Ms. Germinator review for PS Vita, PSN

Platform: PlayStation Vita
Also On: PSN, PS3
Publisher: Creat Studios
Developer: Creat Studios
Medium: Digital
Players: 1-2
Online: Leaderboards
ESRB: E10+

The implicit justification for most sequels is that they exist โ€” at least in part โ€” to fix the problems of the previous game. For Ms. Germinator, however, the justification is significantly more explicit; if the โ€œMs.โ€ at the beginning of the name wasnโ€™t enough to tip you off that the game was intended to be Germinator-but-better, then this developer post on the PlayStation Blog should do the trick.

In Creat Studioโ€™s defense, of course, Ms. Germinator really is Germinator-but-better. Pretty much every problem that existed the first time around is corrected here. The old game made it a bit of a pain to try levels over again and to select new levels; this one makes those options available immediately after a level ends. Germinator required you to double-dip if you wanted the game on both PS3 and Vita; Ms. Germinator is a cross-buy title. The backgrounds from the first game were a kind of bland; here theyโ€™ve been spruced up a little, and theyโ€™re tied in more closely with the level themes. What was a seemingly nonsensical star system last time around (my biggest complaint about the first game) now makes a lot more sense โ€” if you want three stars, you have to collect three stars.

Ms Germinator 1

Of course, as you may have noticed, those are all pretty superficial changes. If youโ€™re going into Ms. Germinator hoping that the core gameplay has changed or for something new, youโ€™ll probably be disappointed. I mean, yes, there are some new power-ups, and some germs are a little harder to deal with, and teleporters have been added here and there, but ultimately, this is essentially the same game as its predecessor.

Not that thatโ€™s inherently a point against Ms. Germinator. The first game was an enjoyable mix of Peggle, Bust-A-Move and Zuma, and it ended up being a huge time sink. Clearly, Creat could do a lot worse than to replicate what was, at its core, a highly addictive casual game (and, further, they should be applauded for not emulating certain other addictive casual games and turning Ms. Germinator into some kind of freemium abomination).

Ms Germinator 2

But Iโ€™m not going to lie: if you have Germinator already โ€” and seeing as it was free on Vita for PlayStation Plus members back in May, you very well might โ€” then you donโ€™t have much of a reason to pick up this new iteration. Ms. Germinator may be an improvement, but itโ€™s not that much of an improvement. Pick it up if youโ€™re new to the series, but otherwise, you might want to just keep on playing the first game, and hold off for the seemingly inevitable Super Germinator.

Grade: B
Want to know more about our review scoring criteria? Read our Review Guidelines!