Examine individual changes

'{{Infobox video game | title = Spore Creatures | image = Spore Creatures Coverart.png | caption = Nintendo DS cover art | developer = [[Griptonite Games]]<br />[[Maxis]]<ref name="joystiq">{{cite web |last1=Stern |first1=Zack |title=Joystiq impressions: Spore Creatures (DS) |url=http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/13/joystiq-impressions-spore-creatures-ds/ |website=[[Joystiq]] |publisher=[[AOL]] |access-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217150439/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/13/joystiq-impressions-spore-creatures-ds/ |archive-date=17 February 2008 |date=13 February 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><br />[[EA Mobile]] <small>(WinM)</small><br />[[Electronic Arts|Electronic Arts Nederland BV]] <small>(BB)</small><br />Electronic Arts <small>(iPhone)</small> | publisher = Electronic Arts<br />EA Mobile <small>(WinM)</small><br />Electronic Arts Nederland BV <small>(BB)</small> | designer = Dream Smith | series = | released = {{collapsible list|title=September 4, 2008|'''DS'''<br />{{Video game release|PAL|September 4, 2008|NA|September 7, 2008|JP|September 11, 2008}}{{vgrelease|[[Korea|KO]]|September 27, 2008}}'''Windows Mobile'''<br />{{vgrelease|WW|December 4, 2009}}'''BlackBerry'''<br />{{vgrelease|WW|December 9, 2009}}'''iPhone'''<br />{{vgrelease|WW|January 15, 2010<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spore.com/press_021208.php |title=EA and Maxis to ship Spore in September |date=February 12, 2008 |publisher=[[Electronic Arts]] |access-date=February 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213115033/http://www.spore.com/press_021208.php |archive-date=February 13, 2008}}</ref>}}}} | genre = [[Life simulation]]/[[roleplaying game|RPG]] | modes = [[Single player]], [[Multiplayer video game|multiplayer]] | platforms = [[Nintendo DS]], [[Windows Mobile]], [[BlackBerry]], [[iPhone]] }} '''''Spore Creatures''''' is a [[Spin-off (media)|spin-off]] of ''[[Spore (2008 video game)|Spore]]'', developed by Griptonite Games and published by [[Electronic Arts]], in which a player controls and evolves a creature of their creation. It is a [[science fiction]] [[adventure game]]. There are two separate, but unrelated games titled ''Spore Creatures''. The first was released in 2008 for the Nintendo DS and is not a sequel to any game, while the second was released in 2009 for iOS devices as a sequel to ''[[Spore Origins]]'', and has similar gameplay to it. ==Plot summary== The game begins as a new species of creatures, the Oogies, are born on the planet Tapti. Two members of this species of particular importance are the protagonist, simply known as 'Oogie', and Little Oogie, a small and primitive creature. A mysterious spaceship is flying around the planet, abducting various creatures; it captures Little Oogie and flies away. Oogie pursues the ship all over Tapti, and when it begins to fall apart after bashing into a number of objects, collecting its pieces along the way. Oogie eventually catches up with the ship as it finally crashes, and its pilot, an alien called Gar'skuther, clambers out. Gar'skuther simply summons a new ship and flies away, still in possession of Little Oogie, who has now grown a strange tentacle from his back. Oogie uses the parts he has collected to rebuild the first ship and pursue Gar'skuther through the galaxy. On one planet, Oogie eventually comes across Gar'skuther, who is observing another creature. Seeing no threat in Oogie, he begins to explain his plan: he wishes to dominate the galaxy by experimenting on all primitive wildlife and building his genes into them - his genes cause large, dark tentacles to grow from whatever they are implanted into. In order to show Oogie his power, Gar'skuther combines a Fyristook and Flabawaba into a Fyrisaba and pits it against Oogie to test its strength. Oogie defeats the creature, but Gar' skuther flees, now realising that Oogie may be more than just a normal creature. Oogie eventually lands his ship on Gar'skuther's base planet of Zencrie, where he is hiding through a cave. After resolving a conflict between two native species and helping to cure a nest from the infection, Oogie reaches the cave entrance. Passing through it, Oogie comes to a small cove where Gar'skuther is waiting. The evil alien tells Oogie that he is more powerful than he originally thought, and that he will face him in battle if Oogie can defeat the Skuther - a bionic creature Gar'skuther has built using the best parts of many other species. Oogie defeats the Skuther, but Gar'skuther reveals that he has spread them all over the galaxy and that they will soon become the dominant species. Gar'skuther then proceeds to battle Oogie, but is defeated and dies, his arm is the only salvageable part left. Upon Gar'skuther's defeat, the many Skuthers throughout the galaxy collapse. The infection ceases to exist as the tentacles all wither away. Oogie takes the spaceship back to Tapti, where he meets a cured Little Oogie. The two creatures then carry out their lives on Tapti as a dominant, yet peaceful, species. A cutscene then shows that a creature native to Tapti called a Meeper finds the spacecraft, enters it, and flies away to an unknown planet. ==Gameplay== [[Image:Spore ds.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Gameplay screenshot.]] The game focuses on the Creature phase of the larger game, with elements of ''[[Nintendogs]]'' and ''[[Drawn to Life]]''. ''Spore Creatures'' characters are ball and line generated 2.5D. Unlike the characters of ''Spore'', creatures are completely 2D,<ref name="1uppre">{{cite web |last=Green |first=Jeff |date=February 12, 2008 |url=http://www.1up.com/previews/spore-ds |title=Spore Creatures (Preview) |website=[[1UP.com]] |access-date=October 16, 2016}}</ref><ref name="joystiqpre">{{cite web |last=Stern |first=Zack |date=February 13, 2008 |url=https://www.engadget.com/2008/02/13/joystiq-impressions-spore-creatures-ds/ |title=Joystiq impressions: Spore Creatures (DS) |publisher=[[Engadget]] ([[Joystiq]]) |access-date=October 16, 2016}}</ref> but the environments remain 3D. The iPhone version is unrelated to the DS version; the environment is 2D, similar to Spore Origins for iPhone. ''Spore Creatures'' is a more story-based game as the game is played as an Oogie. Another Oogie creature (named Little Oogie) is kidnapped by a UFO inhabited by an evil scientist creature named Gar'skuther, and the player is forced to survive on strange islands over the course of 12 levels, a plot that has somewhat of a conservationist theme present throughout it. The creature is created and modified in an editor, using points earned to give the creature different body parts and skills. The player is given 20 points at the start with which to build their initial creature. This is not true for the iPhone version; it is completely different.<ref name="1uppre"/> The game focuses on survival, which includes finding food, with [[mini-games]] such as cuddling and dancing for friend-making.<ref name="gamespyprev">{{cite web |last=Joynt |first=Patrick |date=February 23, 2008 |url=http://ds.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/spore/854491p1.html |title=GameSpy: Spore Creatures (Preview) |publisher=[[GameSpy]]}}</ref> A large part of the game involves collecting items, allowing players to earn 60 badges based on game moments and actions. The players can also perform side quests and play mini-games to unlock skills and 280 hidden creature parts, which are given to the player by other friendly creatures, akin to ''[[Animal Crossing]]''.<ref name="1uppre"/><ref name="gamespyprev"/> Some parts grant "Bio-Powers", such as a quick healing ability or flame-breath. When fighting with allies, if an ally's health gets low, it will retreat from battle. If dancing with friends, the player can achieve multipliers via "Friend Bonuses". When dancing, the player must tap small dots that represent beats, coming from a flower in the center when they reach the other flowers. The flower and beat count will increase if dancing with multiple creatures, and if the player manages to successfully land all perfect beats, a message stating "Perfection!" will appear at the top of the screen. If the "Auto-play Dance" cheat is on, the message "Cheater!" will appear instead. If the player misses too many beats, or hits too many beats too early, the player will fail the dance. In the overworld, the player can eat flowers to restore energy, regardless of the creature's diet. If the creature eats the wrong food, it will get sick, causing it to lose health. The creature can water dead trees by throwing a "water flower" at them.<ref name="gamespyprev"/> Combat consists of the player initiating the fight with another creature by selecting it to go into a one-on-one combat screen in which the creatures face off against each other.<ref name="onthespot">{{cite web |last=Toole |first=David |date=August 14, 2008 |url=http://www.gamespot.com/videos/on-the-spot-at-ea-studio-showcase-2008-08-14-08/2300-6195995/ |title=On the Spot at EA Studio Showcase 2008 - 08/14/08 |website=[[GameSpot]] |access-date=October 16, 2016}}</ref> The Nintendo DS version of the ''Sporepedia'' resembles and functions more like ''[[Pokémon]]''{{'s}} [[Pokédex]] than that used in the main version of Spore.<ref name="onthespot"/> === Creature abilities === In ''Spore Creatures'' there are a multitude of parts to collect. Certain parts grant the creature special abilities called "bio-powers". However, these bio-powers induce several catches (i.e. stun causes poor eyesight). The bio-powers are: Flame Jet, Leaf Flurry, Quick Healing, Stun, and Force Field. Flame Jet and Leaf Flurry are both offensive bio-powers that damage enemies in combat; Stun momentarily paralyzes the enemy, disabling it from attacking; Quick Healing and Force Field are defensive bio-powers that heals the creature and its friends, and creates an invulnerable bubble around the player's creature, respectively. Some legs also grant terrain walking abilities. There are six types hazardous terrains: Poison, lava, thorny, icy, deep water and hot sand. There is no leg part that allows the creature to walk in poison, but there is a cheat available on the cheat menu that enables users this ability. === Multiplayer === The game allowed the player to save thirty-one different creations, including those from friends over a local, peer-to-peer connection. Players were able to have their creatures interact via the [[Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection]]; ''Spore Creatures'' were one of the few Nintendo DS or Wii games to allow a player to opt out of needing to input [[Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection#Friend Codes|Friend Codes]].<ref name="joystiqpre"/> The online multiplayer was closed on June 30, 2014.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} ==Reception== {{Video game reviews | DS = true | iOS = true | na = true | Destruct_DS = 4/10<ref>{{cite web |last=Zimmerman |first=Conrad |date=September 9, 2008 |url=https://www.destructoid.com/destructoid-review-spore-creatures-102832.phtml |title=Destructoid review: Spore Creatures |website=[[Destructoid]] |access-date=October 16, 2016}}</ref> | EGM_DS = C+<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tsao |first=Jennifer|title=Spore Creatures: Not quite what [Charles] Darwin had in mind |journal=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |issue=233 |date=October 2008 |page=92 |issn=1058-918X}}</ref> | EuroG_DS = 5/10<ref name="eurorev"/> | Fam_DS = 29/40<ref name="fam">{{cite web |author=Brian |date=September 3, 2008 |url=http://nintendoeverything.com/famitsu-review-scores-16/ |title=Famitsu review scores |publisher=Nintendo Everything |access-date=October 16, 2016}}</ref> | GSpot_DS = 6.5/10<ref>{{cite web |last=VanOrd |first=Kevin |date=September 9, 2008 |url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/spore-creatures-review/1900-6197454/ |title=Spore Creatures Review |website=GameSpot |access-date=October 16, 2016}}</ref> | GSpy_DS = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web |last=Villoria |first=Gerald |date=September 23, 2008 |url=http://ds.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/spore/912898p1.html |title=GameSpy: Spore Creatures |publisher=GameSpy |access-date=October 16, 2016}}</ref> | IGN_DS = 7.8/10<ref name="ignrev"/> | NG_DS = 60%<ref>{{cite journal |title=Spore Creatures |journal=[[Nintendo Gamer]] |date=November 2008 |page=62}}</ref> | NP_DS = 8/10<ref>{{cite journal |title=Spore Creatures |journal=[[Nintendo Power]] |volume=234 |date=November 2008 |page=95}}</ref> | ONM_DS = 66%<ref name="onmrev"/> | GR_DS = 67%<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamerankings.com/ds/938126-spore-creatures/index.html |title=Spore Creatures for DS |publisher=[[GameRankings]] |access-date=October 16, 2016}}</ref> | GR_iOS = 64%<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamerankings.com/iphone/986338-spore-creatures/index.html |title=Spore Creatures for iOS (iPhone/iPad) |publisher=GameRankings |access-date=October 16, 2016}}</ref> | MC_DS = 65/100<ref name="mc">{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/game/ds/spore-creatures |title=Spore Creatures for DS Reviews |website=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=October 16, 2016}}</ref> }} The DS version received "mixed" reviews according to the [[Review aggregator|review aggregation]] website [[Metacritic]].<ref name="mc"/> In Japan, ''[[Famitsu]]'' gave it a score of one six, one seven, and two eights for a total of 29 out of 40.<ref name="fam"/> [[IGN]] said, "The adventure is lengthy with tons of achievements to shoot for. The creature creator might not be as elaborate as PC ''Spore'', but there's still a ton you can do to make some bizarre organisms."<ref name="ignrev">{{cite web |last=Harris |first=Craig |date=September 4, 2008 |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/09/04/spore-creatures-review |title=Spore Creatures Review |website=[[IGN]] |access-date=October 16, 2016}}</ref> [[Eurogamer]], however, panned the game in its review, stating that the game ignored what made ''Spore'' special, and that the "imaginative and sociable sandbox game feels like an afterthought, stuck in an uninspiring cycle of fetch-quests and grinding."<ref name="eurorev">{{cite web |last=Whitehead |first=Dan |date=September 4, 2008 |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/spore-creatures-review |title=Spore Creatures |website=[[Eurogamer]] |access-date=October 16, 2016}}</ref> ''[[Official Nintendo Magazine]]'' said that progress in stages always requires specific body traits, forcing the player to constantly edit their creature, and removing the whole point in the game.<ref name="onmrev">{{cite journal |last=Mathers |first=Martin |url=http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=5701 |title=Review: Spore: Creatures [sic] |journal=[[Official Nintendo Magazine]] |date=November 2008 |page=79 |access-date=October 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080911194332/http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=5701 |archive-date=September 11, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It was a nominee for Best Simulation Game for the Nintendo DS from IGN in their 2008 video game awards.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bestof.ign.com/2008/ds/9.html |title=IGN Best of 2008: Best Simulation Game (DS) |website=IGN |date=December 15, 2008 |access-date=October 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219041642/http://bestof.ign.com/2008/ds/9.html |archive-date=December 19, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> {{clear}} ==See also== *''[[Spore (2008 video game)|Spore]]'' *''[[Spore Origins]]'' *''[[Nintendogs]]'' ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} *[http://www.metro.se/se/article/2008/09/09/15/3113-48/index.xml "Spore makes you God" Article in tech newspaper Metro Tech] ==External links== *{{moby game|id=/nintendo-ds/spore-creatures|name=''Spore Creatures'' (Nintendo DS)}} *{{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20070313230203/http://www.spore.com:80/}} *{{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20110113104658/http://www.f9e.com/|Developer site}} *[http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/DS/Spore+Creatures/news.asp?c=5770 Talking to producer of Spore Creatures about the DS game's start in life] {{Sim series}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:2008 video games]] [[Category:Biological simulation video games]] [[Category:BlackBerry games]] [[Category:Electronic Arts games]] [[Category:God games]] [[Category:IOS games]] [[Category:Life simulation games]] [[Category:Maxis Sim games]] [[Category:Nintendo DS games]] [[Category:Windows Mobile games]] [[Category:Spore (2008 video game)]] [[Category:Video games set on fictional planets]] [[Category:Video games developed in the United States]] [[Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games]]'