Mushroom Wars 2 (Nintendo Switch) Review

Mushroom Wars 2 feels less like a sequel and more like an extension of the first game. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as there's easily enough new content to justify calling it its own game, it's just that it doesn't play much different from the first outing. People who liked its predecessor are going to enjoy this sequel, and newcomers should be able to dive into either with ease.

Unfortunately, that's where the ease ends. Mushroom Wars 2, like its predecessor, suffers from a very steep difficulty curve and hits the wall early on. A few tutorial missions exist to teach the basics (moving mushrooms between buildings to bolster their numbers, attempting to send higher numbers of fighters into opponents' buildings, and converting buildings between mushroom-producing villages and ranged defence towers), but a few missions after the tutorial, it assumes the player is an unstoppable expert and immediately throws them everything it's got. Considering the sheer number of story missions, facing a high difficulty spike in the first handful can make people simply put this down, especially considering things don't really change as the action progresses; other than each mission's initial setup, the game more or less remains the same.

Mushroom Wars 2 looks and sounds beautiful, and having it on Nintendo Switch means being able to play on the go. Curiously, there doesn't seem to be any touch screen support; the game also appears on smartphone devices, so why it lacks this feature is puzzling at best and seems lazy at worst. This can get frustrating, as using the analogue sticks to aim armies at nearby buildings can sometimes result in targeting the wrong one, and simple touch screen support would have eliminated this—and just made for a smoother product in general. Conversely, thankfully it supports local multiplayer, something many releases these days are sorely missing.

Online play is messy when it comes to balancing, though, with matches often consisting of only the best players, but its inclusion is welcome and at times offers a nice break from the relentless AI of the campaign. This mode features player profiles and ranks, which is a nice touch, although it will be interesting to see if this garners enough of a consistent base to really make these features worthwhile.