Check your local bargain bin. Why it's there? Who knows.
The world the game takes place in is one of war. After having small meteorites crash onto the surface of the Earth, humans assumed that the rocks had no effect on terrestrial life, but they were unaware that, in its wake, fungi (as well as flora and fauna) were given sentient life. The different class of mushroom were eventually divided into separate tribes: the Bolete, Morel, Amanita, Lepiota, and Shiitake. The story's protagonist, Pax, belongs to the Bolete and first stumbles upon a Morel village during preparation for a festival. After taking part in the festivities and succeeding in a ceremonial battle, he is given a meteorite as a reward, but when he accidentally absorbs it (an ability his tribe shares), he is tasked to find more meteorites for the village. Along the way, he is caught up between the warring mushroom factions and battles the sinister Amanita, who are attempting to gather meteorites for the Lepiota and their master, Pester. While indeed, the plot isn't as fleshed out as it could be, it still gives the player a somewhat odd fascination. (I really do have to hand it to the creators for the finale. For a children's game about mushrooms, it was pretty boss. Pun intended.)
Being a 3D platformer, expect something along the lines of Crash Bandicoot or Rayman from the Gamecube generation (a time when 3D platformers were all the rage). Controls are simple (Wiimote and nunchuck), using the analog stick to maneuver the character as usual, 'A' to jump, 'B' to use Sporekinesis (a telekinetic ability used to manipulate objects containing spore), etc. You also shake the remote to attack enemies, though, unfortunately, this feature is pretty formulaic and could have more easily been achieved with the mashing of a button. The camera angles did drift to awkward places at times and I did find myself having to adjust the view as I maneuvered the character. This isn't a major concern, but I do feel that the camera needed to "lock" onto Pax more. The puzzles I found to be challenging, but none too difficult. One of the real annoying factors, however, was falling all the way back to square one in areas that required lots of jumping and climbing, but there is little platformers devoid of this to begin with.
There was also the feature of creating weapons from common appliances scattered throughout the ground, but this is misleading as they are, unfortunately, NOT customizable. Weapons are built manually by finding the pieces accordingly. This was a bit of a letdown, but the weapons are still good and there's quite a variety to choose from.
While still far from flawless, Mushroom Men is certainly worth the try and has some pretty neat visual graphics, seeing as how the environment within the game gives a certain trippy, eerie vibe, as well as the Les Claypool music heard in the background (which was also an interesting addition).
Play Magazine describes the product as the "best game for the Wii since Mario Galaxy" (essentially implying it is similar to Mario), but this game in particular just didn't show any notable similarities, except the fact that their both 3D platformers and both have similar multiplayer. Besides that, however, I found the game both a treat visually and actively, and sense of scale in the environments made the character truly feel tiny (which only improved in the latter levels). This is somewhat similar to the Gamecube's "Chibi-Robo".
In closing, this is an extremely short game and will probably only take a 2-4 day period to complete (though there are still some goods and extras to obtain afterwards), each level lasting about an hour or less. That alone might convince players to rent it rather than purchase it. (Most copies available online, however, tend to be cheap and can also be found in bargain bins in-store.) I do enjoy admiring the level design and art, so I recommend this game to anyone similar, as well as those who enjoy 3D platformers in vein of earlier titles from the Gamecube.