Metacritic Games

Eco Creatures: Save the Forest (Nintendo DS)

Deforestation, pollution, global warming and industrialization are just some of the many important themes in Eco Creatures: Save the Forest, a unique real-time strategy game and the only game of its kind that promotes awareness of environmental perils while tasking players with defending the Mana Woods against them. Players use the Touch Screen to control units of woodland creatures—named Ecolis, Ecoby and Ecomon—that will protect the naturally beautiful Mana Woods and recover the polluted land. All creature types have unique skills that must be strategically managed. With proper nurturing, they can evolve to learn new abilities that help a player complete the game’s more than 40 environmental missions. As players grow their woodland army, they must also plant new trees to prevent deforestation and revitalize the woodlands. In addition, Eco Creatures includes a creative Land Make feature that lets players build and play their own maps. This eco-friendly RTS also supports two-player play via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, and up to four players via single card download play or ad-hoc multi-card play. [Majesco Games]

Majesco Games
Real-Time Strategy
Players: 4
E (Everyone)
Developer: Lightweight Co. Ltd.
Released March 4, 2008

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

55 / 100

Critic Reviews

76	Cheat Code Central The eco-friendly message and cute, cushy exterior make this game an easy-sell to parents wanting to hook their kids up with something a little more wholesome than your average beat'em up, but Eco-Creatures: Save the Forest packs enough substance to hold up under the scrutiny of those whose gaming tastes lean towards the more mature end of the spectrum.
76	NGamer UK Although not quite as challenging as it could have been, there is still much fun to be had in this quaint little forestry world. [June 2008, p.55]
60	Da Gameboyz Although Eco-Creatures: Save the Forest is an RTS game, it is definitely not aimed at those who are hardcore into the genre.
60	GamePro If not for the wretched controls, it would be a perfect first-time RTS game for the younger crowd. As it stands though, it's too frustrating for both veterans and beginners.
55	IGN The clunky controls, slowdown, and useless multiplayer pollute an otherwise clean title. Saving the forest is a worthy endeavor, but gamers are better off just saving the green in their wallets.
55	Game Chronicles With all the cute animals and characters I really enjoyed this game.
50	Games Radar Eco-Creatures has a good core theme, cute characters, an interesting level editor and an hour or two of fun in it. Otherwise, its muddled approach to real-time strategy and mixed messages make it a gimmicky game that doesn’t quite succeed the way it was intended.
50	GameSpot This real-time strategy game's cute visuals belie a mostly frustrating experience with poor controls.
40	Edge Magazine It all feels like a bit of a hassle, and that, presumably, is not the message the WWF would like to convey about saving the environment. [May 2008, p.98]
30	Game Informer A description of Eco-Creature’s controls could easily read like a manual on how not to design an RTS.

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