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Preview: Putting on our thinking caps in Mushroom Men

Posted Sep 9th 2008 11:00AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Features

Gamecock graciously sent a preview copy of Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi, allowing me to play it in an environment as non-E3-like as possible: my own home. And now, playing through it again, I've found that the only real problem I had with my initial playthrough isn't actually a problem at all. Which leaves nothing but cool platforming. I played through the initial few levels and found my mushroom hero guy saving the world by, uh, knocking over some cans! And moving a shoe full of mosquitoes! And then a fish got in my way and I couldn't make any more progress. Fish.

What won't come through in screens is just how nice the game looks. The bizarre lighting effects and high framerate lend Mushroom Men an extraordinarily crisp appearance that is especially nice for DS 3D.

Gallery: Mushroom Men

Continue reading Preview: Putting on our thinking caps in Mushroom Men

E308: Mushroom Men puts the 'fun' in 'fungus'

Posted Jul 15th 2008 9:45PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News

I got to look at the DS version of Mushroom Men at the Gamecock EIEIO event in March, but I didn't get to play it. Today, though, I arrived at an odd middle section in one of the demo rotations, and basically ended up being left alone in a room with a DS and the game. Aside from a very weird screen-flipping mechanic, it's a beautiful, inventive 2D platformer.

As a heroic sentient mushroom (a meteor has fallen and made stuff sentient that ought not be) you wander around an environment made up almost exclusively of trash and junk. The first level is a tutorial that leads you through the interactive map (which features red dots that mark waypoints), the weapon system, and combat. The map's dots mark the location of other mushrooms that need to be rescued from bugs or other enemies, much like the rescue-based level design in Drawn to Life.

Gallery: Mushroom Men

Continue reading E308: Mushroom Men puts the 'fun' in 'fungus'

Mushroom Men: Rise of the Screens

Posted Jul 1st 2008 3:30PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Screens

Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi is on the way in October, and we've got a few new screens in our gallery that show how the game is coming along. The 2.5D platformer uses somewhat simple polygons (a smart decision) but gives off the same kind of atmosphere as the rocking concept art due to very interesting lighting effects!

Mushroom Men on the DS is planned as a prequel to the Wii game -- another smart decision, we think. It helps position the DS game as less of a spinoff item and more a part of the real game series. It would be a shame if a cool sidescroller like this got overlooked because of the 3D game. That is, of course, assuming that the Wii game isn't also overlooked.

Gallery: Mushroom Men

[Via press release]

Fungi rises on the DS this October

Posted Jun 30th 2008 9:00PM by Candace Savino
Filed under: News

We knew that Red Fly hoped to release Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi sometime this year, so we're pleased to hear that the software is on schedule and will be in stores this October.

Red Fly also went into more detail about the storyline of the game in a recent press release, since the DS version is a prequel to the Wii title. Both will cover different parts of the Mushroom Men's history, with Rise of the Fungi detailing a time when they first got their special abilities. The Bolete tribe must stave off attacks from hostile insects and other creatures, until the Amanitas Empire becomes an even bigger threat to their survival. Mushroom Men fighting amongst Mushroom Men ultimately leads to the Spore Wars, which are covered in the Wii game.

We really like the idea of one game's story leading into another's in such a short period of time (as in, you won't have to wait long between releases). While we're still not sure when the Wii game will follow, you can expect it in November or December if Red Fly sticks to the original plan.

Gallery: Mushroom Men

Mushroom Men benefits from retooling

Posted Apr 15th 2008 9:45AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News

According to the latest 1UP preview, Red Fly Studio's Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi has gone through some tweaks since the last time it was shown -- and those tweaks have made it a better game. Specifically, the map has been made easier to navigate with the addition of objective markers. In addition, platforms have been made to stand out from the background visually. This is often a problem with prerendered 3D environments: it's hard to tell which areas of those environments are interactive.

Unfortunately, the healing system, apparently, could use a bit more time in the oven. You heal automatically for most damage types, but not falling damage, which is frequent. In other words, you basically don't heal automatically.

Gallery: Mushroom Men

Revamped Mushroom Men site cultivated, launched

Posted Apr 11th 2008 3:00PM by Eric Caoili

If, inspired by too many episodes of Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, you've yearned to adventure the world as a miniaturized figure, fighting pygmy creatures with Lilliputian weapons, you really should look into Mushroom Men! To assist interested gamers who refuse to put their memories of 80s cartoons behind them, publisher Gamecock has updated its official site for the platformer, providing previews of Mushroom Men's playable characters, jury-rigged arms, and misshapen enemies.

Gamecock has also announced that Primus's Les Claypool is lending his talents to the soundtrack for both the DS and Wii Mushroom Men games. According to the renown bassist, like many parents hoping to win their children's favor, he took on the job at the urging of his fantasy-gaming-obsessed son. You can treat your ears to one of Les's songs for Mushroom Men at the relaunched site right now!

See also: EIEIO 08: Brief Mushroom Men impressions

Gallery: Mushroom Men

[Via press release]

DS Fanboy interview: Red Fly Studio (Mushroom Men)

Posted Mar 18th 2008 9:45AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Interviews

Red Fly Studio has big goals. In the words of the company's CEO, Dan Borth, they want to be "the world's premiere third-party Wii developer." They're aiming high on the DS, as well. It may sound a little presumptuous, but their inaugural effort, Mushroom Men, shows significant promise on both the Wii and DS, with a unique, detailed visual style, bizarre challenges and an expansive junk-based inventory.

At the EIEIO event, I spoke with Chad Barron, external producer for the DS side-scroller, and Dan Borth, CEO and creative director, about both games, as well as the experience of working for a big publisher on a big license.

Gallery: Mushroom Men

Continue reading DS Fanboy interview: Red Fly Studio (Mushroom Men)

EIEIO 08: Brief Mushroom Men impressions

Posted Mar 13th 2008 9:45AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News, Screens

I was only able to see a couple of minutes of Red Fly Studio's Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi, but I learned some interesting details about the game. Rise of the Fungi on the DS, codeveloped with Zen Studios, is designed as a prequel to the Wii game, telling two stories in the same world. In both games, a meteor has somehow caused mushrooms to gain awareness and intelligence, along with other organisms. In Rise of the Fungi, one tribe of mushrooms must drive interloping insects out of their village.

Mushroom Men is a (really nice-looking) 2.5D platformer set in a world that looks very big to a mushroom. Multiple characters are available: "heavy" characters with good melee combat skills, "sages" with excellent spore powers (special magic-type abilities) and "scouts" with ranged combat abilities. These characters will traverse 10 levels, each divided into two scenes, solving environmental puzzles and, well, collecting garbage. In fact, garbage is kind of important to the game.

The environmental puzzle we were shown involved using items found in the stage to reach a higher platform. The player had to knock a soda can into a buzzsaw, which turned the buzzsaw on, causing it to fall down. It could then be used to climb up to that platform.

As for the garbage: both the DS and Wii games feature the "scav" system, which allows you to pick up junk and combine it into weapons. And there are a lot of choices -- a quick look at the menu screen showed at least 20 available weapons. A 2D platformer with a lot of weapons? Yes. Yes.

I was very impressed overall with the demo, except for the part in which I didn't play the game. Luckily, Red Fly expects to release Rise of the Fungi late this year, with The Spore Wars to follow soon after. Hit the gallery for new screens and even more delightful concept art!

Gallery: Mushroom Men

Mushroom Men resurfaces

Posted Feb 29th 2008 11:15AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Video

2008's Biggest Blips: Part III

Posted Feb 11th 2008 12:00PM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Features

Over the past two weeks, we've previewed more DS games than you can shake a whole pack of sticks at, and we're not yet done. In the final part of our look at 2008's most interesting upcoming titles, we're going to zip through a few last intriguing titles. Some of them haven't settled on anything close to a release date, and for others, there's little information available, but for one reason or another, they're all exciting enough to get us to sit up and take notice.

Unfortunately, they're probably also going to have a serious impact on wallets everywhere. As though we weren't already faced with the prospect of buying tons of games! We've never been happier that DS games are at least cheap.

Continue reading 2008's Biggest Blips: Part III

Mushroom Men site leaps into action

Posted Oct 25th 2007 2:50PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News, Video

Friday Video: Spore Wars

Posted Jun 22nd 2007 6:35PM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Video, Friday video

While this brief teaser gives us no real idea of how the finished game will look, it's still nice to see something from Mushroom Men. We can't wait to undertake massive backyard fungi battles. It's like all the mushrooms Mario's eaten over the years are back, and they're pissed off.

Enjoy this brief bit, because it may be a while before we see anything else -- Mushroom Men is scheduled for the DS and Wii in fall of 2008.

Continue reading Friday Video: Spore Wars

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