Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel for SNES
Review #717
Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel
Yup. Aero the Acro-bat was successful enough to get a spinoff
Gameplay
Fast movement, but only 40% draw distance which makes for lot of cheap hits. You wind up moving slowly as a result.
Jump, throw/punch, and a pointless dive. Also L and R makes you somersault continuously which is fun but not very useful.
Double jump(!) but the second jump causes you to spin an move forward in an arch so it's hard to get the placement just right. Also the timing matters - the height of your second jump depends on how much upward motion you currently have. If you use it at the top of your jump you'll get a small boost, if you're falling from the initial jump you will spin but get no boost, and if you double jump immediately after the initial jump you'll be rocketed into the sky.
Very tight controls, but a little bit of momentum problems and tiny, rounded platforms results in challenging platforming.
No time limit, thank you
Lots of projectile attacks from off-screen enemies. Again, you have to move forward tentatively.
Level Design
Often boring design, but better than average. Everything within a level is very samey. Level 1 is a continuous beach, level 2 is a cave. There are no memorable milestones or markers within a level to help you see your progress.
A lot of the traversal of levels requires precise mastery of the double jump mechanic. There are a lot of cheap hits that punish you for jumping too early or too late. Requires a lot of trial-and-error and memorization.
Cave level has a whole bunch of slimy platforms that are slippery. Why do I want the controls to be more slippery than they already are? There's a boss fight that would be a cakewalk if the platforms weren't covered in vaseline.
Theme
Zero is to Aero what Shadow is to Sonic - an edgy, bandana-wearing anti-hero clone of the hero. I can dig it. He's much cooler than Aero anyway.
Art Style
Excellent 16-bit graphics. Great detail without being too busy.
Lovely effects like parallax scrolling and transparency.
Great animation and nice spritework.
Audio
Miami Vice music. Pretty rad. Sounds like an 80s action movie soundtrack. Not exactly my jam, but it's ok I suppose.
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