“I AM NOT A MUSHROOM!” This is the recurring catchphrase you see throughout the five stages in Furry Legends, and it is a constant nod at the game’s quirky design and humorous nature. Whether the character spouting the aforementioned line is a mushroom or not is irrelevant to the fact that Furry Legends is indeed one great game.
Furry Legends is a tale about the peace-loving inhabitants of Furland, the Furballs. One day, a race known as the Squaries invade Furland and imprison its inhabitants. This is where the game begins, and it is up to you to help the Furballs take down the Squaries. Admittedly, this is no legendary epic. It is, however, a funny little story that is progressed as you read signs and interact with characters, and it manages to make you care about the characters, even if only to see what crazy things they’ll say next.
At its core, Furry Legends is a side-scrolling platformer. This is no cookie-cutter platform game, though. Furry Legends features fun, creative platforming and integrates puzzles into the mix. To top it off, Gamelion threw a physics-based engine into the game, so environments and enemies affect the levels due to their ragdoll design. You’re constantly guiding your Furballs over pitfalls, running from spiked balls, tearing down obstacles, and taking out Squaries. Because everything flows so smoothly, there’s never a dull moment in the game.
There are, however, a handful of frustrating moments. Because the motion-based controls aren’t always 100% responsive, it’s sometimes hard to beat the enemy to the punch while in combat. This results in your Furball either taking unexpected damage or, if you’re on your last hit point, losing the battle. This is really just nitpicking, though, and the real frustration in the game comes from some of the in-game navigation. Due to the fact that the Furballs are completely physics-based, sometimes it’s hard to keep them from rolling over an edge into their demise. They’re also a bit floaty, and until you get used to this, you may find yourself miscalculating a jump or falling off the same ledge a few times.
Luckily, the slightly slippery mechanics don’t pose a problem for too long, because after spending some time with the game, you learn how to control the three Furballs almost flawlessly. After you’ve rescued your two comrades, you can switch between the three heroes instantly. They each have their own special abilities, and you’ll have to exploit these if you want to get through the game and discover all of the collectible tokens and crystals scattered throughout Furland.
The world in Furry Legends is vibrant with a nice array of color. There are some lo-res textures in the game and a few blocky objects, but the charm is still there thanks to the varied use of color. Furland is a living, breathing world full of landmarks and dangers, and even with its lack of detail, Furry Legends is still a nice WiiWare title to look at. The game’s soundtrack is equally lighthearted, featuring a handful of melodic, cheery themes that have an indie-inspired sound to them.
The biggest problem with Furry Legends is that it’s over fairly quickly. You’ll get through the game in under five hours, and that includes going back to previous levels and collecting everything. And while each individual stage is a nice length, the overall experience is over much sooner than you’d like. For as long as it lasts, though, this game paves the way nicely for the inevitable release of Furry Legends: Chapter Two.
Developer Gamelion has crafted something special here, combining fun platforming with physics-based mechanics and a good sense of humor that touches on modern internet culture and pure randomness. It’s a shame there’s not more content in this package, but at least we can all look forward to a sequel. Furry Legends may not be perfect—it may not even be legendary—but it is a great platformer worth playing, both for its great gameplay and excellent sense of humor.
