Once upon a time, there was a nice colorful peaceful planet filled with nice, colorful, peaceful creatures who liked to sing, dance, and fight for sport – until one day, twin meteors fell from the sky, crashing on the planet surface.  One meteor brought an evil presence set on corrupting the planet – the other brought a small, charming, heroic creature whom would always live in the shadow of his older brother.

As the console follow up to a cross-genre PC title often referred to as a “landmark,” “amazing accomplishment,” or “revolution in social gaming and user created content,” Spore Hero lives in a rather large and dark shadow – leaving it open to judgment before the critic even opens the game’s case.  The problem with this prejudice is that Spore Hero is not the PC game Spore, and it’s not trying to be.

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A while back, Maxis announced their latest and greatest new franchise: Spore. The promise was to experience evolution in a whole new gameplay experience. Sadly, the majority of consumers found this to be a disappointing experience. Spore Hero Arena, the latest attempt at the game on the Nintendo DS, is dismal.

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We love Donkey Kong, but not as much as he loves Spore.

When he’s not kidnapping our secretaries and throwing barrels at David, he spends most of his time playing Spore during his visits to the Infendo offices. But coupled with the banana peels and fleas he usually leaves behind, those visits have become a real nuisance.

So while he’s off swinging in the jungle, we’re taking action. We’re giving away Donkey Kong’s favorite toys—a brand new copy of Spore Hero Arena for the Nintendo DS and a super-sweet Spore Hero t-shirt packaged in a state-of-the-art Spore fun box—in hopes to lessen the frequency with which Nintendo’s gorilla rampages our cubicles.

Keep in mind, entrants—if he gets mad, we’ll be cowardly directing his rage toward the address of the winner. Safety is an issue, so we’ll give the game to the person who proves capable of dealing with DK.

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EA’s evolution RTS adventure made big waves when it was first announced several years ago, and has built a reputation around it’s customizable characters and unique worlds.  I met up with Aaron Karause at E3, marketing Manager for Spore Hero on Wii – he told me that the Wii title offered a very different experience, but retained iconic feel that made Spore a hit.
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Autumn releases are picking up and this is just the tip of the September Nintendo iceberg.  Feast yer eyes on this list:

Wii
NHL 2K9
Active Life: Outdoor Challenge
Cabela’s Legendary Adventures
Hell’s Kitchen
The Price is Right

DS
Spore Creatures
Lock’s Quest
Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir
Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise
Bratz Ponyz 2
Hell’s Kitchen
Mazes of Fate DS
The Price is Right

As excited as I am by Spore Creatures and a new Nintendo first party offering (MillionHeir), I can’t help but wonder how much fun Hell’s Kitchen and The Price Is Right will be since they’re two of my guilty pleasure TV shows.  Anything on this list jumping out at you?