Mushroom Men Interview

Kombo had the opportunity to shoot a few questions to the developers behind Mushroom Men coming to Wii and DS. The developers were kind enough to pass the questions around the office to answer all the questions.

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Kombo: How did you get the idea of Fungi as main characters?

Red Fly: That idea came from one of the co-founders of Red Fly Studio. We tried to pay homage to a lot of games that influenced us over the years, and he remembered Toad from Super Mario Bros. Our concept artist then drew up some fungi representations and Woo-lah! Fungi is our main characters!

Kombo: You are able to build weapons in the game, how do different combinations effect gameplay?

Red Fly: We really want the player to explore using different weapon types on different enemies. Using a bashing weapon might not work so well against a flying enemy, but it may do more damage against a ground enemy. So if the player figures out the right combinations, they can defeat the enemies with more ease.

Kombo: How has developing for the Wii and DS opened up possibilities for Mushroom Men that aren’t there for conventional systems?

Red Fly: Hopefully the consumers and press will enjoy the games enough that we can put MM on other platforms. I guess we will find out in the coming months!

Kombo: Can you explain how each mushroom faction impacts gameplay?

Red Fly: The factions don’t really impact gameplay that much except for the storyline. The challenges in the Morel Monastery are a little more puzzle like, but that is just because the Morels are the brainy mushroom tinkerers of the game. They love to build all kinds of contraptions!

Kombo: Can you tell me more about the 1950’s Sci-Fi theme, does it permeate throughout the game like the trailer?

Red Fly: We believe it does. Visually, we wanted to achieve this through lighting and storytelling. So even though there isn’t a actual date associated with the storyline, we definitely wanted to implement that ‘vibe’ into the game.

Questions from readers

Kombo: From articles on other sites, there is concern about “waggle” controls for combat. In making this game for Wii did you automatically feel compelled to add waggle in some fashion or did you feel that it was just a better way to go with the attack feature?

Red Fly: We went through countless different control schemes! With a little input from Nintendo, we needed to put some form of motion control into the game. The ‘waggle’ was the most simplistic for combat without interfering with the other controls.

Kombo: Will the Les Claypool soundtrack be available for purchase (Or perhaps a free bonus with game pre-order)?

Red Fly I believe you get the soundtrack from a pre-order with Amazon.com, put into your digital locker. So keep an eye out for that!

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Thanks to the developers at Red Fly for answering our questions.