Kitsune Zero Review

Game: Kitsune Zero
Genre: Action, Platformer
System: Steam (Windows & Linux)
Developer|Publisher: Kitsune Games | Midboss
Controller Support: Yes
Price: US $4.99 | UK £3.99 | EU € 3,99
Release Date: September 12th, 2022

Review code provided with many thanks to Stride PR. 

Paid DLC to a Freebie

Kitsune Zero is a 2D platformer which bears a striking resemblance to another platformer starring a famous plumber. This game acts as DLC for the free game Super Bernie World. Both games essentially provide the same gameplay experience. The difference being one leans heavily into American politics and the other feels more like an original concept with Japanese folklore as the theme. Kitsune Zero acts as a prologue to another title, Kitsune Tails, which the developers plan on releasing sometime in 2023. For this review, I will focus on Kitsune Zero but both games are essentially the same gameplay experience.

The Basic Template

So let’s get to the obvious. Kitsune Zero is essentially copying the formula of the original Super Mario Bros on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). If somehow you have lived under the largest of gaming rocks and are not familiar with this famous title I’ll briefly summarize. As Mario, you run and jump through levels collecting coins and jumping on the heads of enemies to defeat them. You can collect power-ups like a mushroom to grow bigger, upgrade again with a flower and you can shoot flaming projectiles at enemies making the experience easier. But if you take a single hit you shrink back to a small fella, take another hit or fall down a pit and you lose a life.

You play through four levels per world. In the last one, you enter a castle stage taking on the big bad Bowser, where you simply need to get past him on a bridge to hit the switch and watch him fall into the lava. Then you meet a mushroom man who tells you the Princess is in another castle (text which would become a famous meme) and you repeat the process another eight times till the day is won. Kitsune Zero essentially copies this formula but not as well. The powerups are swapped for a rice ball and fire spell. The boss is now a samurai fella and there is no mushroom fella to redirect you at the end of the world, you just finish the world and move on.

Original Flavour

There are a few original ideas here. Kitsune Zero has you play as Kitsune on a mission to hunt down three McMuffins and save your friend from the clutches of an evil samurai. The game features short cutscenes between each world which are fully voice-acted. Performances are good if not a little cheesy. The level designs and enemies are presented in a decent pixel art style with a catchy soundtrack. But it’s hard not to see how the enemies are obvious swaps of the famous villains in Super Mario Bros. I guess that’s all I could come up with for originality. It’s worth pointing out the game plays fine and the controls work. You can use a controller with this title. A design choice it does do differently is you can actually backtrack through the level if you choose, something you can’t do in Super Mario Bros.

The main overall issue is that Kitsune Zero offers little to make it stand out. Everything about the game just feels like a mediocre copy of the famous plumber’s outing. Levels follow a very similar structure of platforming but feel bland. There are only three levels per world. The game’s story actually finishes after world 4 but you can continue on with bonus levels which steadily increase in difficulty. There are no swimming levels but there are a few secrets to be found. There are a lot of tubes you can’t enter in the game but if you keep at it maybe you’ll find one that does work. In terms of difficulty, I guess this is suitable for all gamer types since you have unlimited lives. This made me question what was the point of coins in the game. Probably just to get a high score. 

Conclusion – A Copy and Paste

Kitsune Zero is OK but really doesn’t offer anything special or original. Okay, graphics and gameplay but the entire time I was playing it I could not help but think how Super Mario Bros does it better. What’s funny is I have never been enamoured with the original Super Mario Bros since I didn’t grow up with it as so many gamers did. But after playing Kitsune Zero I went back and played it and developed all new love and respect for it. My suggestion is to download Super Bernie World for free and if you want to support the developers on their next project consider spending a small fee for the DLC. Also, be sure to check out their next project Kitsune Tails.             

Final Verdict: I’m Not Sure