When I think of mushroom men, two things come to
mind: the species that lives within the Mushroom Kingdom and burned out
rockstars who mumble, “Sharon! Sharon!” Neither served as inspiration for
Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars, the energetic and highly anticipated platformer
from Red Fly and Gamecock. The game title is literal: you control a
human/mushroom hybrid in an overblown and overgrown society.
His life is credited to a green meteorite that
recently came through the Earth’s atmosphere. The meteor broke apart and covered
the planet in green space dust, a disaster that didn’t seem to have an effect on
humans. Mushrooms and other plant life forms, however, suddenly gained the
ability to walk, talk and think. They spawned arms, legs and eyes (but
apparently no mouth, begging the question: what’s the point of being human if
you can’t enjoy food like us?).
Tragedy strikes when Pax, the game’s leading
mushroom man, is forced to leave home when his town is attacked by a group of
evil mushrooms. At first he has no purpose, wandering through the world with
nothing but pain. But then he discovers that he has an unlikely power: he can
absorb the green dust that fell to the Earth. The dust – which is rather large
in a mushroom’s world – gives him special abilities like Sporekinesis (move
certain objects telekinetically) and Will of Spores (breathe new life into dead
plants, which may create elevators, platforms or open blocked passages). Pax has
one ability that doesn’t require any part of a meteorite’s power: Sticky Hand.
This handy tool is like a makeshift grappling hook; use it to reach high,
sticky-enhanced areas that Pax cannot climb the old-fashioned way.
These powers, along with the basic game movements
(shake the Wii remote for a three-hit attack, control the camera with the D-pad,
use the pointer to activate your powers and other game features, etc.) are
pretty standard for a Wii game. The difference with Mushroom Men is that it
doesn’t play like every other game. It is essentially a cross between any decent
action/adventure and that 3D A Bug’s Life game released several years ago, with
the addition of darker visuals and more vicious combat. The controls are vastly
superior to A Bug’s Life, though the camera definitely loses something without
having a second analog stick to control its movement.
Mushroom Men is rated E (10+), and though the
story is presented in a very cheesy, sluggish and dated manner (and has very
poor dialogue), this is not a game that is geared at children. It won’t offend
parents enough to keep little Timmy from playing it, but more than likely, it
will be his older brother (or father) who finds the game most interesting.
Pax is an unusual hero. Aesthetically, you’ll
think he came from the Oddworld games. The lack of a mouth and true facial
expressions makes him hard to care about in today’s high-tech world, but that’s
one of the sacrifices you have to make when developing for Wii. What players
will find, however, is that his likability comes from the same place that Sonic
and Mario got theirs: the gameplay. You won’t start out loving Pax. But his
moves, no matter how simple or similar to other games, make him likable.
His spherical head can be used as a shield or as
a gliding device to soar through the air. Aside from the camera, which is
tolerable but hard to manage, the controls are very well conceived. Little
things – like being able to attack while jumping without losing momentum – have
not been ignored. This makes the game so much more enjoyable because all of the
nuances you get from a big-name action/adventure sequel are present in this
brand-new title.
Pax isn’t much bigger than the average mushroom
that grows in your garden, a development decision that allowed the game’s
artists to create a larger-than-life environment. The effect is somewhat
diminished by the Wii’s lackluster graphics processor (another downside of
developing for this console), but the developer’s visual goal still comes
through – even if it isn’t achieved at a level you may envision on PS3 or Xbox
360.
Most of Pax’s enemies are of the natural variety:
spiders, hornets, mice, moles. He’ll also take on the Amanitas (a breed of evil
mushrooms), as well as demonic rabbits, boss battles and other threats.
In these areas, Mushroom Men delivers the kind of
experience players crave from a 3D action/adventure. But while the level designs
are moderately interesting, the level structure is more of what you’d expect
than what anyone will crave. Though the architecture makes them appear to be
non-linear, the mission setup sends you down one particular path with a series
of goals in mind (collect this, defeat that, etc.). Once those goals have been
met, you’ll move onto the next stage and repeat the process all over again.
Likewise, the combat system may contain different
weapons but it doesn’t offer much variety. Enemy appears – shake the remote –
defeated. Repeat this process until all the required enemies (or if there is no
requirement just those that annoy you) are defeated.
This creates a cycle that is not nearly as
exciting as games that try and break up the pace. There are puzzles and 2D
moments that were no doubt inspired by Mario Galaxy’s unique implementation. But
the game still feels quite linear.
Review Scoring Details for Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars |
Gameplay: 7.7
Mushroom Men’s entertaining gameplay comes straight from the controls, which
are a nice mix of seamless gliding, simple attack moves and powers that are easy
to execute.
Graphics: 7
Artistically, The Spore Wars appears to be the start of something great. But
the Wii implementation is fairly bland. Most of the colors are dark and run
together, and really, none of what’s presented here looks that different from
GameCube games released over five years ago.
Sound: 5
Funky music that doesn’t fit into The Spore Wars world.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Follow the objective list, scour the environment, defeat the listed enemies
and move onto the next stage.
Concept: 7
Not a brand-new concept by any means, Mushroom Men is Red Fly’s take on the
action/adventure genre, albeit with a bit more polish than the average developer
applies to these games.
Multiplayer: N/A
Though more eventful than Mario Galaxy’s so-called two-player functionality,
the second player is more of an aid to the first (healing him, activating
powers, etc.) than an active participant.
Overall: 7.6
If linearity is not an issue for you, Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is a
rewarding action/adventure. And even if it is an issue, those who enjoy the
genre will find a lot to like about this game.
