Throughout the game you gain special abilities which are then used to further your advance. For example, you gain a Sticky Hand ability which you can use to reach far away places. As you scan your screen looking for hiding paths, the pointer will occasionally change shape indicating you can use a special ability, providing your spore power meter is full enough. You can refill your spore power by absorbing more of the meteorite dust. It also recharges slowly over time.

Also, you come across some species that need your help and can, in turn, help you providing different forms of transport etc. The boss fights themselves weren’t as challenging as the rest of the game, and I suspect it’s because the camera actually doesn’t play such a big part in boss fights. As in so many games (Zelda springs to mind), for each boss you have to work out how to hurt it and then do so repeatedly.

Even though this is a pretty straightforward 3D platform game, the menu does have a list of goals you need to achieve in any given level. It’s useful if you haven’t played the game for a while and can’t remember what you are supposed to be doing. Saying that, the game is so linear that if you just walk around for a while, you’re bound to accomplish things and eventually find your way to the next level. The weapon customisation screen has a list of items you need to find to make new weapons, helpfully indicating which of those things can be found on the level you are currently at. If you happen to miss any of those items and accidently stumble across the level boss, don’t worry. You can return to the same level from the main screen and collect everything you missed the first time round.

Combat itself is not particularly challenging and it involves swinging the Wiimote to attack and blocking with your mushroom cap. What makes it challenging is the camera that changes if you get too close, jump or sometime for no apparent reason, so while you think you should be facing the enemy, you are actually facing in some random direction.

On the whole, this is a good game. But it had a potential to be a great game, and that disappointment is what makes it seem worse than it actually is. There were many games with a bad camera, but I don’t remember feeling quite this frustrated with any of them. Main reason for that is that Mushroom Men had such a huge potential and it is so beautifully done, that a little bit of extra effort around the camera would have made it a “must have” game. Unfortunately, it doesn’t live up to the expectation and delivers at times wonderful, but at other times most frustrating gaming experience. It should come with a health warning.

Every so often I am dragged back to it. I love it, I enjoy it and then, once again, I give up in frustration of not being able to get somewhere because the camera changes mid-jump. Games like that belong firmly in the last century. Let us hope that the developers learn from this and start paying attention to the things gamers object to the most – a wonderful game with poor playability.