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Joystiq presents

Metareview: Spectrobes


We've had our eye on Spectrobes for awhile now, hoping that the game would bring some variety to the monster-collecting genre. Between all of the presentations the game's producer has attended, as well as the idea of utilizing punch cards, Spectrobes very much looked like it would bring that variety we so desired. According to the majority of critics, the game isn't that great, however. Let's see what they had to say:
  • Nintendo Power (80/100) says the game has enough to make it stand out in the crowd: "The game definitely has its roots in the Pokemon world, but provides enough new features to give it its own identity." [Apr 2007, p.86]
  • IGN (70/100) thinks the game is just too much to handle: "Spectrobes is way more game than is really necessary. Jupiter has some great concepts and tried to jam them all into one game."
  • Game Informer (65/100) sees a lot of the game as being a chore: "The slowly paced story turns the fossil digging into a chore, and the real-time battle system starts to feel the same not long after that."
  • GamePro (60/100) thinks the title is too gimmicky: "As it is, Spectrobes is little more than a dull game of collecting fossils with a momentarily enjoyable gimmick attached to it."
Any of you out there picked up the game yet? What do you think about it so far?

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Reader Comments

(Page 1)

1. I think it's a shame that the reviews seem so negative, because I've been looking forward to getting this game. Especially since there aren't two+ versions of the game floating out there.

Posted at 12:41PM on Mar 14th 2007 by Blue

2. The reviews are pretty much spot on, I'm sorry to say. Since I've had the game, I've played it at most 10 minutes. It's the combat that kills the joy -- it makes absolutely no sense. Disney would've been wise to have copied the Pokemon turn-based system, because Spectrobe's realtime fighting is an abomination. It seems to me that all the DS releases as of late kinda suck. Oh well, back to EBA.

Posted at 10:14PM on Mar 14th 2007 by alphacrumb

3. And its also cheaper compared to the other DS games. Regular ones cost ~(cdn)$39. Bestbuy is selling this with (I forgot the name of the card) for $25.

Posted at 2:25AM on Mar 15th 2007 by TJ

4. Easy to understand so easy to play it's very addictive I just can't put it down
Spectrobes are fossils that you must wake up by blowing or talking in to DS when you wake them you feed and care for them. And then you can battle the Krawl.
There are over 100 Spectrobes to collect and there lots of different ways to evolve them I cant wait for more people to own it so I can play it on WIFI 10 out of 10

Posted at 3:58PM on Mar 22nd 2007 by Geemarc

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