Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars

It'd have a Gold Award but for the camera. That aside, it's pretty wonderful. [Dec 2008, p.75]

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is a solid platformer, and while it may not offer a great deal of new ideas, the addition of motion control and dozens of weapons to construct make this a title worth playing, if one can overlook the camera issues.

If you're hungry for some classic 3-D platforming, Mushroom men is definitely worth checking out. [Holiday 2008, p.84]

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.

It’s got a reasonably complex telekinesis mechanic, along the lines of The Force Unleashed, and much of the platforming uses one of Pax the protagonist’s special abilities. So it’s far from boring, but if you’ve got a phobia about mushrooms, this will make your skin crawl.

As far as completely original ground-up third party titles made for the Wii, Mushroom Men is one of the few good titles available.

Mushroom Men uses modern presentation values and wonderful artistry to present what is essentially an old-school N64 era platformer. The result? A game you can’t help but fall in love with.

It’s excellent to see an action platformer on the Wii that is an original concept, and doesn’t fall prey to many of the routine mistakes of the innumerable other shoddy efforts that have been pushed out onto store shelves. However, I fear that Mushroom Men will fail to find its target audience and be overlooked, as the fact that it failed to make it into the Wii’s top 40 games in its first two weeks on sale appears to prove.

Mushroom Men is notable for its presentation and art style alone. But while it is visually and aurally unique, the gameplay is pretty generic platforming. And this motion-controlled combat has to go. Still, you could do a lot worse than invest some time in a solid, if commonplace, adventure.

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.

The world itself is actually incredibly cool – it’s a giant representation of the “real” world, from a tiny mushroom’s perspective.

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is a cute and well-designed, if not particularly unique, title. The visuals are a bit weak, but the superb art direction does a lot to make up for that.

Mushroom Men’s charm and character make it much more than the sum of its parts. In spite of its flaws, I highly recommend it.

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars threatens to be a classic, an interesting, and frequently clever third-person platformer that oozes character. With a bit more polish and direction, it could have been one of the best Wii games of 2008, especially for gamers looking for classic third-person action gaming in an original universe. Regrettably, monotonous combat and occasionally baffling goals keep it from greatness.

Mushroom Men The Spore Wars is a fun Wii-game. It offers a good adventure-experience, with a interesting story-line a lot of stuff to explore, puzzles, mini-games and a lot of jumping.

Mushroom Men creates an original and living world but doesn't develop it with own standards. This brings to a good work but it draws on a game very similar to other action adventures or platforms come before. However the people who like these two genre can have fun whit this Pax's adventure on condition that they don't expect much more of a classic gameplay.

Spore Wars isn't quite the game we were hoping for but there is potential here for a future franchise if the uninspired level design is given a few tweaks. [Mar 2009, p.56]

As it is The Spore Wars makes for a pretty repetitive game for combat and exploring but the scenery is pretty good with plenty of variety.

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars for Wii inherits the essence of the classic 3d platformer games and adapts it to the Wii motion control. It has a great ideas for the gameplay and its art style is amazing. It has a great sense of exploration but the camera is poor and the game a little short. Is one of the few good and brave platform titles available on Wii.

A charming, quirky and well-presented 3D platform game that's fun but not memorable. [Mar 2009, p.65]

Mushroom Men has a few flaws, but it's still an enjoyable game. The platforming is solid, the premise if fun, and it has fantastic art direction. Hopefully we'll see an improved sequel in the future.

While the levels are interesting from an artistic point of view, getting through them is a little too typical. Ultimately, the gifted art design in Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars can’t hide the fact that you’ve played much of this before – it just didn’t look as good then.

Mushroom Men's rich world is muted by bland gameplay.

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is a game of two extremes. On the one side you have the competent and safe but largely forgettable gameplay, and on the other you have the superb visuals, outstanding art design and unforgettable audio.

For a first effort on Wii, Red Fly Studio have put forward a great little title.

Some of the best presentation the Wii has seen makes this hard not to enjoy, but frequent camera issues and repetitive combat try their best to get in the way of the fun.

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is, nonetheless, probably worth checking out – though not, perhaps, at full price unless you’re buying for a younger gamer. However, I’m looking forward to seeing what Red Fly Studio get up to next, as there’s lots of good stuff in those mutated ‘shrooms.

It's disappointing to see to see an imaginative world drowned out by the generic gameplay offered, but unfortunately that's exactly what you get with Mushroom Men: Spore Wars.

The game carries you through its disappointments and annoyances on the back of its brilliantly realised microworld. [Feb 2009, p.88]

Mushroom Men has some fantastic ideas in it and lots of genuine character, but the short game length and lack of replay value mean that this game is best suited to those who are desperately angling for something to satisfy their 3D platforming fix.

If you’re in the market for a bog standard platformer that exceeds itself visually and aurally, then Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is a worthwhile head spin without the legal repercussions.

Mushroom Men is a nice platformer, but there are some elements that can't keep up the pace. Especially the graphics and the irritating camera position are dragging along. However, if you're looking for a game that will bring back memories of the gold old days of platforming than Mushroom Men should do just fine.

Quotation forthcoming.

Even in this realm of sub-average platformers, you have several better options than Mushroom Men. [Dec 2008, p.124]

A somewhat archaic, unpolished platformer belied by a novel premise and seemingly interesting world to explore. I enjoyed it enough as an introduction to a very cool, deliberate aesthetic, but it's tough not to desire a Mushroom Men game that executes its ideas more skillfully -- never mind one that takes more than five hours to finish.