Mushroom Men

There’s not much ‘shroom for error in Gamecock’s latest. Jonathon Harker rises up against a nasty fungal infection…

The humble mushroom: an essential accompaniment to Mario games, a vital ingredient for pizza and well known to bring on hallucinations (not that we condone that kind of thing of course).

Gamecock’s latest brings mushrooms centre stage, in a platforming title that keeps tongue firmly planted in cheek.
“It was originally the brain child of Dan Borth and Kris Taylor, [developer] Red Fly’s co-founders,” the game’s producer Chad Barron tells MCV.

“They wanted to make a game based around a small character and after a brainstorming session the idea of the mushrooms came forward – poisonous ones being the baddies and edible ones being the goodies.”

Thankfully, Mushroom Men is not a title that takes itself too seriously, which is a breath of fresh air after the usual stony-faced, buff marine protagonists. And with a distinct 1950s B-movie feel, the title will be available in two different versions - Rise of the Funghi for DS and The Spore Wars on Wii.

“For the Wii we wanted to use as much of the functionality of the Wiimote as possible,” explains Barron. “But we also didn’t want to change up the controls too much, so as not to deviate from a norm that a lot of Wii players are accustomed to. The stylus is mainly used in the DS game for the grapple hook and to utilise the interactive screens including the inventory and map.”

The story behind Mushroom Men concerns ‘The Big Splat’, a green meteor that smashes into the earth and showers it with green space dust – affecting all forms of nearby life. It gives mushrooms and cacti sentience, as well as transforming bugs into semi-intelligent, warlike communities.

Players learn with the mushrooms, developing skills and abilities that lead to the Spore Wars.

With warring mushroom tribes and formidable outside threats in the shape of spiders, beetles, hornets and other creatures, the ‘shrooms have to prevent the destruction of their villages.
Players take on the role of the brave Bolete Mushroom Man. While a peace-loving kind of funghi, our hero is forced to take arms to in a battle for survival.

Appropriately, weapons come in the form of common household objects and rubbish. Players have to seek out the secret of the origins of the species to re-shape evolution and give peace a chance. 

“We specifically tried to make the games enjoyable for everyone. The DS game just received an E-rating from the ESRB here in North America, so that was a big relief,” Barron reveals.

“We’re hoping that beginners will like the game but that veterans will have fun with it as well.”

With a humorous take on the ever-popular platform genre, Mushroom Men looks on the button to thrive at retail.