“I am once again asking for your financial support”
Kitsune Zero is a weird sort of DLC. The sort of DLC that reminds me more of a total conversion (who remembers those) of the base game, Super Bernie World. But more than that, Kitsune Zero also serves as a prequel to Kitsune Tails, a game slated for 2023.
It should be noted that Super Bernie World is a free game on Steam based on Senator Bernie Sanders and modeled on the original Super Mario Bros. NES game. Everything from Super Mario Bros. is cloned in some fashion with Koopa Troopa’s, Goomba’s, Piranha Plants, and more, only on a much simpler scale. It’s a short experience (it’s free remember) but one that plays smoothly and one that players hold in high regard. It’s not an easy task to hold a mostly positive rating on Steam, especially with something that has a political bend to it.
Kitsune Zero is a new overlay that replaces Super Bernie World and takes the game into an ancient Japanese-inspired past. The game places you in the shoes of one Kitsune, a cute fox girl who must recover a series of magical relics and save a cute priest that she wants to date across a handful of worlds. Kitsune Zero features all new graphics and fully voiced story and cutscenes.
Since this is mostly the same game you’ll have the option to take on an optional hard mode to keep you playing. The game is fairly straightforward, but some levels can be quite a bit tricky with regards to jumps. If you grew up playing the platformer Mario game then you’ll be fine, but new players might find it a bit of a challenge. Even with a number of deaths it was fun jumping back to try again as stages are pretty short and the world itself is fun to see.
Music has been stepped up with new music and remastered classics. And, if the political bend of the original game turned you away, there is no politics to be had this time around. It’s a smart move that will certainly open up the game to a wider audience. I also love that a more traditional NES-era platformer like this is getting a full adventure next year. Sneaking what essentially is a free demo, or more like shareware, inside an already free game is a smart marketing move.
Still, Kitsune Zero is more than a simple reskinning as there are some noticeable improvements to the engine. Jumping has been tweaked and now features buffering for a smoother experience. You can now continue from any stage that you’ve completed, something to help with speed-running. It’s not a lot but it’s nice that a free game gets some love while being used to refine and test potential features for a future new release in a new series. The only issue I can see is with the star/mask powerup. The invincibility is fine but when it ends the game seems to skip a frame leading to deaths and issues.
Kitsune Zero is a fun little Super Mario Bros. clone that you really cant knock, especially since the short experience (around two hours) is a good bit on fun and the small price point helps the developers create what is shaping up to be a fun full experience in Kitsune Tails, a game that’s looking to pull from Super Mario Bros. 3, the greatest platformer ever made. If you liked Super Bernie World then give Kitsune Zero a little love and support the team.
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