Spore Hero Arena:: DS Game Review

Courtesy of EA/Maxis

With over 150 different body parts and powers to construct your hero, multiplayer action to combat your friends and a one-player story mode, Spore Hero Arena offers a variety of things to do in one small package.

Alien Workshop

Spore Hero Arena begins with the obligatory Spore Hero creator that allows you to fashion an upgradeable creature with various body shape, part and colouring options to make your monster as stylish or dangerous as you like. The various choices offer more selection than many DS games, so if you like creating your character in the game world, you can make your hero as unique as your imagination (and the parts provided) will allow.

Into the Great Wide Open

Once you’ve gone through the process of creating your alien avatar, however, you’re thrust into a game with a confusing control system and camera perspective. You control your beast using the stylus and attack with (depending on left/right handedness) either the directional pad or the face buttons. Moving your creature with your hand in the way of the screen is not a particularly nimble way of handlings things and the control coupled with a closely zoomed-in and bizarrely angled camera make playing the game a bit of a chore.

Step into the Arena?

The game allows for four-player wi-fi battle mayhem and if you see some screenshots and don’t think the camera and control will bother you, there is certainly enough there for someone who enjoys what the game has to offer. There are plenty of better DS action titles out there with a better control scheme; so only die-hard Spore fans need apply.

Rating: