Spore
Publisher: Electronic Arts | Release Date: September 7, 2008

View all downloads for this title

Spore, for those of you living under a rock where PC gaming news isn't readily available, is the latest title from Will Wright -- the mind behind The Sims. From petri dish to the top of the food chain the game is centered around managing a thriving world and evolving it from cell to space. The biggest draw in Spore is customization; everything from creature to vehicle can be created by the player.

Connected to the multiple creators within the game is an online experience that pulls data from other Spore players to populate a player's universe. As you evolve into the space age players can bump into other user-generated content and either play nice or do battle for food chain supremacy. As your creatures populate other gamer worlds players are constantly updated on their progress. This constant connection to your creations adds an emotional element to the game as you become invested in what you've made.

The online connectivity of Spore is what makes the game for those not completely enamored by the creation tools. This, unfortunately, is the problem with the two other recently released Spore titles: Spore Creatures on the Nintendo DS and Spore Origins for the iPhone / iPod Touch.

Spore Creatures uses a limited amount of online connectivity. Players can download other creatures to populate the world but the emotional attachment to the game isn't the same. Spore Creatures can best be described as an adventure game with gameplay mechanics lifted from other DS titles like Elite Beat Agents and the Pokemon series. The 2D, Paper Mario-esque art style works well but can be frustrating -- especially in the creation state. The game features a less detailed creator but requires pixel-perfect stylus controls that make some of the elements more of a chore than pleasurable.


The 10-hour adventure title utilizes as many elements from the Spore world as possible but feels disconnected from the player. Instead of evolving over time and based on your decisions, creatures are constantly being forced to change for gameplay reasons. In order to complete objectives Spore Creatures tasks players with constantly changing its creations in ways they may not want to -- slapping on an appendage found on a new species helps to keep the peace with them, for example. This constant change from your original creation isn't completely different from the PC version of Spore but you have far less say in the matter and in the end your creation doesn't feel like your own. By no means is Spore Creatures a bad game but the title is far less memorable than its PC counterpart.

Spore Origins is the iPhone / iPod touch (another version is also available for older iPod devices) release loosely based on the first phase in Spore. After you've named your creature you are thrown into a tide pool simulator. If you've played Feeding Frenzy you're familiar with the core gameplay of Spore Origins.

In order to progress you must navigate the pool by tilting your device toward smaller creatures which you immediately devour on contact in order to fill a DNA bar -- once the bar is full you move onto the next stage. Eventually larger creatures are thrown into the pool and must be avoided as you search for more DNA to gain Evolution Points and open customization options for your creature -- like the ability to add defensive items to your creature.

The major "problem" with Spore Origins is the complete lack of connectivity; when you create a creature you are the only one who will see it. While a casual time waster on the surface, the game is a good introduction to what is possible in the DS and PC versions but the hardcore Spore fans needs not apply if they are looking for anything resembling the PC version.

To be honest, this Big Versus is completely unfair. The point isn't to say which is best but to highlight the different features of each Spore derivative. If each version of Spore was representative of a stage then Origins truly is the introduction of life in the primordial soup, Creatures is feet on land and the PC version is the rocket about to be shot into space.

Each version has its appeal but if you're a hardcore Spore addict you'll be happy to know that you don't need to play the entire set to get a good experience. Spoiler alert, Spore is about creating creatures and evolving them and only the PC version will get you attached enough to spend more than a few hours in its world.

Xav de Matos is a contributing editor for the Joystiq Network at Big Download and Xbox 360 Fanboy as well as the producer of the weekly BigDownload.com gaming podcast, the BigCast. Questions or suggestions for this or future features may be directed to xav [at] joystiq [dot] com.