Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel (MD, 1994)
Graphics-8 Sound-7 Control-7.5 Challenge-7.5 Story-5.5
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-6
Overall Score-7
+
Large variety of moves (nunchuck melee attack, shuriken throws (6-way), quadruple jump which becomes longer and longer (similar to triple jumping in Mario 64), dive jump attack (extends how far you can jump) and super dive move (quickly dive straight down then horizontally followed by straight up - a bit like using the cape in Mario but more limited), double jump somersault which also works as an attack)
Control options
Ricocheting shuriken
Great animation and good art direction
Decent cutscenes (there's an additional one in-between two levels on MD which isn't on SNES), Pretty nice in-game cutscene after beating a couple of bosses in the final level
Fast movement (can be a double-edged sword at times though as the level design can be too cluttered for fast movement and there's no real equivalent to Sonic's roll or spindash moves)
Mini-bosses
Some decent bosses (level 2, level 3 mini-boss)
Good variety overall
Less slowdown than on SNES (can be fixed with a hack)
Unlimited continues
+/-
No hub map or alternate paths between levels
Respawn on the spot during boss fights (2 checkpoints or so per level otherwise, in the auto-scrolling boat levels you respawn fairly close to where you died)
Easy to rack up extra lives if you just explore a bit
Can't throw straight up/down
Somewhat maze-like levels at times although it's rarely hard to tell where you're supposed to go (one exception is the forest)
Oddly the double jump somersault is much higher if you press jump twice quickly rather than press it a second time at the peak of the first jump
Can't cancel a somersault with a throw
Can hit items with shuriken to make them fall and bounce away
Can't play as Aero
High default bounce height when opening the hidden/off the path rooms via the balloon/blow up gates (breaks flow a bit) however you can circumvent this by somersaulting before landing on the pump
Short rapids level (the level also would've been more fun if you could make longer jumps like in the toxic waste pool level)
Much less ammo in the forest level
Repeats some bosses in the final level
-
Some control/interface issues (pretty high default jump height and the regular jump's height can't be adjusted, can't throw while crouching or use the nunchuck while standing, somewhat unforgiving hit detection at times (too easy to hit the chainsaw instead of the guy holding it in the forest level), pointless automatic spin animation if throwing while running which delays the throw+Zero automatically moves backwards if close to platform edge (can cancel it by moving but it can disrupt your throwing) - can't turn these off, still can't use the nunchuck while moving after running out of shuriken - it replaces the shuriken attack at this point, a bit weird how you throw diagonally upwards just from moving upwards during a jump rather than pressing diagonally upwards while throwing (which does work while on the ground), )
Some trial & error (the game quickly expects you to know the super dive jump well+it's a bit too fast forcing some memorization and repeating of jumps (in level 3 you are also penalized by falling into lava and dying if you fail, sometimes the trail of coins also screws you over rather than helping you; the game could've been a bit more forgiving by at least letting you collide with enemies without taking damage during a super dive - which is usually the case when using the u-shaped dive jump attack unless you dive into a weapon), positioning yourself properly for some quadruple jump spots, one part in rapids 2, a strange and unexplained new move is used to finish off the final boss - stand close to him and double jump to perform it (also looks like you're doing it wrong until it suddenly works and you win), )
Some cheap traps from level 2 onwards (spring into spikes, groups of small enemies - would've been better for the game's flow if you could hold down the jump button after somersaulting to keep doing it until near the ground, bouncing boulders in the final level)
No difficulty options
No boss in the first level
Worse use of color than on SNES and fewer colors used than the MD is capable of, So-so use of the YM2612 sound chip (no drum samples, somewhat scratchy voice sfx and the same hurt sound is used for Zero and one of the mini-bosses)
Kind of annoying egg enemies in level 2
No boss music except for the final boss (SNES ver. has some more)
Some tedious aspects (too many instant death pits/hazards at times - lava could've let you escape it during invincibility frames like in Mega Man, some enemies like the drilling robots, cluttered level design vs fast movement, the tight timing of the presser hazards in the factory)
Bit of a difficulty spike at the level 3 main boss
Black background in one segment (features parallax on SNES, boo!)
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-6
Overall Score-7
+
Large variety of moves (nunchuck melee attack, shuriken throws (6-way), quadruple jump which becomes longer and longer (similar to triple jumping in Mario 64), dive jump attack (extends how far you can jump) and super dive move (quickly dive straight down then horizontally followed by straight up - a bit like using the cape in Mario but more limited), double jump somersault which also works as an attack)
Control options
Ricocheting shuriken
Great animation and good art direction
Decent cutscenes (there's an additional one in-between two levels on MD which isn't on SNES), Pretty nice in-game cutscene after beating a couple of bosses in the final level
Fast movement (can be a double-edged sword at times though as the level design can be too cluttered for fast movement and there's no real equivalent to Sonic's roll or spindash moves)
Mini-bosses
Some decent bosses (level 2, level 3 mini-boss)
Good variety overall
Less slowdown than on SNES (can be fixed with a hack)
Unlimited continues
+/-
No hub map or alternate paths between levels
Respawn on the spot during boss fights (2 checkpoints or so per level otherwise, in the auto-scrolling boat levels you respawn fairly close to where you died)
Easy to rack up extra lives if you just explore a bit
Can't throw straight up/down
Somewhat maze-like levels at times although it's rarely hard to tell where you're supposed to go (one exception is the forest)
Oddly the double jump somersault is much higher if you press jump twice quickly rather than press it a second time at the peak of the first jump
Can't cancel a somersault with a throw
Can hit items with shuriken to make them fall and bounce away
Can't play as Aero
High default bounce height when opening the hidden/off the path rooms via the balloon/blow up gates (breaks flow a bit) however you can circumvent this by somersaulting before landing on the pump
Short rapids level (the level also would've been more fun if you could make longer jumps like in the toxic waste pool level)
Much less ammo in the forest level
Repeats some bosses in the final level
-
Some control/interface issues (pretty high default jump height and the regular jump's height can't be adjusted, can't throw while crouching or use the nunchuck while standing, somewhat unforgiving hit detection at times (too easy to hit the chainsaw instead of the guy holding it in the forest level), pointless automatic spin animation if throwing while running which delays the throw+Zero automatically moves backwards if close to platform edge (can cancel it by moving but it can disrupt your throwing) - can't turn these off, still can't use the nunchuck while moving after running out of shuriken - it replaces the shuriken attack at this point, a bit weird how you throw diagonally upwards just from moving upwards during a jump rather than pressing diagonally upwards while throwing (which does work while on the ground), )
Some trial & error (the game quickly expects you to know the super dive jump well+it's a bit too fast forcing some memorization and repeating of jumps (in level 3 you are also penalized by falling into lava and dying if you fail, sometimes the trail of coins also screws you over rather than helping you; the game could've been a bit more forgiving by at least letting you collide with enemies without taking damage during a super dive - which is usually the case when using the u-shaped dive jump attack unless you dive into a weapon), positioning yourself properly for some quadruple jump spots, one part in rapids 2, a strange and unexplained new move is used to finish off the final boss - stand close to him and double jump to perform it (also looks like you're doing it wrong until it suddenly works and you win), )
Some cheap traps from level 2 onwards (spring into spikes, groups of small enemies - would've been better for the game's flow if you could hold down the jump button after somersaulting to keep doing it until near the ground, bouncing boulders in the final level)
No difficulty options
No boss in the first level
Worse use of color than on SNES and fewer colors used than the MD is capable of, So-so use of the YM2612 sound chip (no drum samples, somewhat scratchy voice sfx and the same hurt sound is used for Zero and one of the mini-bosses)
Kind of annoying egg enemies in level 2
No boss music except for the final boss (SNES ver. has some more)
Some tedious aspects (too many instant death pits/hazards at times - lava could've let you escape it during invincibility frames like in Mega Man, some enemies like the drilling robots, cluttered level design vs fast movement, the tight timing of the presser hazards in the factory)
Bit of a difficulty spike at the level 3 main boss
Black background in one segment (features parallax on SNES, boo!)