If mad scientists attempted to clone Psychonauts and something went awry during the procedure, the result would loosely resemble Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars for Nintendo Wii. The first game developed by Redfly Studio is visually original and infused with creativity in every nook and cranny of the level design. Whether due to the studio’s inexperience or blind oversight, Mushroom Men pours an empty glass when it comes to what matters most when any game is stripped down to its undergarments: compelling gameplay that fosters return visits.
Judging Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars like a blind date where first impressions are everything plays to the game’s favor. The narrative setup is inspired by 50s alien invasion stories and revolves around a rogue meteorite slamming into Earth and depositing good (i.e. you can eat them) and evil (poisonous, avoid at all costs) mushroom spores in its wake. The two factions of mushrooms are at war and it’s your job as Pax to put the evil mushrooms in their place before they conquer humanity.
Zany prologue cut-scenes setting up the conflict segue into a familiar yet oversized world where everyday objects humans take for granted are massive soaring structures to miniscule Pax. He is the equivalent of Jack having reached the top of the beanstalk and encountering a fantastical world begging to be explored and enjoyed.
Also creatively executed and gripping from the get-go is a melodic and at times haunting orchestral score also harkening back to sci-fi schlock films of the 50s with a coating of techno rhythms spread on top. Each successive level’s theme music by Primus’ Les Claypool and GL33k is as strange and good as if not better than the last.
With massive levels, great music and a fun premise, you’d think plowing through Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars as Pax would be a blast. The reality of this alternate reality is quite the opposite experience. Pax is nothing more than a little ninja with a small handful of attack moves executed by spastically swinging the Wii Remote about. He traverses levels like any run-of-the-mill platformer, flipping a switch or solving an overly simplistic puzzle or mini-game here and there as an underwhelming diversion.
The closest Pax gets to putting creativity to use rather than it existing around him for aesthetic stimulation comes from collecting pieces of household items to forge unique weapons. Even this key gameplay feature fails in practice as weapons are designated to specific areas of levels and in most cases required to proceed. If you build a weapon that can kill a rat with far fewer hits than a melee attack then you can bet hoards of rats are scurrying about around the bend.
Another example of lost potential comes from Pax’s ability to utilize “Sporekinesis” to move select items around with true-to-life physics. Grabbing a giant baseball and rolling it down a tunnel is fun at first, sure. The act hardly advances the gameplay or adds strategy or thought to proceeding deeper into a level.
Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is the kind of game I love to pull for. Out of the box it presents itself as a game steering far right from the pack and destined for cult status and umpteen sequels. But failing to institute any semblance of sound or original gameplay design is a monumental black mark no injection of visceral creativity can possibly hope overcome.
– Dan Bradley
