"Mushroom Men" is keeping me hooked strictly because of its music.
I was so ready to bail on the Wii's "Mushroom Men" after my first few minutes playing it on Wednesday.
The game seemed like an unpolished 3D action world set in a visually interesting world of mushrooms turned into little anthropomorphic characters.
It wasn't enough. But we've covered the game's unusual soundtrack before and I decided that alone required I play it further. I haven't noticed much of the promised experimental integration of music timed to the beat of the game's action. But I have enjoyed the weirdness of the music, which you can hear in the clips I'm linking to here.
Last night, I gave the game another hour. It's still not hooking me with its gameplay, but I quite like the music. So I'll keep playing. A soundtrack has never had that effect on me before.
(Note: In terms of gameplay and game flow, the closest thing I've played to "Mushroom Men" is the Nintendo-published "Chibi Robo," which also starred a cute, diminutive three-inch hero who climbs and fights through a relatively super-sized world. What "Chibi Robo" had on "Mushroom Men," of all things, was a surprisngly mature storyline involving a fracturing human family who Chibi Robo wanted to help bring back together. "Chibi Robo," like "Mushroom Men," had some audio tricks: the character's footsteps created music with each stride.)