Psycho Fox

Psycho Fox is a 2D side scrolling platformer title released on the Master System in 1989.

PLOT
Among a group of fox priests who worship the Inari Daimyojin (Fox Deity), one evil fox named Madfox Daimyōjin infiltrated his way to the highest ranks and took over the shrine.

After seizing the land Madfox proceeded to corrupt the land with command over thousands of evil creatures. The remaining fox priests choose a young fox as their champion who has the power to transform into other creatures to go forth and put a stop to Madfox's ways.

Gameplay
The player controls Psycho Fox, the young fox champion named for his psychic powers, as you guide him through the levels.

Psycho Fox has two main ways to attack basic enemies; he has a mid range punch ability, which has his arm stretch out in front of him, or he can stomp on enemies from above, although it often takes a few bounces on their heads to defeat them this way as Psycho Fox must squish them into the ground, otherwise they will bring themselves back to full health.

Along the way Psycho Fox will gain access to a variety of power up items by punching eggs open including extra lives(represented by a ghostly version of the player character that sprints to the right when freed), a white bag, a bottle of invincibility potion, a talisman that acts like a bomb blowing every enemy up on screen or a Shinto stick that allows Psycho Fox to transform into another animal. The invincibility potion, talisman and Shinto Stick can be accessed via the pause menu not unlike in Alex Kidd in Miracle World.

Upon selecting the Shinto Stick players can transform into one of four forms:


 * Psycho Fox: Psycho Fox is the best all rounder with good speed and jumping ability
 * Monkey: This form allows Psycho Fox to perform higher jumps at the sacrifice of a little speed
 * Hippo: This form is incredibly slow and doesn't jump very high but can be used to destroy certain blocks.
 * Tiger: This form allows Psycho Fox to sprint at incredible speeds, although his jump is slightly lower.

No matter what form Psycho Fox takes however, he will die in a singular hit if touched by an enemy...that is unless you obtain his animal ally Birdfly, a crow like creature that Psycho Fox can wear on his back like a backpack and acts as both a projectile attack when thrown, and an additional hit for Psycho Fox providing Birdfly is attached to him when Psycho Fox gets hit. Players must judge when and where to throw Birdfly to avoid leaving themselves vulnerable providing a degree of strategy.

Upon reaching the end of the level, a mini game where Psycho Fox must pick one of five pathways is played. Players can place additional Psycho Fox's on multiple paths by betting the white bags they have. Once the bet is placed Psycho Fox will walk up the pathway the player chose and arrive at either an extra talisman, an extra invincibility potion, an extra shinto stick, a hole which he falls down and the player loses or a shrine in which the player is invited to stop the roulette allowing them the ability to get up to five additional lives.

Boss battles rely on Psycho Fox performing his basic abilities(punching and jumping) with objects placed in boss arenas to defeat the giant enemies. For example, Psycho Fox must jump on a can of bug spray to harm the robotic fly boss.

Trivia

 * Psycho is a word that has similar connotations to psychic in Japan, Psychic World for example is also referred to as 'Psycho World' in Japanese.
 * Despite being made by a Japanese team and having references to Shinto Shrines and priests, the game never recieved a Japanese release.
 * Due to a typo issue, some of the Master System cartridges in Europe are mistakenly printed "Psyco Fox"
 * Bizarrely during the punching attack, the player character seems to gain a third arm that appears from behind the character rather than it being the far arm.
 * This title, Decap Attack, Magical Hat and the Famicom game 'Kid Kool' are considered somewhat of a quadrilogy as the games were developed by the same team and feature similar inertia based physics and the ability to throw a living ally at enemies. Arguably they are reskinned versions of one another.
 * Much like Teddy Boy Blues and Ghost House, the Brazillian release of this game changed the sprites to characters from Sapo Xulé, a Brazillian comic series starring a frog who had very smelly feet when he removes his shoes. Birdfly is changed to become those shoes.