Mushroom Men Articles

Last updated: Tuesday, November 24, 2009

As interesting articles are posted about the game (previews, reviews, etc) We’ll stick them in here.

November 2009

A fascinating article by Jonathan Holmes at Destructoid talks about No More Heroes HD. He points to Mushroom Men (among other games) as an example of the sort of game that could only sprout on the Wii.

“With the success of NMH came many other punk rock Wii exclusives: games like Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Mushroom Men, MadWorld, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, House of the Dead: Overkill, Little King’s Story, A Boy and His Blob, the Bit.Trip series, and many others. Some of them made money, and some of them didn’t, but that doesn’t even really matter. The point is that they still were permitted to come into existence, and that’s something that could have only happened on the Wii.”

June 2009

While maceman at Beefjack.com generally enjoyed Mushroom Men, his one complaint was that it was too easy for a “hardcore” gamer.

Several reviewers offer many scintillatingly positive words in describing their experience with Mushroom Men.

Gamers Daily News reviewer Amy Shortz Baldry gave us the GDN Bronze Award.

May 2009

Johnus Maximus at Gadgetoid speaks well of his experience with Mushroom Men.

Stephen Totilo at Kotaku noticed an interesting detail toward the end of Mushroom Men and contacted us to see if his harebrained theories had any merit. We explained to him that we didn’t plan any deep social commentary on the concept of marriage the way he claims.

Or did we? Maybe we did have a secret agenda. Maybe there’s a lot more hidden under the surface of our silly little mushroom game. Keep playing to find out, and spread the word!

April 2009

Steven Williamson at HEXUS Gaming bestowed their Editor’s Choice award to Mushroom Men.

“With its unique art style, delightful musical score and range of quirky characters, Mushroom Men: Spore Wars overflows with personality and charm.”

Tom Orry at Videogamer.com reviewed Mushroom Men well, saying that the game combines “solid platforming gameplay with a wonderful art style and superb audio work.”

Ten-year-old Lesha reports on her experience with Mushroom Men at the Ready Up Juniors review section.

Iain Lowson at Boomtown describes Mushroom Men as:

“…a quirky, well-executed platformer that doesn’t overstay its welcome.”

Mark Lee at N-Europe has some very nice things to say about Mushroom Men.

“Every scene is a treat to explore, with surprises literally around every corner looking like something from Tim Burton’s nightmares!”

Mike Mason at Cubed 3 appreciates the passion and effort put forth in our freshman offering of Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars.

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

Seth Bland at Darkzero enjoyed Mushroom Men so much that his only major complaint was that there wasn’t enough of it.

“Mushroom Men leaves you wanting more, which is both its biggest triumph and its only failure.”

Liam Pritchard at Acegamez enjoyed Mushroom Men.

…the smart level design and attention to detail leaves Mushroom Men as one of the better looking third party releases yet seen on the Wii.

Scott Munro at the Daily Record speaks highly of Mushroom Men.

Mushroom Men is a success… It offers players an interesting experience, which fans of the genre will definitely enjoy.

Daily Joypad’s summary says it all:

“Simply put, this is certainly one of the best third-party produced games out there for the Wii. In all honesty, I would of passed this game up had it not been for the review copy. I don’t want you guys to make the same mistake, this is well worth purchasing, in fact if you own a Wii then I would insist that you do!”

March 2009

Tom East at the UK Nintendo Official Magazine has glowing words to say about Mushroom Men!

“There’s not mushroom for improvement here”

Thunderbolt Games and Hooked Gamers had a pretty good time with Mushroom Men.

Now that the Mushroom Men have spread their spores world-wide, we’re getting a whole new batch of reviews in. Some, like Mike “Two Tone” McConnell’s write-up for Digital Entertainment News and Darren Calvert’s review at NintendoLife, offer some praise. But even the most dour reviews (I’m looking at you Nick Adams of TVG) aren’t as generous, but they tend to be just as thorough in their analysis of the title and cannot avoid pointing out the many shining points of the game and its stunning landscapes and outstanding audioscape.

JungleTramp had a good time playing Mushroom Men now that it’s available in Europe.

Matthew Reynolds at Digital Spy UK appreciates the aesthetics of our first title.

In his review of Mushroom Men, Katrina “ShadokatRegn” Pawlowski speaks very favorably of our freshman effort. She awards us the Golden Billy!

Kyle Orland at Crispy Gamer takes us through the first hour of Mushroom Men, minute-by-minute, making a very comprehensive review of the foundation elements of the game.

And as always, GoNintendo can be counted on to keep their eyes out for news like this. We appreciate your unflagging enthusiasm!

Videogamer.com reports that Mushroom Men is finally crossing the pond for a European release later this month.

Jessica Citizen draws some pretty interesting comparisons between our little Wii game and Comet C/2007 N3 (Comet Lulin). Plus, she enjoyed the game.

February 2009

Duels Blog points out a discovery that more and more people are making the longer Mushroom Men is on the shelves: It’s a lot of unexpected fun.

GameZombie interviewed producer Chad Barron and reports:

Mushroom Men is as Trippy as You Would Expect.

Press X To Win speaks very highly of Mushroom Men in their review.

pop311 at the Cheap Ass Gamer forum calls Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars: “… the best game of 2008.” Splendid!

Now that the holiday rush has subsided and the big mega-games have come and gone, Mushroom Men seems to be getting a little more attention. Peter Rizkalla at Animation World Magazine makes this point well, saying of Mushroom Men:

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is definitely a winner for Wii owners. The catchy beats and beautiful designs give it its own feel and the gameplay is fun and solid.

It’s been a while since anyone has written up a review on Mushroom Men, but here are a couple of new articles.

Steven Marsh at Cosmos Gaming really enjoyed the game.

Ryan and Jeff at Giant Bomb did a full video review of the game. Awesome!

News of Mushroom Men’s pending release in Europe has hit the web.

Our friends at GoNintendo always have supporting words of encouragement.

Kristen Spencer at That VideoGame Blog wrote up a very nice Mushroom Men review.

… there is certainly enough visual style and musical moxy to give Mushroom Men a shot at becoming a successful franchise.

January 2009

Neal Ronaghan at Nintendo World Report speaks highly of Mushroom Men in his review.

Sean Garmer at 411 Mania has some nice things to say about Mushroom Men.

We appreciate Destructoid’s brutally honest review of Mushroom Men.

“Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars threatens to be a classic, an interesting, and frequently clever third-person platformer that oozes character.”

Zentendo enjoyed Mushroom Men, it seems.

The Mushroom Men review at Gaming Nexus is very positive.

… What you will find is a competent, fun little adventure in the literal sense of the term. Mushroom Men’s charm and character make it much more than the sum of its parts.

Nintendojo speaks well of Mushroom Men.

TWGNintendo posted an interview with the studio about Mushroom Men.

Having declared that the DS version of Mushroom Men was decent, Diehard GameFAN posted their extremely encouraging review of Mushroom Men for the Wii.

This is exactly what the Wii needs: a fun and original system exclusive. Everything in the game, from the character design to the soundtrack shows that Mushroom Men was a true labour of love.

Derek at Infendo finally finished playing through Mushroom Men.

Video Game Critic posted their brief but comprehensive review of Mushroom Men.

It summarizes Mushroom Men very succinctly:

Mushroom Men is cute without being childish, and quirky without being obnoxious. It’s just a likeable little adventure that’s suitable for all ages.

Brendon Lindsey at GameCyte has positive things to say about Mushroom Men.

IGN Music has a fascinating article about Les Claypool and his involvement in Mushroom Men’s soundtrack.

Also check out the music video of the Mushroom Men theme song.

Worth Playing has posted their generally positive review of Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars.

Kotaku’s Brian Crecente really enjoyed Mushroom Men and includes it in his list of the best games of the year with a very encouraging little blurb.

Mushroom Men: Spore Wars was the most fun I’ve had on the Wii in months. It offered a funny little story, interesting character design and amazing art and sound, all while still feeling very this generation. Spore Wars is a must have for any Wii gamer bemoaning the lack of traditional games on the platform.

PeteDorr includes Mushroom Men on his list of the best Wii-exclusive titles of the year.

Marc Normandin at Blast Magazine had a great time playing Mushroom Men.

Derek at Infendo didn’t start playing Mushroom Men until after the holidays, but his review is forthcoming, and he likes what he’s seen so far.

December 2008

GamesRadar liked the look and sound of Mushroom Men but thought the gameplay was typical of the platformer genre.

Diehard Gamefan has posted their musings on the DS version of Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi.

… players willing to dig a little deeper will find a challenging action game with far more depth then the usual fare.

From their inclusion of Mushroom Men in their consideration for Game of the Year, it’s was already obvious that Kotaku enjoyed Mushroom Men. See what they liked and what they hated about the game in their official review.

In their Game of the Year considerations, Kotaku has zeroed in on Mushroom Men for its exceptional Art and Sound.

GameShark posted a generally positive review of Mushroom Men.

TWGNintendo features an article about the top ten games they want to see sequels for. Among those games mentioned: Mushroom Men.

… the game is fun, flavorful, and a great addition to any pizza night.

Associated Content reviewed Mushroom Men.

KyleMitchell at BrightHub enjoyed Mushroom Men.

This is one adventure that’s definitely worth your time.

USA Today posted a very positive review of Mushroom Men.

Gamespy’s review of Mushroom Men for the Wii is quite positive.

Frank Teran spoke at length with Katrina at Mixed Bag Musing about the birth and development of Mushroom Men.

Louis Bedigian at GameZone has nice things to say about Mushroom Men. He ranks us at a 7.6 out of 10, about the same as most other reviews.

GoNintendo points out one of the best lines from the review.

Mushroom Men is showing up in various lists on Amazon.com today. It’s the number 2 Party/Adventure game and number 8 overall in hot new releases. And the customer reviews speak for themselves.

We love to hear what the true fans think about the game.

We’re honored to be selected as ScrewAttack as their Pick of the Week last week.

Mushroom Men is causing a stir over at GameRankings today. The first few reviews are in, and except for the negative reviews from GameInformer and 1UP dropping the overall average score, the critics are enjoying the game. So far, half of the reviews are in the 80% range. My fingers are crossed that more reviewers agree.

Jonathan Marx at Cheat Code Central wrote a fantastic review of Mushroom Men. It’s great to see when people recognize that the strength of the limited combat system in our action/platformer game comes not from excessive waggle (the 21st century’s button-mash) but from well-timed flicks of Pax’s weapons to perform deliberate attacks at the perfect moment.

NRevolution hates mushrooms but they enjoyed Mushroom Men.

There’s a very positive review about Mushroom Men at EverHype.

IGN reviewer Daemon Hatfield has a lot of nice things to say about Mushroom Men for the Wii. He obviously gave the game his full attention and evaluated it fairly.

Katrina at Mixed Bag Musing offers a fresh, honest evaluation of Mushroom Men. Her article is extensive and detailed, unlike some “professional” review sites I won’t mention here.

Tondog over at RFGenerations runs through a list of the few new games that came out last week, including Mushroom Men. He speaks highly of the obvious potential at having Les Claypools awesome tracks weaved into the foundation of the play experience.

Hear straight from the non-jaded consumer’s mouth what they think about Mushroom Men, no platform or publisher bias included.

NeoGAF also has a lively thread running.

Gametrailers is holsting the latest behind-the-scenes look into the concept art and resulting game assets for Mushroom Men.

Other sites like GamingToday also feature the video with their own unique take on the work.

There are always people skeptical about new characters entering the Nintendo platforming pantheon. Some people aren’t even fans of the genre in the first place. But the stunning visuals and quirky music in Mushroom Men have been enough to attract everyone’s attention.

Wiifanboy points out the wild discrepancies in the four online reviews of Mushroom Men posted so far. We’ve always seen a lot of support from the authors and readers of Wiifanboy.