Hands down, my favorite Master System game ever
Ordinarily, I despise nostalgia. It's naught but a sentimental feeling that clouds one's judgment on an issue, event, or object... it makes a person recall something fondly, despite its actual quality. While internally, this would be an acceptable emotion, over time (and the advent of the internet), it's mutated into a disease in which people reject any newer versions or incarnations of the subject or its genre, even if it is clearly improved in every way.
However, in some very rare cases, I find myself looking back on specific games with fondness, even today, that weren't the greatest. Sure, there were games like the first NES Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game that I loved as a kid, but despise today, but for every one of these instances, there's something like Psycho Fox.
Psycho Fox just seemed like a different kind of platformer than I'd been used to. Whether it was the gameplay, graphics, kooky characters, or what, it just seemed to grab a hold of my interest. I wouldn't say I like it better than the almighty archetypes of the genre, such as Super Mario Bros., but when it comes to the Master System, it's head and shoulders above the rest in my book. Yes, even over Sega's own Sonic games on the console.
Much later, I discovered other games that were very similar to Psycho Fox, and in fact, may have actually been developed by the same people, according to some research. Kid Kool came before PF, and while a noble attempt at a platfomer, it seems to lack a lot of polish that Psycho Fox displays. However, on the flip side, Decap Attack and Magical Hat no Buttobi Turbo! Daibōken are technically superior to Psycho Fox in pretty much every way... but I just can't get into those games as much as I did with this title. Psycho Fox has this... je ne sais quoi that makes it a more entertaining title to me.
Looking back, a fair amount of Psycho Fox's luster in my brain may be due to my mother. While mostly a casual gamer (Shanghai and other puzzle games are more of her forté, although she occasionally would break out a Mario game and is one of the best Streets of Rage 2 players I know), she loved watching me play Psycho Fox. At times, when she especially would feel like watching, she would actually offer me a dollar if I could beat it. Seeing something that made my mother happy (as well as the nurturing of the promise of cash), it just may be that these were indeed factors that helped me grow to love the game.
Sadly, this was nearly two decades ago. My mother's health isn't the greatest, so she isn't really capable of focusing on a handheld all that well other than her own giant Android tablet. I've tried bringing over my Game Gear to have her watch me play with my Master Gear Converter, but it's not the same. Lugging a Genesis to her house is a feat in of itself, too. I've been bugging Sega over the years to do something with the game - a Virtual Console port (specifically Wii since she has one), a remake, a sequel, even a cameo... but I've just gotten the old "we can't take ideas from customers" blah blah that the sent me back when I was a kid and drew pictures of games I wanted them to make. I love a great deal many of games, but if there was one that I could personally usher a revival for if given the chance, it would be this one. If not just for me, then for my mom.