Developer(s): Backbone Entertainment
Publisher(s): Eidos Interactive
Genre: Action, RPG
Wikipedia: Link
Game description: Monster Lab is set in the eerie world of Uncanny Valley, where the evil Baron Mharti rules with a cruel hand. You take on the role of an apprentice scientist who must perform a vast array of intricate experiments to create your very own monster from over 100 million possible monster-part variations on offer. Taking control of your monster, the player can then explore the land, searching for ingredients to make more monster parts, hunting out other monsters to defeat in combat, uncovering quests to embark upon, or simply competing in the numerous minigames available.

Monster Lab

Game general and emulation properties:
ESRB rating: E10+ (Animated Blood, Comic Mischief, Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes)
PEGI rating: 7+
OFLC rating: G
Languages supported:
English: SLES-55169 & SLUS-21838
German: SLES-55169 & SLUS-21838
French: SLES-55169 & SLUS-21838
Spanish: SLES-55169 & SLUS-21838
Italian: SLES-55169 & SLUS-21838
Region NTSC-U:
Serial numbers: SLUS-21838
Release date: November 4, 2008
Windows Status: ?
Linux Status: Playable
Mac Status: ?
Region PAL:
Serial numbers: SLES-55169
Release date: November 7, 2008
November 2008 (Australia)
Windows Status: ?
Linux Status: ?
Mac Status: ?


Test configurations on Windows:


Environment Configurations Comments Tester
Region OS CPU/GPU Revision Graphics Sound/Pad
? ?
  • ?
  • ?
? ? ? This is a test placeholder. Add your configuration here. ?


Test configurations on Linux:

Environment Configurations Comments Tester
Region OS CPU/GPU Revision Graphics Sound/Pad
NTSC-U Arch Linux
  • Ryzen 7 3700X @ 3.596 Ghz
  • NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti (11GB)
v1.7.0.r1592.47bdc58c1 GSdx ?
  • SPU2 ?
  • OnePad ?
If "Enable Framebuffer Conversion" is disabled, the game launches at full speed but then quickly drops to the 10s in speed and renders as only a black screen. Otherwise, with my decently modern hardware, the game runs at full speed. However, I do occasionally get slowdowns or temporary freezes with the PCSX2 log claiming that it "can't find" specific sounds. (Not related to saving the game, in case anyone who reads the log wonders.) Neko-san

Known Issues

Lack of gameplay screen updates

  • Status: Active
  • Type: Serious
  • Description: The game appears to be frozen when it comes to rendering what the camera sees, leaving only HUD elements to actually update.
  • Workaround: Tackled with automatic fixes sometime in the 1.7.X dev builds. For older version, you will want to enable the Frame Buffer Conversion hack. Do note that this is likely to tank performance, so you may have better luck running the game in Software mode (F9) in such a case.