An Introduction To Spore Hero For the Nintendo Wii

An Introduction To Spore Hero For the Nintendo Wii
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Could Spore Hero Possibly Be The Best Nintendo Wii Game To Date?

I have been waiting patiently for the release of Spore Hero for quite some time now. I, like thousands of others quickly grew an addiction to Spore on PC, and when news hit that Spore Hero was going to be released on the Nintendo Wii, I was pretty excited. I reserved a copy of the game, and waited for a phone call to come pick it up the moment it hit the store.

I primarily give most of my attention to my other consoles and my computer when it comes to gaming. Spore Hero though is only made for the Wii. I was happy about the title, but at the same time skeptical on how well it would work with the Wii controllers. Spore on my PC is complex when it comes to customization and I wondered if the Wii’s controls would react properly for when I went about constructing and customizing my little Spore creature.

Wait! Is This a Fighting Game?

When I got my hands on the game, I immediately flipped it over and got a little upset when I saw the mini game shot photos they added to it. Immediately I thought that Spore Hero was a fighting game like Super Smash Brothers. If that were the case, I knew that the game would be a flop. Fans of the PC game were expecting an all out colorful adventure. Yet by the looks of the case photo shots, it appeared to be an RPG type fighting game.

Fight Scene

I was dead wrong though. Spore Hero was a little of this, a little of that, and a little of everything an adventure gamer could ask for. Spore Hero was like playing a Mario adventure game, mixed with a Banjo Kazooie color scheme, with a dash of Viva Piñata graphics. Since owning the Nintendo Wii, Spore Hero, hands down has been one of the best video games for the console I have played to date.

The Plot (5 out of 5)

Spore Hero starts of like most video games. A long movie like cut scene with stunning graphics, and an introduction on what your main goal is.

You are looking in at a planet where a bunch of red lava rock type meteors begin falling from the sky. They erupt and out pop your enemies. From the sky a blue glowing rock lands at the same time, and this is where you meet your main character.

You’re a pathetic little character with eyes and legs. The character is definitely pre-evolved. If you had played the computer game you will recall being nothing more than a squiggly little organism, aka ‘Spore’, when the game first begins.

Anyhow, you are greeted by a blue alien creature who tells you to go to your nest to give yourself a mouth in order to eat. The nest is where you must go in order to customize your spore. As the game continues you will collect new body parts which will allow your spore to be a better fighter, and a better spore in general.

Creature Customization

Along the way, your job is to complete small tasks which are fun little mini missions. The more missions you complete the more body parts you will gain. Body parts can also be found scattered around the planet.

Your main job however is quite obvious from the get go. You are to rid the lovely planet of the bad guys. The evil little red spore creatures that landed on the planet at the same time you did.

Controls (4 out of 5)

The controls work almost flawlessly, but there is one small annoyance which I will discuss further on.

In order to move your creature around you use the Wii nun-chucks joystick. The Wii remote preforms all of the actions such as jumping, biting, and punching.

The game has an RPG like feel to it for when you decide to combat against other creatures or enemies. If you want to be welcome into another clans nest you have to combat all of the creatures in the clan in order to get acceptance. In a way most fighting that takes place in the game is more like a right of passage, than it is a ’live or die’ battle.

Battle

The controls all work flawlessly, however during high action fighting when I was flailing the Wii more around, I must have hit the pause button at least 100 times during the duration of 4 hours. It gets annoying, especially when you need to be on your toes.

Other mini games ask that you sing, or dance. These little missions are completed by mimicking the creature you are battling. It is sort of like a strange dance off, and sing off.

The controls work very well during exploration of the planet, but when you have to flail the controllers around the one flaw I found in the game makes itself very well known.

Graphics (5 out of 5)

Spore Hero has graphics that one would expect from the title. If you played the Spore PC game you will note that the graphics are very vivid and bright as far as colors go. The creatures have a Viva Piñata look to them, with clay-like skin.

The planet itself is lush in detail and color. The large world in which you will be romping around in is beautiful, and fun to explore with colorful eye candy at every turn. The planet itself oddly has a Willy Wonka vibe going on (minus the candy of course).

Graphics

Planet

The colors like I mentioned earlier remind me a lot of Banjo Kazooie’s environment, while the game play itself has that adventure-esque feel that one would expect from a Mario game.

The graphics are not the hardcore graphics most new games come packed with, but frankly those graphics have been overdone and continue to be overcooked. The cute, whimsical graphics Spore Hero offers is exactly what I have been waiting for in a game, for quite some time.

Sounds and Music (5 out of 5)

The sounds in the game match what one would expect. Your Spore is an alien creature, and when it speaks it gives off these odd chattering clatters, and clicks that you would expect to hear come from an alien.

Strange alien like music plays lightly in the background and changes to match the environment that you are in. Everything pretty much matches up and flows perfectly with the whole vibe the game gives off.

Re-Play Value (2 out of 5)

As far as re-play value goes, I have to be honest with you. The re-play value is relatively low.

After you complete all of the missions, and kill the bad clan at the very end, there is nothing really to look forward to. You can go back and seek out other body parts, which offers a fun hunt and find type of mission in itself, however once you have done that, there is really no point in going back to the game.

Spore Hero however is fun enough as to where you will want to pick the title back up months later and start over from scratch. You also have the option to battle against another player, so that alone adds to the re-play value, even if it has nothing to do with the game itself as a whole.

Battle Against Friends

Overall Feelings & Recommendation (4 out of 5)

The flaws in the game are very minimal, and Spore Hero is chock full of fun.

Customizing your creature along the way offers hours of fun in itself, especially if you are picky and like to tweak every little thing. Customization is not as complex as the PC game, but it is still plentiful, and no two creature creations will ever look alike. Those who played the PC game will not be disappointed in how Spore Hero was done.

Spore

The graphics are pretty stunning and will draw you in with its vivid colors and welcoming environment. Sounds and music match up to the alien planet perfectly, and fighting other spores and enemies is fun.

There is also an underlying comical presence in the game that will be appreciated, even if it is a little corny.

All in all, Spore Hero is a Nintendo Wii game that I found to be one of the best games I have played for the console since I bought it. The game offers that adventure I have been looking for, that fun fueled adventure that I once thought could only come from a Mario game. It is all packed inside of Spore Hero, making it a video game I highly recommend.

To Rent or To Buy? That is the Question.

Spore Hero for the Nintendo will is a lot of fun, but the game can be quickly finished in just a few days, or less if you play it for hours and hours on end. With the re-play value being relatively low, it is definitely a game that you may want to consider just renting.

I personally enjoy the video game so much that having it in my game collection is a must. I find the adventure aspect of the game to be interesting enough to want to re-play in a few months after beating it. That is just me though, I live for the adventure games, and if you too love adventure games, than Spore Hero is one you will want to own.