In animal news today, the A.V. Club pointed me towards a new PETA campaign. They’re trying to drum up some anger over the Super Mario franchise’s continued use of the Tanooki suit, the little raccoon getup that lets Mario fly among other powers. The argument is that Mario and Luigi and the rest of the gang are supporting the skinning of the actual Tanooki which are becoming increasingly rare. (I can understand their logic — I always keep a turtle shell on my person, just in case I need to toss it at a lurking skeleton.)

As part of their new campaign, PETA has made a video game. It’s a platform game where you play a skinned Tanooki, trying to chase down Mario, who’s wearing your fur.

I’m not sure if you ever catch him, though. I gave up after a few tries. I’m all for Flash games, but a platform game where you can’t control your horizontal movement, only deciding when you jump and for how long? That sucks. Also, I’m fine with games trying to convey ideology to me — I played the John Kerry stump speech that was Emogame 2.5 back in the day. This crappy game won’t convert anyone, though. Mostly, I just felt like pulling out New Super Mario Bros. for my DS while playing this.

Sorry to insult your game, PETA. Maybe we need some to come together over that’s animal related. Maybe we can all enjoy the video below of a pug ready for Halloween. (To be clear, the owner mentions in the comments that they only leave the costume on Chubbs for short periods of time and that they always make sure she’s done her business before putting it on her.)

Thanks to Mason for the video.