All eyes are on Spore Origins for iPhone.

Spore Origins clips the first stage of the full Spore game and repackages it as an iPhone title. This transplantation gets a few iPhone-specific tweaks and retains some of the Spore playfulness. Unfortunately, Spore Origins mostly wades between dull and dumb; it’s the shallow end of the gene pool.

Tilt controls can be calibrated on the vertical axis, letting you steer your creature while standing, sitting, or in other positions. In this early-life game, you’ll swim around, eating tadpole creatures, avoiding attackers, and evolving new powers. We thought the game was a little too responsive, flinging us around quickly, but it also seemed forgiving when we got too close to enemies and tried to swim away.

After eating enough, in-between each of the 30 levels, you can customize the creature to suit your style. A few parts are available, such as fins to improve turning speed, and a jaw for biting attacks. The editor can even skin the creature with a photo, but it unfortunately lacks the robust variety of the Mac game; we always felt constrained.

While we were initially entertained, too much of Spore Origins repeats. Level objectives are nearly always about gobbling up food or finding your way around simple mazes. We also had problems with upgraded creatures. Super parts, such as an electric attack or shell defense all fire together with a screen tap. And you’ll waste time waiting for them to recharge whenever you double-tap the screen to pause.

Spore Origins needs more incubation. It feels more like a riff on Spore and a product tie-in than its own game.

Spore Origins
COMPANY: Electronic Arts
CONTACT: www.ea.com
PRICE: $9.99
REQUIREMENTS: iPhone or iPod touch with 2.0 software update.
Initially playful, like Mac game. Can upgrade your creature. Progressive enemies vary in type. Lush visuals. Survival mode adds another game type.
Grows repetitive. Creature editor too limited. Interface flaws waste super powers. Can’t play iPod music in background. Frame rate occasionally jitters.