I thoroughly enjoyed the few short hours I got out of Kitsune Tails. Difficulty aside, it perfectly captures the retro-platforming aesthetic of older players’ favorite games of our childhoods. Its wholesome story is a delight, too, giving Yuzu and her potential love interests personality. As we enter into 2024’s Pride Season, Kitsune Tails was a treat that I cannot wait to see reach the finish line of its development.
Chumps Preview is a special kind of post where we unofficially preview games in Early Access, Beta, or are otherwise “unfinished.” This kind of preview is meant to be a first impression rather than a definitive review where we provide a rating to determine a game’s value. As such, we fully expect a game covered in a Chumps Preview to have room for improvement, some bugginess/incompleteness, and other features associated with similar games in the category.
This past week, we had the opportunity to spend playing a preview build of Kitsune Tails, an upcoming retro-inspired platformer. Kitsune Games and MidBoss have collaborated to create what looks and feels like a charming platformer with heart that is sure to be loved by those who miss the days of SNES-gaming. It stars Yuzu, a kitsune messenger to the fox god Inari.
Kitsune Tails looked as though it was a delightful mashup of Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3 but firmly set in a Japanese mythological aesthetic. In between the overworld and Kitsune Tails’ levels, I was shown little cutscenes that advanced Yuzu’s story as she navigated being a messenger and finding love in places she least expected.
My preview build gave me access to a few worlds and a handful of levels that allowed me to experience a taste of what’s to come once Kitsune Tails fully releases in the future. It played just like some of my favorite retro-platformers: Each level had me get from point A to point B, stomp on enemies, and collect coins. By building momentum (which I could track in the upper right-hand corner ala Super Mario Bros. 3), I could run faster and utilize other abilities. Later levels granted me powerups like an enchanted apple that turned me into a green fox that could spin jump to break blocks below (think of Super Mario World’s spin jump).
Kitsune Tails had some interesting powerups and platforming mechanics. For instance, when exploring a haunted house, I could pick up and carry a lantern to render ghostly enemies harmless and uncover hidden doors. Another power up temporarily turned me into an invincible fox that could dash horizontally and destroy blocks. One turned me into a purple samurai (I think) and let me climb walls! Everything looks so cute, especially since Yuzu looks like she’s dressing up in a different set of pajamas every time she comes across a new powerup.
Kitsune Tails captured a delightful slice of retro-charm that I haven’t felt since playing the SNES for the first time. The decision to go all in on the Japanese mythology aesthetic gives Kitsune Tails a unique yet charming design. I hopped on ninja tanukis and Kasa-obakes (umbrellas that jump around on a single leg) while rushing to get to a torii gate at the end of a level. Snow monkeys threw snowballs at me until I got close enough for them to jump toward me. It was all delightfully cute.
Aesthetic aside, Kitsune Tails is not for the faint of heart – its platforming difficulty ramps up in unsuspecting ways. While dying to enemies simply takes me back to the start of the current room or most recent save point (depending on the level), later levels proved to be quite challenging. This is especially true for the swimming levels. Older players like myself have grown to despise underwater levels because of how it feels like you’re swimming through sludge. Kitsune Tails’ current implementation of swimming feels less agile than I’m used to, making these portions far more difficult than I would prefer. Because of the sludginess of the swimming, getting hit by enemies became something that was almost guaranteed. Luckily, it’s possible to bank powerups to be used at any time (on easy difficulty), making it so that taking damage and turning into a mini-kitsune is a short-term punishment rather than something that persists until there’s a powerup block.
Some levels felt far more difficult than needed because of how they obscured platforms and enemies. For those who are familiar with Super Mario World’s Forest of Illusion and how the trees in the levels would hide platforms, Kitsune Tails has that, too. It’s just more difficult thanks to how stationary enemies are hidden with the platforms. I don’t have a problem with difficult/precise platforming – I’m a child of the SNES-era of crazy difficult games. I just hope that some additional thought is placed in making some aspects of the levels less punishing than needed.
Before I wrap this review, I want to give a special shoutout to Kitsune Tails’ music. It sounds like a SNES-chiptune collection of songs that would have been found in Goemon’s Great Adventure (N64) and Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (N64). As someone who has played both of these N64 titles as an adolescent, Kitsune Tails gave me all the retro feelies that I’ve desperately needed.
I thoroughly enjoyed the few short hours I got out of Kitsune Tails. Difficulty aside, it perfectly captures the retro-platforming aesthetic of older players’ favorite games of our childhoods. Its wholesome story is a delight, too, giving Yuzu and her potential love interests personality. As we enter into 2024’s Pride Season, Kitsune Tails was a treat that I cannot wait to see reach the finish line of its development.
