The Whole Game in My Hand #12, Part One
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Monster Lab (DS) (My Score 4/5, Rated E-10+)
While there are dozens of million-selling games for the Nintendo DS, few franchises on any platform have been part of over a decade of the constant popularity and high sales that has blessed Pokemon. Not surprisingly, there has been an endless stream of games that have sought to be 'the next Pokemon'. Some in concept only, others by adapting the 'gotta catch em all' mindset to a new concept. While Spectrobes has been the most visible of the recent entries into the 'Pokemon clone' field, you can now add Monster Lab.
Monster Lab is another example of 'truth in advertising' - you play as an apprentice mad scientist who is tasked to go around gathering parts to assemble new creatures. The setting is appropriate to the idea of assembling monsters - you are in Eerie, a supernatural world with an evil dictator named Baron Mharti. You are apprenticed to three different mad scientists, each of whom has a specialty: one specializes in Alchemy, another in Mechanical things, and the last in Biological studies. All three are aligned against the evil Baron, and so without further explanation ... so are you. And while that is a really cool premise to get you going with the game, it is also where the story pretty much begins and ends.
For the remainder of the story you take on quests that involve exploring the world gathering up parts to combine to create new monsters to use in battle. You can also gather 'parts' to upgrade existing monsters. While there are loads of side-quests and mini-games, they all center around a single thing: getting cooler and better monster parts to build bigger and more powerful monsters. This allows you to take on stronger enemies, thereby getting more cool monster parts, which allows you ... you get the picture.
But don't underestimate the content: you get to explore six different worlds as you take on quests, each with a variety of things to do. You also get to try out twenty-two different mini-games, and battle enemies ranging from trivial to nigh on impossible. You will need to pay attention as you develop your monster - things can get pretty rough at times.
