The intro to the Cell Stage starts with a comet passing by a solar flare (possibly a reference to Star Trek: Voyager) and hurtling towards your chosen homeworld. The comet breaks apart as it enters the planet's atmosphere, and then impacts with a faint crash. You then see a bunch of rocks falling into the ocean, and the last rock to fall in breaks apart to reveal your cell. Complete with perfectly fitting music.
Slaying a peer-sized Spiked Shyster. They are very aggressive even on easy mode, and the only weapons available when they are present are the Jaw and Spike, which you cannot use without making yourself extra vulnerable to the Spiked Shyster as soon as it turns to face you with its forward spikes.
Killing an Epic Creature in the Creature Stage is no easy feat. Epics are creatures roughly the size of a Kaiju and strong enough to kill you in one hit. It can be accomplished in various ways, but besides the huge bonus and the achievement, killing it will be something to be proud of, especially if you're alone.
Beating the Tribal Stage on hard difficulty is a huge accomplishment, given that in the mid-game you'll have three hostile tribes gunning for you at once.
Killing an Epic Creature with spears, axes, or torches is very satisfying, even if it's much easier than in the Creature Stage.
The Military Nation's ultimate superweapon, ICBM, conquers what's left of the other nations by launching a Macross Missile Massacreof NUKES! The only downside is the fallout that it leaves, which makes it impossible to place buildings on the spots they cover until they disappear, which might take a long time.
The Economic nation's superweapon, Global Merger, sends out a squadron of blimps, which fly over the entire planet and drop money and campaign advertisements on every city, buying them all in the process, all while a super catchy, yet fittingly triumphant theme plays in the background.
And the Religious Nation's superweapon, Fanatical Uprising, summons a huge hologram of your creature similar to the ones generated by Religious vehicles, which conquers the remaining enemy cities by... uniting them in prayer. What makes this so awesome is the flashy visual effects that are made up of huge musical scores.
Space Stage
Killing Epic Creatures in the Space Stage with just a little laser beam is awesome.
Some Superpowers in the Space Stage are this. The Scientists' Gravitation Wave produces a huge energy pulse that levels every city on the planet it's used on. The Zealots' Fanatical Frenzy reproduces the religious Superpower from the Civ Stage, causing every city on the planet to convert to your empire.
The Fanatical Frenzy is the most awesome superpower to see in action, too.
Watching the Earth-Shattering Kaboom caused by the Planet Buster. Be amazed as the planet explodes and becomes a ball of fire!
When you finally enter the Galactic Core, you are treated to a cutscene where you travel through a weird, beautiful wormhole, as a deep voice monologues about your accomplishments. This certainly looks like it's building up to a Moment of Awesome, but when you reach the end of the wormhole... you meet a guy in a little UFO called "Steve." The anticlimactic reveal is more than made up for by the Staff of Life he gives you, which completely terraforms a planet to T-Score 3, including plants and animals.
Using the Staff of Life on a dead planet. When the shot impacts, huge lightning storms rage across the surface, followed by a World-Healing Wave of sparkling green energy. When it's over, what was once a barren wasteland is now a lush paradise, teeming with life.
Hell, just terraforming a dead planet — or several — to a planetary equivalent of the Garden of Eden in a few minutes is an act of awesomeness by itself.
Wiping out the Grox is particularly impressive, partly because of how much work you have to put into it. It's especially satisfying to hit a Grox planet with the Staff of Life, since life is anathema to them and destroys their settlements instantly.
The intro cutscene for all adventures show your captain beaming down to the planet while dramatic, courage-inspiring music plays.
The adventure called "Infestation" pits you and a band of mercenaries against a horde of Mecha-Mooks that serve the Grox. Your captain, along with the mercs, have to fight your way through The Legions of Hell and blow up a huge colony pod that is Hostile Terraforming the planet. Bonus points if you are using a melee weapon or even your bare hands.
The climax of the adventure called "The Temple of Spode" has you protect a group of priests and the titular temple from angry natives for a period of time. After holding the line, the priests' prayers are answered, and lightning blasts apart the natives and their ships. YMMV, though, because you receive the adventure from the Zealots, the most hated empire in Spore.
"The Ruins of Doom" reenacts Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, in which your captain infiltrates a Temple of Doom to snag an artifact called the Golden Llama. You solve some puzzles that have you open doors with jewels scattered around an area, fighting off some Giant Spiders as you go, then you cross a rickety rope bridge over a river of lava. Once you take the llama, an Eldritch Abomination breaks through the wall behind it and escape music starts playing. That's your cue to run like hell to the extraction point while evading hordes of monsters.
Said abomination stops being invincible once you trigger an event flag by running far enough. If you have the right equipment on your captain, you can fight and defeat it on your way out.
