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ZERO THE KAMIKAZE SQUIRREL Company: SunSoft Released: November 1994 Genre: Side-Scroller Graphics: 9.0 Control: 8.5 Sound/Music: 9.0 Storyline: 9.0 Review by: Corbie Dillard ©2008 SUPER-NES.COM

It seems as though Iguana, the developers behind the Aero the Acrobat series of games, were only getting their feet wet with Aero. Released as a spino-off of sorts, Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel takes the basic principles of platforming found in the Aero series and cranks it up to 11. It seems that every gripe the fans had with the Aero the Acrobat games has been more than adequately addressed. More moves, longer levels, better music, faster action, and overall just a much more playable game this time around. Zero was Viewtiful Joe before there was a Viewtiful Joe. Visually, Zero is outstanding. Extremely vibrant colors, great detail in all of the areas, and some really well drawn backdrops. I do wish there had been just one more level of parralax scrolling, but given the sharp look of most of the backgrounds, it's really hard to complain. Zero is also a well-drawn character that has many, many different animations for all of the different movements he makes throughout the game. You'll also see a lot of movement and animation in each of the levels. The water levels have a cool motion effect that you don't see that often in Super NES games. You're also going to get at least a small dose of some of the special effects the SNES is best known for, mainly transparency effects. It seems Iguana wanted to go all out for this game, and the huge step up from the Aero the Acrobat series is one tell-tale sign. For a non-rendered game, Zero looks damn nice. In a serious departure from the Aero the Acrobat music style, Iguana went for a more rockin' soundtrack for Zero. I guess with the more up-tempo play style of this game, it's only fitting. I would have liked to have seen more variety in the music tracks, but what is there is great. The electric guitar doesn't sound very authentic, but this isn't a CD-based game so I guess they made due with what they had. I'm one of those gamers that always found the Aero the Acrobat music a little too cheesy at times, so Zero's soundtrack was a nice surprise for me. The sound effects are nothing special, but at least you'll get a heaping dose of kung-fu sound effects, for those that are into that. Overall it's a big step up from previous Iguana game music and fits well with the games mood and style of play. One of the biggest complaints most gamers had with the Acrobat series was the play control. Sometimes it was a little too vanilla and the pace of the game was just a little slow. That's been remedied here, and the action in this game moves along at a brisk pace. Zero also has an incredible amount of moves at his disposal. He can run, jump, throw ninja stars, perform back and front flips, dive to the ground, punch, kick, and even fly. You'll need all these moves, as the levels are generally laid out in a manner that requires different moves for different situations. So the first thing you had better do when you begin playing this game is get acquainted with the controller layout and all these moves. The change-of-pace levels, like the jet-ski area, also keep the game from getting too stail in places where it's been one side-scrolling level after another. As with navigating the levels, certain Zero attack moves work better on certain enemies than others. One thing that makes this game so much fun is trying to figure out which works best. As in Aero the Acrobat you'll also spend a lot of time doing some serious platforming as well. In fact, most of the later levels are large not only side-to-side, but also up-and-down so you're going to be doing some serious bouncing up and down and flying to reach some of these areas. And what would a side-scroller be without some secret areas. You'll come across quite a few secret rooms that you'll find carefully hidden throughout each of the levels. I'm also gonna give a thumbs up for the end level sequence. I enjoyed pulling down the shade everytime I got to the end of a level. In fact I caught myself looking forward to it at times. (Can't believe I admitted that!) Overall Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel is everything we had always hoped the Aero the Acrobat games had been. It's a terrific platformer, and stacks up well even against some of the best the Super NES has to offer. I've always been a big Aero the Acrobat fan, but even I can admit that Zero eclipses it in almost every area of the game. If you're looking for something a little different in the long list of side-scrollers the SNES has to offer, pick up Zero. You're not likely to find a more playable platformer around.