Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi is the DS version of a game that released simultaneously for Wii under a different title. The DS version is quite different than many games in this genre for the system. Visually dark and featuring eclectic level designs that draw from the perspective of a tiny mushroom exploring our world, it hearkens back somewhat to games based on franchises like Toy Story, Bee Movie, or Antz where the protagonist explored a world filled with familiar but super-sized objects. The theme of mushrooms and their unique qualities plays into the look of the game to some extent, and there's also just a cool, weird design aesthetic at work here. It's a good thing. The game's music is tuneful and fun, but pales in comparison to the awesome soundtrack created for the Wii version.

There are some really nice touches in the game's interface that make good use of the DS double-screen layout. The default view is to see the game's action on the lower screen, where you can take full advantage of the touch features. Along the top of the lower screen is a small bar that allows you to change what you see up top. You can view things like your character's special abilities, a map of the area you are currently exploring, or your items this way. One neat thing is that while you make these changes, the action on the lower screen continues. The major neato feature is that you can also press a button to switch screens, making it possible to manipulate items on the lower screen using the stylus. Flipping around equipped items this way will be reflected on the top screen, and you can keep playing with minimal downtime. The use of both screens and the touch capability is unusually intelligent, one of those simple things that makes a big difference.

Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi is a very standard 3D platforming game, with linear gameplay and few original ideas. The things that stand are the item-creation mechanic that allows you to form new weapons from found objects, and the multiplayer. Multiplayer is simple enough in that it allows two players to experience the game together. What is notable is seeing the full game playable in this fashion, as long as both have copies of Rise of the Fungi plugged into their DS systems. As much as we love seeing this level of depth in multiplayer, it would only be exciting if things had been well executed in the solo campaign. The failed attempt to craft a lovable 3D Platformer makes multiplayer as dreary as anything else, unfortunately. The biggest issue is that levels contain any number of holes or high places where your character will fall to his doom. The controls don't give you much confidence and seem often to be the culprit behind stupid deaths and do-overs. The game's map helps you navigate through without getting lost, and the linear nature of the game means getting lost is difficult, since your choices for movement are usually limited to "back the way you came" and "forward to a new area."

The story behind the game has something to do with mushrooms colonizing Earth from space, thanks to a meteor that has possessed them with magical powers. Or maybe they're just trying to escape? Nonetheless, mushrooms and meteors are involved. Playing a mushroom is a hard thing to visualize, and it is yet another testament to the game's excellent artistic staff that these mushrooms walking like men seem convincing and fun to play. Any object can be an action hero, when packaged with fancy moves and a deadly arsenal. The relatively unassuming character you choose at the beginning of the game will gain new skills and abilities by virtue of his equipped item and the special skills known as Spore Powers. Rise of the Fungi is big on action, and you'll need boundless attack and defense skills in order to survive the onslaught of enemy soldiers. You'll solve a few puzzles along the way, both in explicit puzzle challenges that take you away from the game's action, and puzzles you'll solve by finding an item in the level or interacting with some object in a specific way. There's not enough variety here in either the locations, the characters, or the enemies, to sustain interest very long. Younger games might be able to get excited, but they'll also be the ones most likely end up stymied on poor controls and frustrated by frequent do-overs.

The actual combat with enemies tends to feel awkward, with poor controls for directing attacks up, down, or side-to-side. The easiest and most fool-proof method seemed to be constantly jumping and attacking, or using special attacks while hiding in a defensive position. There are good, easy levels at first that train you on the controls and the flow of the game. After the tutorial section is completed, you'll find there's not much to do except wander around looking for items to collect, looking for the exit, and kicking around enemies. The attacks you have depend on the style of character you choose (light, medium, heavy) and his preferred fighting style. Some are great in one area but poor in others, and you rarely have the chance to change out the character you are using during the game. The biggest single difference in the gameplay that affects difficulty is the choice of weapons, coupled with your playing style. If you like to get in close and do big damage, there's a great weapon for you that may be slow but packs a wallop. Players may prefer to hang back and use a ranged attack, which is perfectly allowed and built into the game's interface. Combat can be a bit random, even considering the time and attention that went into designing the weapons and the special Spore Powers your characters use after you trace a pattern on the lower screen. The unintentionally high difficulty level in the game comes from very poor layout of some levels to include jumps that instantly kill your character, or drop-offs that will do the same if you step wrong. The example of how bad this gets we saw early on was a platform that had to be cut in order to drop your character down a level and open a path. If you jump and cut the line holding up the platform, it drops without you and the subsequent fall kills your character. This makes no sense, and just has to do with arbitrary limitations placed on the character that don't allow for things that are completely intuitive to players. What platforming game kills your character for jumping back down several levels after climbing up? This isn't an attempt at realism, just a glitch or feeble attempt to somehow handicap the player. Nothing good comes from this limitation, not least because the levels are designed with lots of jumps that often don't connect because of loose controls. Watching the game load becomes a huge drag.

The actual design of the game's screen is elegant, but didn't bleed into level design one bit. There is a case to be made for simple level design as a tool to make platforming easier for young players. Arguably, this is exactly the audience we'd expect to like Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi, but they'll be completely turned off by the requirement for precision jumps in a character that seems incapable of precision control. Jumping in battle or otherwise is a leap of faith, and the jumps onto platforms big enough only for your character are pretty harrowing. Considering the save system is a bit of a mystery, players will end up wondering what will happen to them after missing a jump. Replaying the levels isn't much fun, and this speaks to the limited replay value of Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi in general. Apart from the smooth-running multiplayer, there is almost no reason to keep this one on the shelf for any amount of time. The exploration portion of the story never translates to the screen... Everything from a control perspective is laid out exactly where you'd want it, but somehow the actual controls were totally lost in translation. Say what you will about there being different "classes" for characters and about trying to create a unique, memorable experience for gamers. After spending some time with Rise of the Fungi, we're having more and more trouble finding any redeeming qualities.

If this were a budget title, or an online Flash game, we'd be more forgiving. The reality is that this is one franchise we don't see taking off in the near future. We can see enough in the design of the game's interface to make us believe that everyone was seeking a quality product, but the final output is a muddled mess. If you like good platforming titles, there are several on the DS, all superior to Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi. If you like adventure, action, and exploration, there just isn't enough substance here to keep you occupied. The game is filled with frustrating controls, bad level layout, and a very narrow band of choices available to the player. On one hand, we applaud anyone with the chutzpah to introduce a new franchise, and we can definitely see that some care and feeding went into the game's interface. On the other hand, there's no mistaking a bad game; it's the one you walk away from feeling buyer's regret and a desire to cleanse your gaming palette with something more fun and rewarding.