Psycho Fox (Sega Master System) review "What connotations to you get when you put the words Psycho and Fox together? Possibly your mind will come up with some bizarre images but I bet that you won’t even come close to what the game Psycho Fox is like. When I first head of this game I was in wonder about the nature of the character that I could play. Was he an ordinary fox with simple ambitions or was it something more? "

What connotations to you get when you put the words Psycho and Fox together? Possibly your mind will come up with some bizarre images but I bet that you won’t even come close to what the game Psycho Fox is like. When I first head of this game I was in wonder about the nature of the character that I could play. Was he an ordinary fox with simple ambitions or was it something more?

What I found was something very odd indeed! A cute platformer that seemed to appeal to the younger generation more than my one. I picked it up anyway as I find myself unable to resist “cutesy” games like this, especially on the older systems. At first I had a few problems, mainly the sloppy controls but when I got used to it I found a pleasant experience. Then I discovered:

This game IS Decap Attack!!

Maybe not exactly Decap Attack but it sure has its similarities with the ghostly platform game. There are a few features that were taken over to Decap Attack years after this game was released. First thing was the Head feature which has now been replaced by an oversized sparrow that you can hurl at enemies and also the characters primary attack which is now a punch (with a fist that looks more like a penis than a clenched fist! What were you thinking Sega?) instead of a stretched out head butt. Even the bonus level was on Decap Attack where you can select different paths to get different goodies. If you have played Decap Attack then you’ll get the gist of it.

One unusual feature in this game is ability to switch to one character to another almost instantly. You can switch between Psycho Fox, who is an all round character that can do everything evenly. The hippo is the strongman, who can actually break some walls down and the monkey is very fast and can leap higher and further than anyone else. The other character is a tiger, which is way below average, mainly due to his crap reach and his weak jump. This feature is pretty fun as you may find some platform games can run short because you get sick of after level three but this game gives you a selection, which, in my opinion was a great idea!

The only main problem here is the very stiff controls. When you jump forward you won’t go to far so you’ll have to get running to gain momentum so you will actually get anywhere. This can be very irritating at times, as you don’t know how far you’re going to go before you go to far. Also you can only be hit once therefore your speed and the crummy controls mean that if you speed you will get hit by an enemy pouncing out at you, and they do that a lot!

So a game with this originality and (1989) entity must have some pretty wacked out bosses and enemies, who is correct and even better thing was that none of the bosses or boss themes were put on Decap Attack! A giant fly, a funny looking oversized gopher, who blends into the scenery quite nicely and a heavenly Fox God are the bosses here. Unusually the bosses need a special gadget to kill them unlike your traditional punch and jump routine. Here you will have to use swift skill and razor sharp reflexes to use the gadgets provided to your thing. Fox might be able to spray aerosol into the eyes of a giant fly, shoot cannons at a ring monster and throw rocks at a God. Possibly one of the only games that allows you to throw boulders at God!



All in all though I enjoyed Psycho Fox , although it wasn’t my favourite Master System game (it ain’t no Dynamite Dux I’m telling ya!) it was worth playing through. I guess if you collect these kinds if games then I recommended digging it out but only if you have finished with the other platform games. Alex Kidd and Wonder Boy are a lot better in many ways but if you have done with them then collect it! You won’t be disappointed, I guarantee it!

Community review by goldenvortex (April 29, 2004) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.