‘Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars’ Review (Wii)

Thu, Jan 8, 2009

Every now and then, gamers lament the lack of true, gamer-oriented titles (or game games) on the Wii. “No good game games have come out in months!” is a cry I often hear from friends, co-workers, and random other people I’ve met who own Wiis. For the most part, that’s true. On the other hand, there have been plenty of game games out on the Wii that were—and are—tragically underlooked for one reason or another. Usually, that reason is because gamers don’t know they exist. "Zack & Wiki", "Boom Blox", "No More Heroes"; that was the trinity of under appreciated Wii games. Well, now you can add "Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars" to that list.

Developed by Red Fly Studios, "Mushroom Men" popped up on a lot of radars last year due to the rather interesting concept art. It was the artistic direction and design that made the game noticed originally, and it’s the artistic direction and design that make it stand out, even after its release. A platformer starring anthropomorphic sentient mushrooms? Hard not to notice that. While the visuals are unique, refreshing and reminiscent of Tim Burton’s finest works and the overall presentation is among the best of 2008, the gameplay is, unfortunately, rather average, doing just enough to hit all of the platforming requirements and little more.

Throughout each level, you’ll be required to jump, adventure, and fight your way through various locales, all of which take place in a real-world-but-alternate-earth setting. The general controls you’ll use most—jumping, manipulating the camera—are simple to use and handle well. Unfortunately, "Mushroom Men" couldn’t escape the “It’s on the Wii, so you have to use waggle in some way” requirement, and the combat is mapped to waggle-based motions. The result? Rather than using tactics and various combos while attacking, the fighting revolves around shaking your remote at the right time, so that you can hit your enemy before their attack animation starts.

The game does feature collectible items which can be combined to create all sorts of weapons ranging from the surreal to the questionable, but once again it’s par for the course. While there are advantages to using certain types of weapons against certain foes, ultimately every new weapon is better than its predecessors, so instead of using strategic choices, more often than not you’ll just end up going with your newest toy.

You know what, though? The generic platforming gameplay doesn’t matter as much as you would expect. Even though it’s platforming-by-the-numbers, the core controls and gameplay elements are solid enough to keep the game enjoyable, and the artistic design in both graphics and sound is enough to push it beyond average, and into “I hope we’ll see a sequel” territory.

Right away, it’s obvious "Mushroom Men" isn’t your normal game. Much like “Destroy All Humans,” it takes a large part of its creative and presentation cue from golden age sci-fi films. The story itself is also a tribute to those olden days of sci-fi, when stories didn't need to make sense and just were; basically, a meteor hits earth and the resulting cloud causes mushrooms to become sentient. Like humans, it doesn’t take long for the new creatures to learn that they’re different from one another, and that that means they should start a war—the titular Spore War.

This 50’s sci-fi B movie feeling translates well into character and level design. The characters in the game not only look incredible, but many of them are also incredible personalities with fun, engaging dialog, that's chock-full of all sorts of references. The level design is also brilliant, featuring many little touches that make each one that much better of an experience. For example, it’s very easy to forget you’re actually traversing real world locations—only while a few inches tall—until you notice that the bridge you’ve been crossing just happens to be a remote, and that monster you’re fighting happens to be a mouse.

As I’ve already said, the aesthetics of the game are very Burton-esque. Environments are full of twists and turns, as well as towering dark and perplexing objects and features. In fact, I almost thought about checking the credits to see if Mr. Burton had any input on the visual design of "Mushroom Men"—but then I realized if he did, I’m almost positive I would have heard of it (and the publishers would have made note of it) beforehand.

Equally as impressive as the visuals are the audio portions of the game. The music is composed by Les Claypool, and the bass and rhythms result in one of the best gaming soundtracks of 2008. The mood is perfectly set for every scene, and the funky experimental music functions seamlessly with the on-screen action—something few games can ever boast. In fact, the music actually does mesh with the visuals and sound effects.

The music syncs up with plenty of sound effects and lighting effects in the game, and in such a subtle way that you won’t even notice the similarities unless you’re actively straining to hear them. This is performed by pulsing in rhythm (in the case of lights), or by functioning in tune and rhythm with the musical score (in the case of sound effects). Water, crackling electrical wires, thumping objects—all sound effects are, essentially, just as important to the presentation as Les Claypool's score and the art. Usually in a game the sound effects are overlooked, or are “solid, but not great.” In "Mushroom Men", only one word describes them: great. It's the first time in a very long time that I can recall a game offering something unique and experimental in terms of effects, and it definitely pays off. Kudos to Gl33k for the fine work in a very underrated department.

Ultimately, Mushroom Men is the exact type of game hardcore gamers who own Wiis complain they don’t have. Rather than focus on trying to build a game completely around the Wii’s motion controls, Red Fly made a game that puts the emphasis on writing, art, music, and sound effects. The platforming may be formulaic, but it’s a very solid formulaic with no real glaring issues or complaints aside from the waggle combat, and the game’s audiovisual presentation values are off the chart. If you’ve been waiting for another Wii game that’s actually a game game, or lamenting the lack thereof, then give "Mushroom Men" a shot. It may not be the greatest game ever, but it sure is a fun--and interesting--play.