Smells Like a Mushroom is a game filled with dad jokes and horrendous one-liners. Though some dialogue made me chuckle, it soon outstayed its welcome. Furthermore, the repetitive gameplay loop and occasionally tough core mechanics made me grimace. As such, this is a game that’ll divide its audience.
This third-person adventure shooter was developed by Red Limb Studio and published by Fatal Error and Destructive Creations. It is both a single-player and cooperative experience. I didn’t test the latter feature, but I imagine it’ll make the action much easier. Additionally, it could reduce the layers of tedium that sadly set in pretty quickly.
Smells Like a Mushroom tells a stupid story.
If you adore a ridiculous story filled with puns and silly jokes, this will be right up your street. The story is stupid and though it was vaguely amusing, I often shut off to its childish ways. Yet, if you like outlandish sci-fi stories about mutated creatures and a hellish dictator, this will tick those boxes.
You control Carratado the vegetable protagonist who kicks ass. He must explore each planet in our solar system as he aims to take on Satanus Boletus. This cruel dictator has an army of mushrooms at his disposal. Furthermore, he is slightly crazy and doesn’t care if he kills everything in sight. Consequently, Carratado and his fellow vegetables must work together to save the day and avenge the death of his carrot wife.
Basic gameplay.
Smells Like a Mushroom isn’t a stellar gaming title. Instead, it relies on simple and well-trodden mechanics to get it through. Moreover, its refined and repetitive gameplay loop is simple to master. Each stage has unique weaponry that assists you in the following levels. As you annihilate your foes, you pick up scraps to improve your equipment.
The upgrades increase your weapon’s power, range, magazine size, and so forth. Alongside this, you can upgrade your health, life, and resource drop rate. Nothing about the upgrade system was impressive, but it worked well.
As you explore each level, you’ll smash boxes, kill walking and flying mushrooms, and take on bosses. Each encounter requires you to manipulate a weakness and dodge and strafe projectiles. This should have been great, but the solution was usually to pick the most recently unlocked gun and get to work. This was a shame as it reduced the challenge and made things a little understated.
Smells Like a Mushroom is vibrant but problematic.
I loved the crazy settings and the lively colours. However, the stage design takes a while to kick off. This was a shame as the opening moments have a definite deja vu feeling. Yet, once you break away from the initial format, each world comes to life. The stages expand and you must think 3 dimensionally. Moreover, the platforming elements evolve as the world flips and revolves. Though this could turn your stomach, it is the stuttering frame rate that brings this down. Hectic moments grind to a halt and this is not expected from a modern title.
The audio is equally problematic. Repetitive and obnoxious tracks drown every moment. The sound effects and one-liners jump in to make matters worse. Subsequently, you are deafened by never-ending noise and annoying attempts at humour.
Tight controls.
Aesthetically, Smells Like a Mushroom didn’t please me. However, the tight controls and excellent UI were impressive. Some tight parkour moments require pinpoint accuracy. Thankfully, the controls do not let you down. Additionally, shooting each mushroom requires skill and patience. As such, tight and responsive controls were a must.
There are loads of secrets to discover and plenty of stages to explore. Yet, once you get through these elements, there is little reason to return. Though you can play this with a friend via split screen, I don’t think this is enough to boost replay value and longevity.
Smells Like a Mushroom should have been better.
This review seems overly negative. However, like a mushroom in a darkened space, it slowly grew on me. Yes, I disliked the silly humour and the OTT audio, but this wasn’t the end of the world. At its core, Smells Like a Mushroom is a decent experience. It has its shortcomings, but these can be overlooked. Consequently, it won’t win any awards, but it does enough to keep you entertained. As such, I recommend buying it here! Can you thwart the mushroom invasion? Explore the planets, grab the artefacts, and become a hero.
