Monster Lab DS (Hands On)
The “touchy” version of ooky kooky new franchise
Tags: Monster Lab Categories: DS Previews, Previews
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Sep 8th, 2008
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Monster Lab is a very unique take on the whole “proxy monster” genre. Instead of the usual chasing of wild animals to press them into bondage, usually resulting in them being forced to fight other enslaved creatures, Monster Lab has you build you own monster. Using the Mad Scientist motif along with the slightly cartoon horror of the Addams Family or Edward Gorey, is an instant success. I love the look and feel of these games.
While Jake had his hands on the Wii version of the game earlier this year, I recently had the chance to pick up thye DS version of the game for a test ride. This is almost exactly the same game, but for Nintendo’s handheld it has been redesigned to accommodate the different controls (and the graphics naturally scaled down a bit).
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From within your lab you can use the various parts you have to create a monster. These take a few different forms, alchemical, organic, and mechanic. There is a rock, paper, scissors relationships between the three, meaning that you have to choose carefully when building your monster.
Once you finish building your monster you are placed on a map. Well, not you, but the created monster. The view is from the perspective of the player as the mad professor looking out through a telescope watching the monster move around the landscape. As the mosnter moves around it will find both mini-games and of course other monsters to battle. The mini-games usually involve a simple touch screen function like breaking open a coffin by touching various parts until the whole thing shatters. The battles are menu based, and the attacks are chosen by the parts you used to build the monster.
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Winning the battle is accomplished by kocking enough limbs off of the oppponent. Players need to balance expending energy and recharging in order to accomplish this. This game is aimed at the teen market, but it may have a wider appeal. The strategy elements are intriguing, and the game play is simple.
Along with the Wii version, this is a title that fits easily alongside Nintendo’s own offerings. The simple game play with a broad appeal is an ideal fit for the systems. I think this game maybe at worst a novelty, and at best the start of a new franchise.
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Tags: Monster Lab
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Sep 8th, 2008 and is filed under DS Previews, Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
