You’ll also use your Wii Remote to attack enemies, though combat itself is pretty simplistic. All of the strategy comes in selecting the right arms for the job. Thankfully, there is a huge potential arsenal under your cap.

As you collect items, you start building new weapons – each of which has unique attack capabilities. You’ll piece together flamethrowers, razor sticks, melee weapons, and the like, all from collecting bits of junk (which are conveniently located in glowing containers). There are four main categories of weapons – slashing, piercing, bashing and radical. Different enemy types take more damage from different types of weapons – so while you’ll certainly be waving away (you know, the Wii version of button mashing), there is some mild strategy thrown in there.

As for its audiovisual presentation, the game is in a league of its own. Channeling everything from Ed Wood’s disasters to the “Attack of the 50-Foot Woman” style flicks of the 50s and 60s, it’s refreshingly different in a sea of similar-looking titles. It’s neither “gray/brown” nor generically cartoony, giving it a very distinctive vibe.

In fact, I think it’s fair to say that the music and atmosphere are the best parts of the game. Primus’ Les Claypool composed the soundtrack, and it shows – the semi-experimental sounds and deeply funky melodies underscore every moment of the Mushroom Men experience. It’s very organic and actually tied into the game world – the lighting and particle effects run on a metronome, and the music syncs up to small details in the world. It’s incredibly subtle – most players who aren’t looking for the effect will probably miss it entirely – but it’s very immersive.

There’s no HUD in the game either, upping the immersion factor yet again. Your health is measured by Pax’ cap – taking damage starts taking chunks away from his head and your goo power is measured by a little circle around your pointer. Your entire inventory is handled in the gear screen, which is nice and intuitive as well.

The giant world and kooky sci-fi elements are pure fun and work very well for the title. All of the characters (the mushrooms and plants and other strange creatures) that you encounter have ample personality and fun dialogue, and the atmosphere again recalls Tim Shafer’s masterpiece, Psychonauts. It’s all neon colors and wacky objects, only Mushroom Men is much grungier all around.

At its core, this is a very fun, very funky little game. Wii owners starved for solid content this season should definitely look into Mushroom Men, especially platform fans and gamers who like a freaky, fun atmosphere to go with their hopping and bopping. Getting past a few stale game mechanics, this game has sleeper hit written all over it. Just don’t go in expecting Super Mario Galaxy, or play it under the influence of actual mushrooms.

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