e have been hearing about Mushroom Men – in development by Red Fly Studio and Gamecock Media – for some time now, but have not had a chance to step into the pint-sized world until now. We just got in a few hours with the upcoming Wii title, and are intrigued by what we saw. Read on for an introduction to what is one of the more unique worlds we have come by in some time. Welcome to the world of Mushroom Men. Please watch where you step.

Story
A meteor cruises by earth in the middle of the night – dusting the planet in a strange green powder as it passes. Immediately after the event, scientists worldwide go to work analyzing the strange substance, only to eventually conclude that it had no effect on Earth or its inhabitants. They were wrong. The dust had a big effect on a little scale. They were just not looking low enough.

In the world of Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars – that meteor changed everything.  The green dust left in the wake of the galactic wonderer brought to life plants, fungi, cacti, flowers, vines and all other forms of botanical life. As they adapted to their new conscious state, the littlest citizens of earth began to form tribes and create cultures based on their beliefs. Eventually they created advanced nations, and with the advancement came war. 

The story of Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars follows Pax – a bit of a misfit even for the fungi world – who wonders from place to place looking for a home. We don’t know why he drifts, perhaps it is a result of the constant warring, or perhaps he is looking feebly for someone of his own kind. What we know – even if Pax does not – is that the three-inch loner is the last of a special race of mushrooms somehow unique in the grand scheme of things.

The game opens with Pax wandering into yet another new town, where he is eventually asked to participate in a village festival. At one point, he is asked to bring a meteorite chunk – which are now kept as religious relics to many mushroom clans – from its resting place to the center of the village. When Pax approaches the meteorite, it turns translucent and absorbs into his body. Naturally, the other mushrooms are a bit perturbed, but are quelled when Pax offers to go find another piece of space rock for them. While it is not spelled out for us, we assume his ability to absorb the meteorite is tied to his unique lineage. Pax immediately starts out a journey – to where even he does not know – and the game truly begins in full.

Gameplay
Thanks to that little piece of meteorite Pax absorbed, Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars gets a lot more interesting. Pax now has a handful of special powers and abilities at his disposal, which he can use in many capacities throughout the game. Pax can use The Will of Spore on specially marked objects to manipulate items and the environment. He also gained the power of telekinesis, which lets him move objects much too heavy for him to lift with physical strength.

There is virtually no HUD in Mushroom Men, instead the team at Red Fly Studios decided to integrate the elements in a less distracting way. The player can simply aim the Wii remote at the screen to see a reticle, which changes depending on the type of object its resting on. If the reticule changes to a green vine, the object can be manipulated through The Will of Spore. If a brain symbol is present, telekinesis will affect it. Pax also has a capsule-toy sticky hand – which he uses as a grappling hook on his adventure. When an object is compatible with that, a blue hand appears in the reticle center. All of these powers and tools are needed for Pax to traverse his way through environments not intended for someone his size.

Health is measured in a slightly macabre but equally unique way. Pax’s mushroom cap will be hacked away as his health diminishes, slowly revealing his newly acquired brain. When he looses his cap entirely, he dies and respawns in a safe location not too far from where he fell. A plus is that Pax does not loose his progress or items he gained before death, making the game focus more about exploration than about combat. In addition, he does not take hits to his health from falling, because the developers did not want to penalize players for taking risks while traversing levels. Pax can recover health by attacking spore infected objects – such as a rat carcass – or by taking out baddies. He also has the ability to use his cap to glide to otherwise unreachable areas in any given level.

While the title is a platforming game at heart, there is enough action to keep things interesting. To keep Pax from being put at a disadvantage by enemies, the team created a weapon construction system called Scav. Short for scavenger, Pax can collect items and trash found throughout each level and use them to create a wide variety of weapons. Pax can create four types of weapons: slashing, bashing, thrusting and radical. Each type of weapon has its own advantages and disadvantages, and may need to be used against a specific type of baddie. We had a chance to build the Iron Thumb – a bashing tool constructed out of a DS stylus, a thimble and a piece of chewed gun.

Taking on enemies is simple. Pax can block and perform evasive rolls, and take on enemies within range with a simple swish of the controller. There is no targeting system – you simply walk up to the insect, spider, mole or rabbit and wave the Wii remote.

While the game has no difficulty settings, you can choose how to engage your enemies and that makes gameplay much more diverse. In one level we tested out – where a group of animated vines petitioned for Pax to help them get rid of the rabbits eating their roots – we could choose to take on the pesky creatures one-on-one, or we could use our telekinesis to drop a precariously positioned fan on the rabbits head. We chose the latter – but don’t worry – the screen cut away in case you are particularly fond of fluffy critters. Using the environment to avoid damage is a way of making the game less about skill and more about ingenuity. You play how you want to.

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars features eight levels, all with their own unique boss fights, and lasts an expected 10 hours of play. It also breaks up small levels with quick and quirky 2D games – such as a mini-turret game and a Donkey Kong-esq experience. If you want, you can also bring in a friend to the world of Mushroom Men in a Mario Galaxy type manor. Using a second Wii remote, you can have a sidekick collect items for you and do other small tasks that help you along your way.

There is also a DS version of Mushroom Men in the works, titled Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi. In the handheld game players will be able to choose between three different characters. The DS title is expected to release in October – a month before The Spore Wars, hits the shelves. Rise of the Fungi is considered to be a prequel to the world of The Spore Wars, but we were told that you don’t have to play one to enjoy the other.