Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is an action/adventure title from Red Fly Studio and Gamecock. The development/publishing duo has been hard at work for many months now trying to get this game just right. In fact, a number of hiccups delayed the game’s release, but all that effort has yielded a well-realized and fairly polished title that deserves both praise and attention from Wii owners.
This unique game takes its inspiration for style and storyline from classic pulp fiction – Black Mask, The Shadow, Weird Tales, etc. Players take on the role of Pax, a sentient, orphaned fungus on a mission. Pax and other fungi (bulete, morel, lepiota, and amanitas mushrooms) became conscious when a peculiar, green dust from a large meteorite spreads across farmers’ fields. Little did the human authorities know, awakened beings in the form of mushroom men were about to claim the Earth as their home. The story of the mushrooms’ rise as a sentient race is nicely fleshed out in the DS version of the game, Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi. The Wii edition starts up where the DS leaves off, as it chronicles the armed clashes and violent strife that inevitably comes with being a rational race – the splintered tribes of mushroom species struggle with each other for supremacy. Throughout his journey, Pax will have to fight ravenous creatures such as rabbits and spiders. However, the greatest threat to his survival comes in the form of other mushroom species (lepiota and amanitas mushrooms). Pax will have to survive peril after peril on his quest to find meteorites, acceptance, and himself.
While early levels are fairly linear, the difficulty quickly begins to amplify, as branching paths and expansive environments pervade the bulk of the game. Strewn throughout every level, players will find meteorites and salvage that will make Pax more formidable. Pax has a special ability to absorb meteorite fragments and use their power to enhance his spore powers (such as telekinesis and plant manipulation), as well as the uncanny talent for transforming human junk into powerful weaponry. Every level has a quota of little green rocks and plastic vending machine eggs (“scav”) for players to find. This collection mechanic not only extends the title’s length by encouraging exploration, but it also is very rewarding; meteorites buff your little shroom, and the varied, highly inventive weapons that Pax will “MacGyver” are truly awesome.
Weapons are divided into three categories: bludgeoning, slashing, and motorized. Picking up mundane objects such as toothpicks, a PDA stylus, rubber bands, bottle caps, chewed gum, silverware, bobble heads, batteries, thimbles, and the like are important to Pax’s survival because they are rapidly converted into substantial weapons that make quick work of voracious animals and evil fungi. Each weapon is subsequently classified by a star rating that defines their effectiveness. As you progress, better weapons become available to Pax. This weapon mechanic is perhaps the single most inventive and engaging aspect of the game, but the large, clever environments and solid platforming aren’t too shabby either.
The game is full of platforming puzzles for players to best. Gamers will have to analyze the environment in order to find where they need to go next to pick up the scattered “scav.” This inevitably leads to confrontations with minion beasts as well as larger mini-bosses. After collecting the required objects and satisfying the goals, players will be challenged with dispatching an end-of-level boss. The make up of enemies, including bosses, changes from level to level, so you’ll always have new combat challenges. Unfortunately, standard combat is relegated to waggling. Thankfully, timed waggles are far more effective than that of the wrist-wrenching variety. Nevertheless, combat does feel a bit dull except when taking on mini and big bosses; often environmental hazards and new techniques are employed to deal with them, which makes battling far more interesting.
This game utilizes the Wii Remote and Nunchuk expertly. Players control Pax’s movement with the analog stick, adjust the camera with the D-pad, jump, dodge, and block with the buttons, fight with well-timed waggles of the remote, and activate spore powers by interacting with objects with the Wii-mote’s IR camera. This layout feels completely natural, and anyone who played Mario Galaxy will certainly feel right at home. In fact, the platforming found in Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is on par with the excellent gameplay in that title.
Likewise, the visual and aural presentation is top-notch. The opening cinematic is a bit fuzzy, but the in-engine graphics are about as solid as any third-party developer has put out for the Wii. The varied environments seen from the viewpoint of a three inch mushroom are outstanding and highly detailed. The “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” perspective is even further accentuated by the brooding atmosphere and the early-20th century sci-fi feel. The crew at Red Fly not only nailed the overall style, but their character modeling and art concepts are brilliant; they even managed to make bunnies look crazed and menacing. The pièce de résistance is the many mushroom species that are so thoughtfully designed; you’ll often forget they are just fungi. The sound effects are limited, but the comical language of the mushrooms never seems to get tiresome. Additionally, the quirky background music was penned by Primus’ legendary bassist, Les Claypool. The unique sounds and rhythms do an excellent job of capturing the eerie and alien feel of the game.
Undoubtedly, Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars will not see as much commercial success as its quality warrants. The game is not perfect, nor will it appeal to everyone. However, Red Fly and Gamecock have done a great job of bringing a compelling adventure to the Wii that uses craftsmanship and care in its creation. This translates to an interesting experience that shouldn’t be missed if you’re a Wii owner struggling to find quality third-party titles, or if you are just looking for a fun story arc to follow for a few hours.
RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.3 Graphics
The expansive environments, art style, and character models are outstanding. This is one of the prettiest third-party Wii titles around. 4.3 Control
The use of the Wii-mote and Nunchuk was quite well done. Still, waggle motions to dispatch enemies is never a highlight. 4.8 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The funny mushroom sounds are great, and the level-specific musical themes by Les Claypool fit perfectly. 4.0
Play Value
This simple platforming, action/adventure title will definitely appeal to fans of the genre. It’s one of the best third-party games to come out for the Wii this year.
4.0 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.
Game Features: