8 out of 10) (78%)

Spore Creatures isn’t intended as a replacement for the core PC Spore experience -- it’s meant to compliment that design with a unique experience that lifts many of the core elements. And for the most part it succeeds in that task: this is a fun, involved, albeit more linear DS experience with a few quirks that get in the way, but even with those quirks it’s great to experience a game on the more limited handheld with a similar sense of creativity that PC gamers will have in Spore.

Jeuxvideo.com (15 out of 20) (75%)

Tenter de porter Spore sur DS était une mission impossible. Ne vous attendez donc pas à retrouver la complétude de la version PC dans Spore Creatures, qui se concentre uniquement sur la vie d'un être. Il n'empêche, cette formule allégée prend immédiatement et parvient à offrir une expérience certes différente mais tout aussi réussie.

JeuxVideoPC.com (15 out of 20) (75%)

Simple, efficace et ne manquant pas d'originalité, Spore Créatures est un jeu qui a des arguments pour séduire à tout âge. A déconseiller toutefois à des joueurs confirmés, ou aux agacés du "tout kawaïï".

4Players.de (75 out of 100) (75%)

Inhaltlich beschnitten, grafisch bizarr, weniger bezaubernd: Das ist Spore auf dem DS im direkten Vergleich mit dem großen PC-Bruder. Natürlich musste man sich an die technischen Beschränkungen der kleinen Plattform anpassen, aber der kantige 2D-Pappfigurenstil verströmt einfach nicht das putzige Flair der Kreaturen, die man mit der Maus ins Leben ruft. Trotzdem können hier durchaus witzige Wesen heraus kommen, die genau so interessante Fähigkeiten entwickeln wie ihre polygonhübschen Brüder - sie haben sogar einige Kniffe wie den Röntgenblick, das Buddeln oder Luftwirbel drauf, die es nur auf dem DS gibt. Dass man sich hier nur in der Kreaturenphase austoben kann, ist zwar eine ärgerliche Beschränkung, aber das Abenteuer auf den Planeten wird durchaus motivierend inszeniert: Das sind zum einen die sozialen und aggressiven Spielweisen sowie die abwechslungsreichen Aufträge mit ihren knackigen Kämpfen und kleinen Rätseln, die für Laune sorgen.

UOL Jogos ( ) (70%)

Não dá para dizer que "Spore Creatures" é uma conversão de "Spore" para DS, mas sim um produto derivado. Focado apenas na fase de criatura, é bem menos interessante, com objetivos mais fechados, focados mais em exploração e em batalhas e menos em interação social ou solução de problemas. Ainda assim, há um modo de criação robusto herdado de seu irmão maior que chama a atenção e muito conteúdo disponível para durar por muito tempo.

3D Juegos (7 out of 10) (70%)

Spore hace una pequeña demostración de su potencial en Nintendo DS con un videojuego que adapta con éxito la capacidad de personalización del original. Los resultados, obviamente, son limitados, pero en esencia nos queda una obra que nos obliga a sobrevivir y evolucionar dentro de un esquema de aventura encorsetado, lineal, poco profundo pero que, a pesar de todo, resulta muy adecuado para los más pequeños de la casa.

GameSpy ( ) (70%)

The basic gameplay elements from Spore's creature stage have been expanded upon in Spore Creatures, and if you're looking for more of that, you'll be quite pleased by this attractive little adventure. You can even hop online over Wi-Fi to trade and download creatures from other players for added variety. While it's not without its faults, this relatively short adventure is still worth checking out.

Computer Bild Spiele (2.51 out of 6) (70%)

Die Version für Nintendo DS unterscheidet sich grundlegend von der "großen" Variante für PC und ist eher ein actionbetontes Rollenspiel als eine Simulation. Sie müssen zwar ebenfalls eine Kreatur von einem Kleinslebewesen zu einer starken Spezies entwickeln, doch sind die spielerischen Elemente stark beschränkt. Der Kreaturendesigner steht zwar ebenfalls zur Verfügung, ist aber ziemlich unübersichtlich.

Game Shark (B-) (67%)

Unfortunately, while the quests and mini-games vary from region to region, overall gameplay is rather repetitive. You enter a new area, befriend/fight creatures, discover body parts, and move to the next area. Rinse and repeat. The cuddle and dance sessions are particularly mind-numbing once you’ve done them 20 times or so. If you’re looking for a simple and adorable adventure game to pass the time, check out Spore Creatures. However, if you’re hoping for an open-ended, sandbox game involving evolution, this isn’t the game for you.

GameSpot (6.5 out of 10) (65%)

Spore Creatures features a colorful, attractive visual design paired with cute sound effects and a laid-back, spacey soundtrack. It also features some of the PC version's online connectivity, albeit in an extremely stripped-down form. In this case, you can download other players' creatures, which then appear within your own game as you explore. This is a neat addition, though its limited scope doesn't give Spore Creatures much additional replay value. But no matter: On its own, Spore Creatures is still a cute--if not particularly memorable--adventure game.

GamingTrend (385 out of 600) (64%)

Spore Creatures made me angry. For all the fanfare that they made about having a Spore exclusive for the DS, it's shocking how little it resembles its big brother. It's stunning how many poor decisions came out of a studio renowned for making interesting games. Maxis may not always hit it's mark, but you can usually count on it reaching for the stars. Here, it's hard to tell where they're aiming, but whatever they were aiming at they missed horribly. It's kind of a shame, because a game that focused primarily on the Creature phase of Spore had a ton of potential. Unfortunately, a great concept got lost in a morass of poor decisions and overcomplexity, if that's a word. Here's hoping someone takes the ideas presented in Spore Creatures and makes a game more worthy of the concept.

Gamervision (6 out of 10) (60%)

Spore Creatures isn’t the shovelware I originally expected, but it isn’t much more than a cash-in on the PC version’s anticipated success. It isn't a bad game, it isn't a good game, it's just sort of there. Nothing about it screams "play me!" and nothing about it sucks so bad you need to stop, but you'll have to find excuses to spend time on it. Some of the aspects of the game work well, some of them fall flat, but the game is thoroughly playable throughout. There are plenty of awards and achievements to earn, for completionists, but I have a feeling that people will somehow be even less impressed with your Spore Creatures awards than they are with your Xbox Live Gamerscore. Some online options and the huge amount of customization make it worth a try, but I can’t recommend purchasing this title, even as a replacement for Spore on the PC.

Pocket Gamer UK (6 out of 10) (60%)

Although you can download other people's designs online and see them appear in-game, this doesn't do anything to enrich the gameplay. With just a little more ambition in terms of the actual game structure the sum of all these disparate parts could have been so much more.

Gamekult (6 out of 10) (60%)

Même s'il n'est pas exempt de défauts, Spore Creatures est un titre addictif grâce une idée simple mais originale : créer et recréer à l'envi sa créature. Avec ses très nombreuses possibilités, l'éditeur de créatures permet toutes les fantaisies, en toute simplicité. Et plus on progresse dans le jeu, plus le champ des possibles s'élargit. Dommage que cette liberté ne se retrouve pas dans la progression, qui nous fait enchaîner les niveaux de façon linéaire en incorporant dans le gameplay des éléments rappelant les jeux d'aventure et les RPG. Si les interactions sociales et les combats ne brillent pas par l'intérêt qu'ils suscitent, on se plaît cependant à explorer les planètes avec notre petit monstre, que l'on peut échanger grâce à la Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Sans être aussi complet que son homologue sur PC, Spore Creatures reste un bon jeu, et inventif qui plus est.

Meristation (6 out of 10) (60%)

Spore Creatures es un juego correcto, una aventura simple, sencilla, enfocada no a los más pequeños de la casa, pero si a los de una franja media de edad. Proponiendo misiones sencillas, una historia simple pero funcional y, sobretodo, como máxima un editor de criaturas bastante completo, nos encontramos ante una versión obviamente inferior a la presentada por Will Wright en PC, pero aún así, recomendable para quienes quieran pasar un rato divertido sin mucha más ambición. No es un gran juego, pero tampoco algo que merezca ser condenado al ostracismo.

Jeux Vidéo Magazine (12 out of 20) (60%)

Excitant sur le papier, mais lent et mou à se mettre en place, Creatures n'est pas aussi prenant qu'on l'espérait. C'est une sorte de jeu de rôle pour généticiens fous, qui comblera les joueurs les plus patients.

Hooked Gamers (6 out of 10) (60%)

As expected, this portable version does not have the depth of its big brother release on the PC. The game seems to have watered-down somewhat to appeal to the DS crowd. It is bright and colourful, sounds okay and has a decent storyline, but in the end, it just lacks that little bit of polish.

NGamer (6 out of 10) (60%)

In fact, haphazard sums up the whole game. Spore offers a lot but the delivery is patchy. Shame.

Retro Gamer (51 out of 100) (51%)

What you essentially have here is the second section of the PC game with a tacked-on storyline that sees you chasing after your slug-like friend. Sure, the included level editor is impressive, but there's just not enough here to sink your constantly evolving teeth into. Stick with the PC original instead.

N-Europe (5 out of 10) (50%)

With none of the scope seen in the PC version, Spore: Creatures is a poor alternative. It’s a quirky & great looking, but soon ends up killing itself with repetitive gameplay and dull puzzles.

Eurogamer.net (UK) (5 out of 10) (50%)

That's really the central problem with Spore Creatures. The wonky camera and repetition is annoying, but it still just about works as an average exploration game. What it doesn't offer is any sort of Free Play option where you can do your own thing. You can indulge your creative desires or you can play the game. You can't really do both at the same time in any satisfying way, which suggests that "linear action adventure" simply wasn't the right direction to take the Spore concept for its handheld outing.

Destructoid (4 out of 10) (40%)

At the end of the day, Spore Creatures would probably have been better served as Spore Jr. It's very simplistic, despite the appearance of having a complex system of creature building. Apart from my issues with the combat, at no point is the game really bad, but it's never a whole lot of fun either. It is charming for about an hour's worth of play but not much else.