Reviews

Released on the same day as prequel story 'Rise of the Fungi' on DS, Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is a 3-D platform adventure for the Wii. When a meteor shower hits Earth, it releases green dust that infects our mushrooms, turning them into walking, talking life-forms who split off into separate tribes to battle each other for supremacy.

Our story begins with a brief series of paintings showing the arrival of the meteor and the start of the war amongst the four fungi tribes. A baby mushroom escapes out of Bolete village and returns one year later to reclaim his position in the tribe. This plan goes tits up when young Pax mysteriously absorbs the village's precious meteor shard and is sent out into the world to find a replacement.

Well, that's the stuff of nightmares right there

There's the faint whiff of Earthworm Jim in this game - the crazy animals trying to eat our garden-based hero, creating bizarre weapons out of everyday objects - but the Mushroom Men have neither the personality nor the originality of Earthworm Jim. The 'Honey I Shrunk The Kids' ground-level viewpoint is well designed, but the camera, weapons and missions leave a lot to be desired.

Controlling Pax, you explore the garden and all its nooks and crannies, smashing plastic eggs to find everyday objects inside, which you can use to build weapons that fall into one of four categories: slashing, bashing, thrusting and radical. Each weapon - such as an axe made of a corncob holder and wooden lolly stick - has different strengths and may be chosen to knock down flying enemies or slash a group of bad mushrooms on the ground.

Ever seen a mushroom swim before? Neither had I.

There are four kinds of mushrooms (five including the Shiitake monk tribe): Bolete, Amanita, Lepiota and Morel. Pax is from the Bolete tribe and they are essentially peaceful, as are the Morel tribe who help Pax on his journey. The rest are aggressive.