Animal advocacy group PETA has set their sights on gaming's most recognizable character. They claim that Mario's Tanooki suit encourages the skinning of innocent raccoons.
"When on a mission to rescue the princess, Mario has been known to use any means necessary to defeat his enemy—even wearing the skin of a raccoon dog to give him special powers," said PETA on their website. "Tanooki may be just a 'suit' in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur."
"By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur. Play Super Tanooki Skin 2D and help Tanooki reclaim his fur!"
Super Tanooki Skin 2D is a 2D platformer in which you play a skinned racoon chasing after Mario. Mario, of course, is clad in your blood-drenched fur. Pretty gross, but I suppose that's the idea.
Whether or not you actually agree with the PETA's politics, the game's actually kinda fun. Because you're trying to catch Mario, you're forced to collect coins and dodge obstacles at a quick pace. It's not ground-breaking but the production values are pretty strong.
This isn't the first parody game PETA has released. In previous years, they've launched Super Tofu Boy and Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals.
Last week, the German wing of PETA criticized Battlefield 3 for allowing players to knife rats. No, they didn't release a Flash game for that one.
