{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox video game |title = Mushroom Men |image = MM Wii BoxArt.jpg |developer = Red Fly Studio |publisher = Gamecock Media Group (DS)<br>SouthPeak Games (Wii) |designer = |composer = Les Claypool |engine = |genre = Action Adventure/Platform |modes = Multiplayer |released = {{vgrelease|NA|December 2, 2008|EU|March 27, 2009|AUS|May 14, 2009}} |platforms = Wii (The Spore Wars), Nintendo DS (Rise of the Fungi) }}
The '''''Mushroom Men''''' video games were developed for Nintendo DS and Wii systems. Both games were developed by American company Red Fly Studio and published by Gamecock Media Group and SouthPeak Games. The story revolves around a civil war between {{convert|3|in|mm|adj=mid|-high}} Mushroom Men in a human world. According to the game's designer '''''Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi''''' for the Nintendo DS is a side-scrolling platformer as well as a prequel to '''''Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars''''', the Wii version, which is a full 3D platforming game. Red Fly Studio used Gambitious to try to crowdfund a sequel, known as Pax's Truffle Trouble for PC,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2456830/ive-seen-mushroom-mens-hidden-fungi-civil-war/ |title=I've Seen 'Mushroom Men'{{'}}s Hidden Fungi Civil War |author=Patrick Klepek |publisher=MTV |date=August 5, 2008 |access-date=October 3, 2017 |archive-date=October 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004040207/http://www.mtv.com/news/2456830/ive-seen-mushroom-mens-hidden-fungi-civil-war/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> which eventually came out on Steam as [http://store.steampowered.com/app/222180/ Mushroom Men: Truffle Trouble] on March 10, 2015.
==Story== The story begins when a comet crashes into the Earth, raining down a strange green dust in its wake. The space dust is harmless to humans and goes unnoticed, but they failed to notice that flora, fauna and fungi including mushrooms, cacti, and kudzu gained sentience. Also, this strange green dust mutated some of the animals too (such as rabbits, moles, spiders and possums). In order to survive, the newly conscious mushroom people soon formed into tribes, and war inevitably followed. The story of ''The Spore Wars'' on Wii also chronicles the life of the main character Pax, a lone bolete mushroom who is trying to find his place in mushroom society. As Pax progresses he discovers a lepiota called Pester that plans to take over the world. Pax follows him to a trailer park where Pax battles him and causes him to fall to the floor below them, leaving Pester to be killed by a mutated fungi dog that devours him. Pax returns to the village and says good bye to the mushroom villagers, saying he'll go where ever the wind takes him. {{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}
==Tribes== In the August 2007 issue of ''GamePro'', five different tribes of mushrooms were revealed. The names and characteristics of all the tribes correspond to the species of real-world mushrooms for which they are named. The tribes are the Bolete, Morel, Amanita, Lepiota, and Shiitake. A short description of each tribe is below.
* Bolete – These mushrooms are a peaceful, Utopian society, and want nothing more than the entire mushroom world to be at peace. This is the tribe to which the main character, Pax, belongs. They have telekinetic abilities, which they call "Sporekinesis", which most other tribes don't exhibit. They are experts at surprise attacks, and are believed to be the first sentient mushrooms or "alpha" mushrooms. * Morel – This mushroom tribe consists of intelligent inventors of machines. This tribe is also peaceful and assists Pax. However, they are poor fighters. They are masters of mechanical defense systems. * Amanita – An evil mushroom tribe who started the mushroom wars in the first game "Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi" for the DS platform. They are master fighters, and always attack in groups. Their weapon of choice tends to be scavenged spears. Their leader, the Amanita General managed to grow to a massive size. Whether this is natural or caused by involvement with the meteors is unknown. * Lepiota – Another evil mushroom tribe, characterized by mystery and dark mysticism. Their cities are shrines and they are very religious. Tough and resourceful, they secure human artifacts and insects to use as weapons, using them in slashing attacks. Pester, their leader, has also exhibited Sporekinesis, although it is unknown if this natural or caused by his tampering with the meteors. * Shiitake – An order of elemental monks.
==Weapons== The game features weapon construction, as the player finds everyday items that can be converted into weaponry. For example, an axe can be made of a corncob holder attached to a popsicle stick or even a Nintendo DS stylus. These weapons fall into four categories: slashing, bashing, thrusting, and radical. Each weapon category has its strengths in combat; for example, a slashing weapon is excellent when being swarmed by a group of enemies, while the thrusting weapons are useful for eliminating hard-to-reach flying enemies.
==Music== The theme song for the games and several original tracks were composed and performed by Les Claypool of Primus fame.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lesclaypool.com/news/ |title=MUSHROOM MEN VIDEO GAMES – Featuring Music From Les Claypool! |publisher=Les Claypool |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216033439/http://www.lesclaypool.com/news/ |archivedate=December 16, 2008 |url-status=dead |accessdate=October 3, 2017}}</ref> He contributed original tracks to the game's soundtrack, which is a groundbreaking metronome-based system developed by Gl33k, a music and sound design group located in Austin, Texas. The songs include "Eye of the Mushroom", "Sidescroll my Heart", and "Opposoumly Dangerous".{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} Some of these are featured on Claypool's 2009 solo album, Of Fungi and Foe.
==Reception== {{Video game reviews | DS = true | WII = true | na = true | 1UP_WII = C<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.1up.com/reviews/mushroom-men-spore-wars |title=Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars Review |author=Nick Suttner |website=1UP.com |date=December 4, 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530023728/http://www.1up.com/reviews/mushroom-men-spore-wars |archivedate=May 30, 2016 |url-status=dead |accessdate=October 3, 2017}}</ref> | Destruct_WII = 7.5/10<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.destructoid.com/destructoid-review-mushroom-men-the-spore-wars-118635.phtml |title=Destructoid review: Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars |author=Nick Chester |website=Destructoid |date=January 20, 2009 |accessdate=October 4, 2017 |archive-date=February 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219072427/https://www.destructoid.com/destructoid-review-mushroom-men-the-spore-wars-118635.phtml |url-status=live }}</ref> | Edge_WII = 6/10<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars |author=Edge staff |magazine=Edge |issue=198 |date=February 2009 |page=88}}</ref> | GI_WII = 5.75/10<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200812/R08.1202.1331.10848.htm |title=Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars |author=Joe Juba |magazine=Game Informer |issue=188 |date=December 2008 |page=124 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206044738/http://gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200812/R08.1202.1331.10848.htm |archive-date=December 6, 2008 |url-status=dead |access-date=October 4, 2017}}</ref> | GamePro_DS = {{Rating|2.5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/209511/mushroom-men-rise-of-the-fungi/ |title=Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi |author=Aaron Koehn |magazine=GamePro |date=March 30, 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425020951/http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/209511/mushroom-men-rise-of-the-fungi/ |archivedate=April 25, 2009 |url-status=dead |accessdate=October 4, 2017}}</ref> | GSpot_DS = 4.5/10<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mushroom-men-rise-of-the-fungi-review/1900-6202708/ |title=Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi Review |author=Austin Light |website=GameSpot |date=January 5, 2009 |accessdate=October 4, 2017 |archive-date=October 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004090029/https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mushroom-men-rise-of-the-fungi-review/1900-6202708/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | GSpot_WII = 7/10<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mushroom-men-the-spore-wars-review/1900-6202707/ |title=Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars Review |author=Austin Light |website=GameSpot |date=January 6, 2009 |accessdate=October 4, 2017 |archive-date=October 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004085756/https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mushroom-men-the-spore-wars-review/1900-6202707/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | GSpy_DS = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ds.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/mushroom-men/940662p1.html |title=GameSpy: Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi |author=Phil Theobald |publisher=GameSpy |date=December 22, 2008 |accessdate=October 4, 2017 |archive-date=December 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214115609/http://ds.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/mushroom-men/940662p1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | GSpy_WII = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wii.gamespy.com/wii/mushroom-men/940598p1.html |title=GameSpy: Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars |author=Phil Theobald |publisher=GameSpy |date=December 22, 2008 |accessdate=October 4, 2017 |archive-date=January 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122002450/http://wii.gamespy.com/wii/mushroom-men/940598p1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | GameZone_DS = 5.5/10<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamezone.com/reviews/mushroom_men_rise_of_the_fungi_nds_review |title=Mushroom Men – Rise of the Fungi – NDS – Review |author=Dakota Grabowski |publisher=GameZone |date=December 21, 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225072428/http://nds.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r31821.htm |archivedate=December 25, 2008 |url-status=live |accessdate=October 4, 2017}}</ref> | GameZone_WII = 7.6/10<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamezone.com/reviews/mushroom_men_spore_wars_wii_review |title=Mushroom Men – [The] Spore Wars – WII – Review |author=Louis Bedigian |publisher=GameZone |date=December 15, 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217071241/http://wii.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r31821.htm |archivedate=December 17, 2008 |url-status=live |accessdate=October 4, 2017}}</ref> | IGN_DS = 5.1/10<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/12/16/mushroom-men-rise-of-the-fungi-review |title=Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi Review |author=Daemon Hatfield |website=IGN |date=December 16, 2008 |accessdate=October 4, 2017 |archive-date=October 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004090123/http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/12/16/mushroom-men-rise-of-the-fungi-review |url-status=live }}</ref> | IGN_WII = 7.9/10<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/12/08/mushroom-men-the-spore-wars-review |title=Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars Review |author=Daemon Hatfield |website=IGN |date=December 8, 2008 |accessdate=October 4, 2017 |archive-date=October 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004090326/http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/12/08/mushroom-men-the-spore-wars-review |url-status=live }}</ref> | NP_DS = 5/10<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi |magazine=Nintendo Power |volume=236 |date=December 25, 2008 |page=86}}</ref> | NP_WII = 8/10<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars |magazine=Nintendo Power |volume=236 |date=December 25, 2008 |page=84}}</ref> | rev1 = 411Mania | rev1_DS = 5.5/10<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.411mania.com/games/reviews/95591/Mushroom-Men:-Rise-of-the-Fungi-(DS)-Review.htm |title=Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi (DS) Review |author=Natalie Shoemaker |publisher=411Mania |date=January 29, 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204070728/http://www.411mania.com/games/reviews/95591/Mushroom-Men:-Rise-of-the-Fungi-(DS)-Review.htm |archivedate=February 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |accessdate=October 4, 2017}}</ref> | rev1_WII = 7/10<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.411mania.com/games/reviews/95191/Mushroom-Men-(Wii)-Review.htm |title=Mushroom Men [The Spore Wars] (Wii) Review |author=Sean Garmer |publisher=411Mania |date=January 25, 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204071317/http://www.411mania.com/games/reviews/95191/Mushroom-Men-(Wii)-Review.htm |archivedate=February 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |accessdate=October 4, 2017}}</ref> | MC_DS = 45/100<ref name=MCDS>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/mushroom-men-rise-of-the-fungi/critic-reviews/?platform=ds |title=Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi for DS Reviews |website=Metacritic |accessdate=October 3, 2017 |archive-date=November 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116214501/http://www.metacritic.com/game/ds/mushroom-men-rise-of-the-fungi |url-status=live }}</ref> | MC_WII = 72/100<ref name=MCWII>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/mushroom-men-the-spore-wars/critic-reviews/?platform=wii |title=Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars for Wii Reviews |website=Metacritic |accessdate=October 3, 2017 |archive-date=October 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017083413/http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii/mushroom-men-the-spore-wars |url-status=live }}</ref> }}
The game received mixed or average reviews for the Wii version, and mixed to negative reviews for the Nintendo DS version. ''The Spore Wars'' received "average" reviews, while ''Rise of the Fungi'' received "generally unfavorable reviews", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.<ref name=MCDS/><ref name=MCWII/>
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==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071029234531/http://www.totalgamerzone.com/articlenav-308-page-2.html Developer Interview]}} *[http://devblog.redflystudio.com/ Redfly Studio] *[http://www.gamecockmedia.com/ Gamecock Media] *{{moby game|id=/nintendo-ds/mushroom-men-rise-of-the-fungi|name=''Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi''}} *{{moby game|id=/wii/mushroom-men-the-spore-wars|name=''Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars''}}
Category:2008 video games Category:3D platformers Category:Action-adventure games Category:Video games about fungi Category:Gamecock Media Group games Category:Gaming Corps Austin games Category:Multiplayer video games Category:Nintendo DS games Category:Video games developed in the United States Category:Wii games