So here I was, all about to go on and on about the strangeness of the Tanooki suit, and how it never made sense to turn into a statue. But then I typed "Tanooki" into Google and got this. Japanese Raccoon Dog? Who has ever heard of those things before?Apparently they are master of disguise and shapeshifters, which I guess explains the statue thing. It was always a difficult thing to actually keep the Tanooki suit for any length of time, because you were so excited to get it you would inevitably start getting distracted by its weird powers and would stop paying attention to actually finishing the level. I think the Hammer suit was even rarer, yet this one was certainly more stylish.
It gets even better. Read the rest of that Wikipedia article and learn about its 'backpack' and 'drums' and you'll know what I'm talking about. Apparently they make a soup out of them as well. I don't know, if forced to make a choice, I'd think I'd prefer badger soup....
