- Exceptional, fast-paced platforming experience
- Highly engaging and replayable
- Unique, expressive art style and masterful soundtrack
- Steep learning curve and high difficulty
- Challenging 'P Rank' system
- Inspired by Wario Land and Sonic
Emotions
Players feel satisfied by mastering the game's mechanics, achieving high completion rates (101%, P-ranks), and overcoming challenges. This is often coupled with appreciation for the game's fluid gameplay, unique level designs, high-quality art, music, and overall value for money, leading to a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment.
Excitement stems from the game's fast-paced, chaotic, and energetic gameplay, often described as an 'adrenaline rush.' Players are thrilled by incredible movesets, unique gimmicks, and the challenge of achieving high ranks. The high quality of the soundtrack, visuals, and the anticipation of future content or mods also contribute significantly to this emotion.
Joy is frequently expressed due to the game's inherent fun, humor, and replayability. Players enjoy the fast-paced action, creative levels, and humorous characters, often finding themselves smiling or laughing while playing. The ability to achieve P-ranks and the overall positive, engaging experience also contribute to a sense of delight.
Frustration primarily arises from the game's high difficulty, especially when attempting to achieve P-ranks or overcome challenging bosses and levels. Issues like initial difficulty with controls, minor design flaws, game crashes, or mod incompatibility also contribute to moments of annoyance and a desire to 'punch the monitor.'
Admiration is directed towards the game's exceptional quality, often described as a 'masterpiece.' Players highly praise the meticulous level design, deep gameplay, phenomenal soundtrack, unique art style, and the dedication of the developers. The game's ability to set new standards for platformers and its engaging characters also inspire strong admiration.
Verdict
Mostly positive
Summary
Positive 97% · Negative 3%. Score: 3 / 100
Positives:
- Players overwhelmingly praise the game as one of the best 2D platformers ever, highlighting its exceptional level design, varied mechanics, and fast-paced, addictive gameplay. Many consider it a masterpiece and a standout indie title.
- The game offers deep, rewarding gameplay that encourages skill, memorization, and quick reflexes. Players find it highly addictive and replayable, with many returning to achieve 100% completion, P-ranks, and explore all content.
- The game's unhinged, chaotic, and cartoony art style, reminiscent of 90s cartoons, is widely appreciated. Its expressive character animations, zany sprite designs, and vibrant pixel art contribute significantly to its unique charm and personality.
- The soundtrack is consistently lauded as exceptional, with many calling it a masterpiece. Its energetic, punchy tunes perfectly complement the fast-paced action, enhancing the game's atmosphere and contributing to the overall adrenaline rush.
- The controls are easy to learn and intuitive, making the game accessible for new players. However, mastering the tight and responsive movement, along with various mechanics, offers a satisfying challenge for those aiming for perfection.
Negatives:
- Many players found the game's initial difficulty, controls, and fast pace to be overwhelming and frustrating. The brief tutorial and lack of guidance for advanced mechanics contribute to a challenging onboarding experience, making the game less accessible for casual players.
- Several boss fights, particularly the second boss, Fake Peppino, and the final boss, are criticized for being overly difficult, poorly designed, or relying on 'troll tactics'. Players felt these encounters often deviated too much from the core gameplay and required excessive attempts.
- The Noise character and his associated update received mixed feedback. Players noted a lack of unique level layouts for his campaign, issues with his moveset, and glitches preventing proper play. Some found P-ranking him particularly difficult.
- Players expressed a desire for more content after completing the main game and achieving 100%. The current endgame primarily revolves around P-ranking, and many wished for official DLCs, new levels, or alternative challenging modes.
- Multiple non-English translations, including Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and Italian, were criticized for being of poor quality. Players reported issues with machine translation, inconsistent terminology, and overall lack of proper localization.
Gameplay:
- Players primarily control Peppino Spaghetti, a pizza maker on a mission to save his pizzeria. Peppino has a complex and fluid moveset, including running, jumping, attacking, parrying, and wall climbing, which are essential for navigating levels and building combos.
- Achieving a 'P Rank' on levels and bosses is a significant challenge, demanding perfection, map memorization, and maintaining an unbroken combo from start to finish. This high standard of performance requires considerable skill and effort.
- The game is easy to pick up but difficult to master, requiring players to learn complex abilities, controls, and new mechanics introduced in each level. It demands significant skill, brain usage, and often involves trial and error to overcome its dynamic and fast-paced challenges.
- The core gameplay is a high-speed, frantic 2D platformer with parkour and beat-em-up elements. It emphasizes speed, requiring players to zip through levels, maintain combos, and often restart to improve performance for higher ranks.
- A core mechanic involves 'Pizza Time,' where after destroying a pillar, players must race back to the level's start before a timer runs out. Failure to do so results in Pizzaface chasing the player, leading to a level restart if caught.
Performance:
- Many players reported that the game is technically flawless, experiencing no bugs, crashes, or optimization issues. It runs smoothly on a variety of hardware configurations, including older or less powerful PCs.
- Players noted the game has a small file size, which is seen as a positive aspect, making it accessible and easy to download.
Recommendations:
- Players overwhelmingly recommend this game, praising its fast-paced, energetic, and challenging platforming gameplay. Many consider it a must-play, especially for fans of the genre or those seeking a unique experience.
- Reviewers express strong interest in future games from the developer, Tour De Pizza, and hope for continued updates or sequels, indicating a desire for more content in a similar style.
- The game consistently receives very high ratings, with many reviewers giving it 9/10 or 10/10 scores, reflecting widespread satisfaction and critical acclaim.
- Many players highlight the game's successful blend of Wario Land's gameplay style with the speed and energy of Sonic the Hedgehog. This combination is a major draw for fans of both series.
- The game's unique visual style and superb soundtrack are frequently praised, contributing significantly to the overall positive experience. Some even recommend listening to the music independently.
Miscellaneous:
- There is a strong demand for new content, including updates, additional characters, a level editor, and especially a sequel. Players are willing to pay for new content and express excitement for future releases from the developers.
- Players consistently express deep enjoyment and high replayability, with many dedicating hundreds of hours to the game. They frequently replay it, strive for 101% completion, and achieve all available achievements, indicating strong long-term engagement.
- Players frequently engage with the game's humorous Italian and pizza themes, often jokingly stating they are 'turning into an Italian' or developing 'pizza PTSD.' This indicates a strong, memorable thematic immersion.
- The game's pixel art, combined with its crazy, unique, and dynamic animation style, is highly praised. It's described as full of life, reminiscent of old cartoons, and distinctively unusual in the gaming landscape.
- The game is considered suitable for a wide audience, including kids, teens, and adults, despite its 'T for Teen' rating. Its minimal text also makes it accessible even without full language support.
