GENRE
	Simulation
	DEVELOPER
	Maxis
	PUBLISHER
	Electronic Arts
	LOCAL WIRELESS MULTI-PLAY
	Yes
	Wi-Fi/GLOBAL ONLINE MULTI-PLAY
	Yes
	MICROPHONE
	No
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Nintendojo was provided a copy of this game for review by a third party, though that does not affect our recommendation. For every review, Nintendojo uses a standard scoring criteria.

Spore Hero Arena is proof that, in order to make a great game, concept must meet execution. The concept of Spore Hero Arena is one that sounds great on paper: you make your own hero, customizing it with different body parts, attacks, and colors, and then sojourn about the galaxy to restore peace and harmony. The execution, however, is far too flawed to make the end product what games should be: fun.

The game starts off by walking the player through the creature creator program. You select a body, eyes, mouth, legs, arms, and other features to customize your creature, and on the whole, the program is solid. You are also given the option to change the texture and primary color of the creature. This part alone is, admittedly, quite entertaining, if not a bit clunky. After running through the program a few times, you eventually get the hang of it, and it can offer some limited fun.

The primary focus of the creature creator, however, is to have your creation venture out and do battle with various other critters in the galaxy. As stated previously, the concept is cool enough, but the execution is quite poor. On each planet you travel to, you search the area and engage with the critters there, where you are given various assignments and challenges.

Most challenges are battle-focused. Attacks are mapped to the A, B, X and Y buttons, or the D-pad, with movement left to using the touchscreen. You spar against one to three other beasts, with a set of rules, which may include a time constraint, a set amount of lives per enemy, the player being unable to use certain attacks, or a combination thereof. While this is no strange concept to an action game, it certainly is not handled well in Spore Hero Arena. The hit-detection is completely off, whether it registers you hitting-- or being hit by-- a creature from across the arena, or not hitting your enemy at all, despite being right next to them. The gameplay rapidly devolves into a hand-cramping, button-mashing affair.

The other types of challenges are pretty yawn-worthy. One such challenge that comes to mind is where you race another creature on a set pathway, all the while making sure you step inside glowing, yellow circles; if you don't happen to get in front of your adversary at the get-go, then you're doomed for failure. Another challenge is one in which you must herd tiny little pests into a pen-- due to the aforementioned poor hit-detection, these quickly become a matter of minimal skill and great luck.

With respect to the visuals and audio, the game performs well-- there are several distinct musical tracks for respective planets, and the 3D visuals are pulled off quite admirably. Some clipping errors occur every now and then, but are forgiven due to the amount of what is actually occurring on-screen: plants move in the wind, other creatures are out and about, and there are rivers and ledges, creating a visual depth to the game that is sadly not matched by its mechanics.

When all is said and done, Spore Hero Arena just fails to keep one's attention. The failed battle mechanics, tedious gameplay, and overall boring presentation keeps the game from being successful. If you are absolutely obsessed with the Spore universe, then maybe-- just maybe-- you can forgive some of these serious flaws. If not, consider one of the multitude of great games already available for the system.

4.0/10