Analysis of Zero: The Kamikaze Squirrel

Never before have we seen a squirrel so angry and with such a thirst for violence as in Zero: The Kamikaze Squirrel

I admit that in the glory days of 8 and 16 bits I admired games featuring “pets”. What if the iconic blue hedgehog, Earthworm Jim, Ristar’s shooting star, fish who thought they were James Bond… A huge list of geniuses, even if the proposal we have on the table has always remained in my mind. His name is Zero The Kamikaze Squirrel, and many of you will surely know him for being one of Aero The Acro-Bat’s enemies.

Kung Fu Beast

It is spin-off from the Aero the Acro-Bat saga It was released to the market in 1994 by Sunsoft and Iguana Entertainment. Today, 30 years later, the inhabitants of Ratalaika Games brings back this game where the platform challenge is on another level. As in the original part, we will continue to control Zero, a squirrel who abandons his teacher Ektor to go save the forest where his family lives. This gesture is not very funny for the villain on duty, and will by all means prevent our friend from achieving his goals.

Little to nothing has changed from the initial delivery to what we have today. Zero: The Kamikaze Squirrel is a full-fledged port, in a very similar way to what we’ve seen with other games that Ratalaika usually brings. This can be good if we want to preserve the “essence” of these classics, but bad because it results in some playable aspects that don’t fit the current era.

Sciuride precision

We are facing a very difficult match. And not because the enemies are complex to defeat, but because jumps that require a lot of skill and hours of trial/error. Zero has a very particular double jump that, depending on the inertia before the jump and when the button is pressed, will behave one way or another. It’s a big problem when you have to go for a long time, because you never know for sure if you’re going to make it.

Nobody tells you anything about the controls either, and Even though it seems at first glance that this feisty squirrel doesn’t have any combos, there are certain moves that we need to know to overcome certain parts of each phase. For example, if you hit the Rb once while jumping, it will fall downward. But if you press the same button again during this move, our hero will start hovering for a long time. I didn’t know we were dealing with a flying squirrel, and knowing this trick “It was difficult for me” to go to a guide to see how the hell it was done.

Retro trip, but we m iss the air conditioning

I know we’re looking at an almost 1:1 port to the original, but There are things that could have been touched to improve the player’s quality of life. Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel has a very limited field of vision, and as soon as you gain speed, you are likely to crash into an opponent or a trap. If we add to these clashes a pixelation which penalizes on large screens… well we have a problem.

Be careful, just as I say it has its flaws for those expecting a “contemporary” but old school platforming title, the truth is that it is a direct trip into our past without reservations. The type of phase he has, the extras we gain as we go along, his music so in tune with the times… Everything is very nineties. In addition, it has some extras for older children, such as blankets, assets and certain illustrations referring to Zero the kamikaze squirrel. Ah! and we have the famous manual rewinding, which is incredibly great for these types of difficult propositions.

Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel Conclusion

Ratalaika continues his great feat of bringing back titles from the past that have gone unnoticed and are in dire need of a second chance. Like Aero the Acro-Bat, this is an old-school platforming title where the challenge lies in the precision of the jumps. Unfortunately for most current users, Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel hasn’t changed at all, meaning we’re faced with a ridiculous field of view, with pixels like fists on big screens, and a system of control without guides or tutorials that will make our lives impossible. Fortunately, we have the fast rewind system which works wonderfully for this type of game. Recommended only for the most purists and veterans of the sector.