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?