Kitsune Tails is a charming 2D-platformer that I just adored playing. While it may have been more difficult than I had initially envisioned, completing the game to the end was worth it, if only to see Yuzu and her friends’ stories come to a close in a heartfelt way. Kitsune Games and MidBoss have given players a wealth of tools to create some cool levels and minigames, and I cannot wait to see what players create!
A few months ago, I previewed Kitsune Tails for the PC. I spent a few hours in-game, attempting to defeat its levels and test out its cutesy, retro-inspired platforming starring what I thought was its sole protagonist, Yuzu. She’s adorable – when she comes in contact with a powerup, she dons charming pajamas and gains access to a secondary set of abilities! As a fan of the old-school, SNES-era of Mario games, Kitsune Tails hit that sweet spot of difficulty I recall being integral to learning about 2D-platforming when I was a toddler.
If you have not yet seen my original coverage of Kitsune Tails, I want you to go back and read through it before continuing further. I say this because, for better or for worse, the core gameplay of Kitsune Tails has remained unchanged between my first foray into Kitsune Games and MidBoss’ collaboration. My review period this go ‘round exposed me to Kitsune Tails in its entirety, featuring fully voiced cutscenes, a surprising second act, minigames galore, and the potential to create you own levels and minigames?! WHAT?!
Yes, dear reader, Kitsune Games and MidBoss surprised me with the full release of Kitsune Tails. No more than two months ago, I only had access to a few levels. There was no mention of supporting user-generated content in the slightest, nor minigames, nor playing as another character with their own moveset. I will not discuss specifics about the second act and who this second character is, by the way, as doing so will ultimately spoil the plot of this charming little platformer. But, I’ll say that what I played, as difficult as it was, was quite enjoyable and got me invested in the universe of Kitsune Tails.
Kitsune Tails is the closest thing to a kaizo platformer I’ve played in a hot minute. If you’re unfamiliar with kaizo, it’s a descriptor used to describe custom levels (most likely modded within Super Mario World) that are made intentionally difficult to test expert players’ skills. I’ve yet to see kaizo platforming incorporated into a game right from the start, and then Kitsune Tails came along and tested me in more ways than I had planned on expecting. In calling Kitsune Tails a kaizo-game, I am not criticizing it for being too difficult – it has several difficulty levels (which I’ll mention in a moment) that can be swapped at any time. However, level designs were anything but casual.
In the first world, for instance, there were monkey enemies who would hang from the underside of platforms, throwing coconuts at me. When I would get close, they would immediately drop down and rush at me. In a vacuum, these enemies should be no issue, but on a level where platforms are obscured by level elements amidst spikes and bottomless pits…it feels like the game was out to get me more than ramping up in difficulty.
Luckily, Kitsune Tails contains three difficulty levels that can be switched at any point. The easiest setting would make it so that, when I died, I would immediately respawn at the location where I died instead of having to restart the room (at the medium difficulty) or the entire level (at the hardest difficulty). I usually don’t have problems with overly difficult platforming, but Kitsune Tails tested my resolve in many ways. Use them difficulty levers to your advantage, folks!
Much of Kitsune Tails’ level design felt innately familiar, from the dreaded swimming levels to the slippery ice physics to riding platforms through the sky. Most levels were bite-sized, meaning that I could speedrun through them in a minute or two once I had spent enough time figuring out enemy placement and upgrades. Miniboss and boss levels were pretty straightforward, merely needing me to bonk them on the head a few times to move forward. I usually don’t have a problem with straightforward level design if it means that there’s just enough variety. Kitsune Tails might not innovate in the level design department, but it has just enough variety to make it feel like each world feels moderately distinct.
My one complaint about the level design, however, is that most of the levels had the same layout in that they had single exits and/or a rare miniboss. There weren’t enough secrets in levels to encourage me to fully explore them – the few times I replayed them and attempted to explore, I would find dead ends, little rewarding. When I think of where Super Mario World did level design right was how it had levels with multiple exits, making it so that the overworld had multiple levels and ways to bypass entire segments if you had gone so far as to find the secret exits in some levels.
In my initial preview, I loved how the upgrades made Yuzu so dang cute. Now that I’ve finished the game in its entirety, I saw the extent to which the game let me use multiple powers. The shark costume let me freely swim (just like the frog outfit from Mario), while the popsicle let me throw snowballs and freeze enemies solid. I wish that the powers gave me a little bit more power and the levels incorporated the powers better. The snowball power was underutilized despite it giving me power to create temporary platforms out of enemies. Hopefully, custom levels from the community use these powers to their fullest potential.
Onto the story – Kitsune Tails tells a charming LGBTQ+ story of seemingly unrequited love between kitsune and humankind. I loved how after each boss battle, a fully voiced cutscene told me how my protagonists (Yuzu and [REDACTED]) were feeling at that point in their journeys. Pride Month may be over, but seeing this degree of inclusion through representing queer love made this game quite wholesome. I loved it. Once I got to Act II, the world opened up quite a bit and had me replay the game from the perspective of another protagonist who had an entirely different moveset.
Throughout the story, I could return to the main village and play minigames. These minigames were not available or even mentioned in the original preview, so I was surprised when I booted up the full game and was told to visit the arcade to play Barkanoid (a paddle-and-ball-based arcade game), Tengu Thump (whack-a-mole), and more. The tickets I won could be exchanged into coins and eventually spent on powerups I could take into levels.
During my review period, my test build did not have the level editor, mini-game creator, and post-game content available. However, I’ve been told that these will be available at launch. I don’t have an informed opinion as to how these aspects function, but in theory, I absolutely love that Kitsune Games and MidBoss have given players the opportunity to use the game’s assets and create unique levels. I can’t wait to see what users come up with!
Kitsune Tails is a charming 2D-platformer that I just adored playing. While it may have been more difficult than I had initially envisioned, completing the game to the end was worth it, if only to see Yuzu and her friends’ stories come to a close in a heartfelt way. Kitsune Games and MidBoss have given players a wealth of tools to create some cool levels and minigames, and I cannot wait to see what players create!
