It took me way too long to get around to playing this game and then once i finally did I bounced off it. Coming to terms with the controls can be tricky at first, but once I pushed myself through the first world the game really got its hooks into me.

I was a fan of the GBA Wario games that this game is inspired by and I think anyone with found memories of those games will love this one. There is also good amount of Sonic the Hedgehog feel to this game. Luckily, it does not carry over the horrifying boss design of those games ( that even Sonic Mania has to some degree).

The platforming has a lot depth to it that I will likely never explore. I've given a few attempts at P-rank, but wow its even harder than I thought. The music and aesthetic blend perfectly together. Reminds me the most of courage the cowardly dog though a lot of people have said its closer to Ren and Stimpy. There are ton of gimmicks to keep the game from becoming stale and the only downside to my playthrough was going back get enough money to unlock bosses. Though, this did force me to get a lot better executing the games platforming to speed up the backtracking.

When I first saw Pizza Tower, I was not impressed. It reminded me of those slapdash platformers of the SNES era, like Boogerman, or something like Plok!. That is, the game is kind of ugly looking, and the levels don't have much design apart from just putting platforms to jump on, and some enemies to kill or avoid. Something like Super Mario World would have some fun gimmicks every level, and they just generally looked better.

I was kind of surprised when I saw the general acclaim that Pizza Tower was getting, and I learned that the Wario Land games were the inspiration for Pizza Tower. I loved Wario Land 2 as a kid, and I think taking that as design inspiration was a great choice for this game.

When I told a friend I was playing Pizza Tower he asked me if it was a "masacore" platformer. When I think of masacore, I think of something like Super Meat Boy or Celeste. Pizza Tower is very fast and there are lots of enemies and pits to fall into...but no matter how many times you fall or get hit you won't lose the level. Apart from boss fights, you can't die, actually. I find Pizza Tower weirdly accessible in a way. It's pretty hardcore in its movement, but you don't really get penalized for messing up. You learn and do better next time.

The final boss fight is such a cathartic experience as well. What I thought was gonna be a Boss Rush turned into an experience that had me smiling the whole time.

Pizza Tower left me incredibly satisfied and I look forward to whatever Tour De Pizza makes next.

Remember Wario Land? Remember Newgrounds? Remember weird, quirked up indie games that seem to come out of nowhere but have been in development for, like, five years?

Okay that last one isn't really a throwback

Well, Pizza Tower is another entry to a steeped history of long-lived passion projects released by (possibly racist) indie developers! This game is weird! While it for sure can be thought of as a spiritual successor to Wario Land 4, it actually shares more in common with the DNA of your average 2D Sonic game. Sure, it has a similar move set and it superficially has the same core objectives as Wario Land 4, but the moment to moment gameplay is far more dependent on the momentum management and slick moveset of a typical 2D Sonic game. That said, while this game is fantastic, I actually don't think it's necessarily for everyone, including myself.

While I enjoyed the game, and played it to the end credits, I actually found the chaotic level structure and elaborate moveset difficult to get the hang of. I would find myself reaching a satisfying flow state of dashing, jumping, and taking out enemies for only a few moments before hitting a (literal) wall or otherwise falling out of rhythm. Even by the time I reached the end, I never felt like I really reached competency with the moveset, let alone mastered it. This, certainly, is a symptom of my own perilously smooth brain, and others who are more used to these sorts of games may acclimate to it better. I am sure this game would be immensely satisfying to play properly if I put the time into learning it, which I will not do.

What I will do, however, is obsessively listen to the soundtrack for this game. Say what you will about the gameplay, but the art style of this game in undeniably rich, channeling the combined asthetic of Wario Land, Newgrounds animations and edgy 90s cartoons. The soundtrack it great in isolation, and feels mostly contextually appropriate in each level. Playing Pizza Tower feels like hearing an inside joke you're not privvy to. The game defies explanation and leaves the bulk of interpretation to you. Why is this tower here? Who are these characters? Are Italians real? All questions left to you to answer. And you know what? The game is better for it.

Pizza Tower is a good game. It's a good game that I'm bad at. Watch the trailer, if you enjoy fast paced, momentum based platformers, it doesn't get better than this. If you don't... I dunno, maybe get it on sale