Monster Lab

Monster Lab was developed by Backbone Entertainment and was original released in 2008. "Monster Lab" was available for the PlayStation 2 as well as the Nintendo DS and Wii. The game was initially based on a comic book known as Mad Science Alliance. In "Monster Lab," you play as a scientist to build your monster, just as the title suggests. Throughout the game, you are helped by three different professors to make your monster. "Monster Lab" includes 150 monster parts with an additional 300 items for customization.

Based on the parts the player puts on his monster, the monster will have a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. They are allowing the player to customize their monster based on their play style. "Monster Lab" is best played on the Wii or Nintendo DS due to the use of the Wii remote and DS stylus.

Gameplay

In "Monster Lab," you create the ultimate monster and defeat all enemies in turn-based style combat. The combat in "Monster Lab" is similar to the early Final Fantasy games such as "Final Fantasy V." The first few battles, the player will only have a few moves such as smash, dodge, auto-fire, and recharge. The farther you progress in the game, you begin to unlock new customizations for the monster. There are three types of Mad Sciences that will also dictate which moves your monster is capable of using. The objective is to build your monster up throughout the story until you reach the final boss known as Thrunch and defeat him.

Three Types of Science

In "Monster Lab," there are three different types of Mad Sciences to choose from to build your monster. The three kinds of Mad Science are biological, mechanical, and alchemical. There is an in-game workshop that lets you customize your monster to your liking. Each Mad Science has its own unique set of strengths and weaknesses. Biological science allows you to add living parts to your monster.

An example of this would be parts of plants or animal flesh. Mechanical allows you to install mechanical parts onto your monster, such as fully automated guns. The last Mad Science, alchemical, allows the monster to have magic parts. This includes different summons such as undead creature components. Each type of Mad Science has a strength and weakness towards another. Such as mechanical parts are strong against biological while biological is strong against alchemical. Which leaves alchemical being strong against mechanical. You can customize your monster for each battle to put the odds in your favor.

Pros:

• Nominated for best Wii RPG in 2008 by IGN video game awards
• Short playthrough to try out different monster types
• An original turn-based combat game
• Allows an alternative monster

Cons:

• PlayStation 2 version isn't as good
• Can be a grind to get materials for upgrades