Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars

This very much anticipated game from Gamecock announced over a year ago has drummed up a lot of excitement and it delivers. In Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars you play the role of a little mushroom named Pax who is given life and consciousness from an alien meteor that hits the earth. As all fungi, Pax must battle for his survival against all number of threats big and small including other fungi. Pax explores earth in a story delivered in that unique way only a tiny psychic mushroom can.

The land of Mushroom Men is vivid, colorful, and engulfing. The world is large and unique with levels covering everything from the lawn to the garage and inside the walls of the house. They're very large and everything is to scale so it puts a fun twist on exploring some of the places we see every day from a tiny creature's perspective. Mushroom Men proves the Wii can hang with the big boys in the graphic department despite not being high definition. The sounds are well done and add good depth to the game but the real price is the music which is cheery and upbeat and thanks to the low pitch does a great job of making you feel as small as you look.

The game play is very reminiscent of most 3d adventure games and will feel immediately comfortable to fans of the genre. Pax battles through the world using 28 weapons which are chosen automatically by the movement of the Wiimote to match the direction of attack. Emphasis is put on exploring the levels which are just beautiful and will offer you tons of things to see before reaching the goal rather than endless combat. The world is filled with collectable pickup items to give perfectionist something to do with all the extra space. Expect Mushroom Men to take 10 hours to beat and much longer if you are going for a 100% completion score.

The humor presented in the game is light hearted and can be appreciated by children and adults of all ages. The controls are easy to learn and if there are any complaints it's simply the camera is not very smart but it's not a deal breaker by any means. This game will make a great gift for Christmas and offers plenty of replay value with all of the things to pickup and sights to see. The Mushroom Men is a quality title from Gamecock and a must get for winter.