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Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars

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9.4 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 37 critic reviews
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Based on 24 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Gamecock Media

Developer: Red Fly Studio

Genre(s): Action, Platform

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older)

Release Date: December 2, 2008

Summary

Mushroom Men - The Spore Wars shows gamers the mundane world from the surreal perspective of a three-inch-high Mushroom Man. Unnoticed by humans, a war rages between the spore factions. As a brave Bolete Mushroom Man, players are given the opportunity to transform common household trinkets and trash into weapons and tools, and wreak havoc on a miniature scale. As civil war rages amongst the fungi, fierce battles span the diminutive landscapes. Prepare yourself for the Spore War. [Gamecock]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Kotaku Review Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

NintendoWorldReport

While it is a little short at six hours, Red Fly Studios' inaugural Wii game is a fantastic 3D platformer with amazing music, wonderful art direction, solid puzzles, and a great sense of exploration.

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Official Nintendo Magazine UK

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

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Nintendojo

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.

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n-Revolution Magazine UK

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.

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Nintendo Power

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

Cheat Code Central

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.

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Zentendo

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

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N-Europe

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.

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DarkZero

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.

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IGN

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.

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GameZone

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.

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Worth Playing

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.

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GameShark

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

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Gaming Nexus

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.

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InsideGamer.nl

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.

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Destructoid

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.

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SpazioGames

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.

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3DJuegos

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.

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NGamer UK

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]

Game Chronicles

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.

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Games Master UK

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

Cubed3

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

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AceGamez

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.

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VideoGamer

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.

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Boomtown

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.

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GameSpot

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

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GameSpy

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.

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Games Radar (in-house)

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.

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Gaming Target

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.

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Eurogamer Spain

Quotation forthcoming.

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Gamer.nl

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.

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Total Video Games

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.

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Thunderbolt

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.

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Edge Magazine

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

Game Informer

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

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1UP

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.

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G4 TV

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is easily one of the most original games to come along in a while. It has tons of style, a unique vision and all the makings of a wildly entertaining little franchise. Sadly, its first effort on the Wii isn't disappointing thanks to sloppy platforming, poor camera controls, and lack of any real innovation in terms of gameplay.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 24 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

nick gave it a4:
What was a pleasant beginning got taken out and taken back after just two hours due to getting utterly fed up from the laziest camera ever seen in a 3d game. Prepare to get constantly hit by unseen enemies (on a par with Death Jr...shudder) and stuck in holes you can't see the way out of.

Scott W gave it a9:
Great game. Excellent visuals, addictive music, good motion controls, plenty of exploring, lots of enemies and good puzzles. The only game my wife has ever played all the way through without getting bored. My only complaint is camera angles: sometimes when you are near walls, the camera is difficult to control. But, that aside, this is a very enjoyable game. I only hope they make a sequel.

Josh N gave it a9:
I would give this game a 8.75. It's fun, and it gives some replay value, if you want to go back and search for more weapon parts. I'd say definetly worth a purchase

Bob M gave it a9:
I'm not sure what the "pro" reviewers were looking for, but this game is really a high quality release for the Wii, and a very good platformer besides. No, it's not Super Mario Galaxy (what game is?), and yes, it does have some minor camera and motion control combat issues (as in both should have been tighter), but those issues don't get in the way of the gameplay. The story is unique, the level design is fantastic, the graphics are very good, the soundtrack is awesome (come on, it's Les Claypool). All in all, it's a very good game, it deserves better scores than it's getting. I would even go so far as to say that it's possibly the best action/platformer for Wii this side of Mario Galaxy and de Blob. And that's saying something.

Andy M gave it a9:
This game is tons of fun, with vibrantly bright colors and engaging game play. Considering the lack of appealing titles on the Wii, this game has made me much happier to own one.

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Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars

Game Info

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What The Critics Said

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