Being a fan of Nintendo can be tough sometimes. I'm sure I'm not the only one for whom Wario was as much a part of childhood as Mario. Be it when I was borrowing the first few games from my older cousins, playing the hell out of my own copy of Wario Land 4 on the GBA, or enjoying the many spinoffs he was front and center in. Wario was always there, until Nintendo decided he wasn't anymore. As the Mario games shifted more and more into a heavily protected mega franchise, Wario had to go. Mario's greedy, smelly rival was shuffled off to the eternal spin off mines. The way of almost all Nintendo IPs of course that aren't profitable enough, whatever the fuck that means in shareholder land. Luckily, Indies have given us many, sometimes even better substitutes to whatever Nintendo isn't willing to do anymore. And in 2023, a bit out of nowhere, we got another great one: Pizza Tower.

The devs at Tour de Pizza indeed created the ultimate answer to the question: Where did Wario Land go ? Apparently it turned into an awesome 2D platformer where a funny Italian man, with serious anxiety problems, fights an Evil Pizza Face trying to nuke his restaurant. Obviously.
And that is all presented through an absolute wild art style. An amazing art style. Many have compared it to old 90s cartoons drawn in MS Paint, but I can't really agree with that. For me, it seems a lot more like it's going for mid 2000s adult swim shows and Newgrounds cartoons. A bit like Super jail or Mr Pickles. The kinda off- model drawings that throw away smooth line work and continuity in its individual frames for a much faster, chaotic style that feels like you're watching a painting melt on acid before your eyes. And just like its inspirations, Pizza Tower still excels in actual animation quality. It's insane how many individual poses and expressions fill the screen at any moment, along with the movement in the gameplay. Peppino himself gets a giant TV on the top right that is shifting all the time to new hilarious expressions, all depending on what's happening to him at that moment. For sure just a giant, well earned flex by the devs.

The soundtrack accompanying his crazy pizza adventure is also one of the best I have ever heard. Its almost impossibly diverse with dark humming undertons flawellesly going into a driving beat in levels like Dont Make a Sound or entering Crust Cove and hitting you with music that wouldnt at all be out of place in Jet Set Radio. A lot of these songs stay in my head long after I closed the game.

And while this amazing soundtrack is playing you'll be air dashing with Peppino all over the place trying to reach the end of each Level. Just like Wario Land 4, when you hit the exit switch, this time not in the form of a weird frog statue but as the weirdly creepy looking John Pillar. Who's a Giant Pillar with a Human face that is holding the Pizza Tower together, of course. You're then promted to run back to the exit before the timer runs out or be chased to a game over by the games villain, Pizza Face. The first time in each level is always an anxiety inducing dash as you try to grab all the collectibles you missed while going faster than sonic could ever dream of. If your like me, you'll probably still get a bad letter grad like C or D even. But that's the other beautiful thing in Pizza Towers design: How complex its move set is and how good you become at it if you're willing to put in a bit of work. It's honestly a god like feeling when you eventually understand it and fly through the stages with the goal of reaching the top ranking. Dash through the metal block, up smash, get the secret, fall out the bottom, don't forget to get the Janitor.... It's so awesome. It must be how speedrunners or fighting games players feel when they reach their apex skill level. That said: I can't exactly claim I'm that good at it. As much as I wish I was, I will probably forever stay in the A to S tier ranking. The highest you can get is P, which requires a full run of the level, never losing your combo, then finished the second lap while the countdown is ticking down and beating each of the 3 hidden stages. Not to mention you're ranked again in total at the end of the game. It's a lot, and it already took me hours to just P Rank the first world. I think I'm good with leaving that to the professionals.

I'm just so glad Pizza Tower exists. An incredible game that just had even more content added to it via The Noise Update. An entire new character to play as with his own move set to learn and tons of new costume animations. Needlessly to say, my conclusion is that Pizza Tower is absolutly goated and makes me question if I even still need Nintendo. Seriously, just sell Wario to Tour de Pizza, they would do my favorite yellow garlic enjoyer justice for sure.

Thin crust, pepperoni, banana peppers, crushed red peppers, a little bit of grated parm of sean cheese, anchovies. You gotta have anchovies.

I wouldn't say I've been resistant to playing Pizza Tower, but I've definitely been dragging my heels. A classic case of Weatherby preferring to wait until something releases on console, or until a friend (thank you, Appreciations) buys it for me. Many cases of this happening. I am contractually mandated to play and finish The Evil Within 2 now because Larry Davis knew the only way I'd pick it up is if the overbearing weight of obligation forced me to. I guess you could say I get in my own way sometimes, but this sort of forceful nudging usually results in me having a good time, and Pizza Tower is no exception.

Barreling through enemies, charging through barriers, executing split-second rolls and leaps, careening into and up walls, and letting your momentum carry you to new areas all feels very Wario-esque, but I was surprised to see how much Pizza Tower took from other fast paced platformers like Sonic (I swear the sirens at the start of Not Legally Actionable Noid's boss fight are from Stardust Speedway), and even Super Metroid with how often you need to make tall vertical leaps à la Samus' shinespark. If you told me Pizza Tower was assembled and baked specifically for people suffering from terminal speedrunner brain, I'd believe you.

However, Pizza Tower is still very approachable for those who don't. I definitely had my share of botched inputs and there were a few sections that took me a number of attempts before I had the execution down, but once you fall into the right rhythm and embody Mr. Pepperoni or whatever the fuck his name is, it feels really good. It's also one of those games where executing on what it expects of you makes you feel like a speedrunner, even if it's actually taking you 30 whole minutes to beat the golf level.

My only real complaint is that you're never really at risk of losing a life until the chase sequence at the end of every level, and if you botch that you get to do the whole thing over again, which given the length of some levels is a bit of a problem. Though the game is checkpoint adverse, this is a somewhat minor complaint as I only managed to die probably four or five times during the course of the game.

I surprisingly don't have too much to say about the aesthetics other than that they're very good. Very 90s Nicktoons, lot of hyper-exaggerated faces and animations that lean so hard into the squash and stretch that you'd think everyone is made out of some kind of goop. That sort of elastic, malleable quality goes a long way towards selling the player on how chaotic, violent, and fast the game is. The soundtrack is terrific, too, and I especially like the full final boss suite and escape themes.

I think Pizza Tower is a pretty good game that I'm sure everyone reading this played months before I got to it, and you probably don't need me propping it up even more. I probably should've gotten to it much earlier in the year, but hey, better late than never. Excited for them to announce a physical edition for consoles in like, the next month.

Just some spectacular fun in the most greasy way possible. The MS paint pizzeria aesthetic really sells its identity well as this oily cheesy run and jump fun that you can really feel with the slippery yet responsive controls. Despite being a 2D platformer, I would definitely recommend using an analog stick to perform more precise inputs. Every stage in this game is so distinct in its level design, theme and gimmicks, yet they're all so wondrously huge that you’re really getting your $10 worth out of these 28 stages. Then there are the bosses, possibly the most exciting and exhilarating boss battles I’ve ever played for a 2D platformer where they perfectly ride the balance between challenge and fun. Seeing they’re goofy expressions while I pummel each unique boss is such a high, and this high is brought to its absolute height with the amazing final boss which is essentially the greatest boss rush ever conceived. Issa mastepees.

I haven’t played Wario Land to say how it compares to this, but Pizza Tower’s really fun! Levels are short but very creative with all the different power ups you use to get around, and the bosses are enjoyable. Can see them having a lot of replayability to try and master them for higher scores (I mostly got B ranks and kept running into walls…)

The pixel art emulating that grimy 90s Nicktoons style like Rocko’s Modern Life or Ren and Stimpy is so cool too, has a ton of charm! And the music’s awesome

Not much I wanna say here, quite the fun and unique experience. Glad to have seen that this game exploded since first hearing about it several years ago during the initial builds around 2018-2019(?) and glad that its overall an extremely polished game at its core.
My main hang up is that its just not my kind of game when you get to that core, that being a very speedrun, skill-intensive, combo building mad dash while having to manage collectibles and enemies along the way. In that sense it does remind me a lot of why I have a hard time really liking sonic games, even in 2D. I love a ton of the speed sections, hell the escape segments remain my favorite aspect but I think im not the biggest fan of having to deal with enemies during platforming, as well as some of how the boss fights play out. Namely -and maybe its just me- I just had a hard time really get the hang of certain bosses' attack patterns and what would be considered an attacking state (e.g. one boss just running past you but making contact during this state actually doesn't proc damage). You do at least have the parry mechanic to help you out with this, although its reliability varies. Also I really would have liked a faster restart upon death after boss fights, being sent to the boss door always felt like a waste of time- so I usually just gave up and restarted the level from the pause menu if I got down to 1 HP.
Regardless, its definitely a title I recommend, and I'm glad I don't have the kind of brainworms that egg me on to try for P ranks.

Pizza Tower has once again shown me that indie developers just know how to make a game fun. It is without a doubt one of the best games I've ever played. The whacky and sometimes creepy atmosphere and graphics fit perfectly to the gameplay, and had me grinning while racing through every level. From audio and visual stimuli to its chaotic gameplay, this game is truly handcrafted to perfection.


Even though the game throws you into new powerups and enemies constantly, you never feel lost or confused, because they are all introduced to you so clearly and maticulously that you immediately know what to do.

Afterwards, when the game has confirmed your understanding, it ramps up incredibly quickly, making you feel like you're mastering it at lightning speed. And boy does it feel amazing to go fast in this game! Enemies stop hurting you because they get scared, allowing you to rampage through them and only stopping when you want to (or by running into the occasional wall).

This is all accompanied by an impressively tight control scheme, that really only fails you if you use a Switch Pro Controller with drift like I did. Moves within moves are gradually added to your arsenal to make you easily transition between jumping, running and diving, raising the skill cap to the maximum.

If you for some reason ever get bored of going fast, the bosses provide a great break. I would argue two of them are a little too RNG-heavy, but that did not ruin their fun at all. A little inconsistency in the sea of dependability doesn't hurt as a change of pace.

Mastering Pizza Tower is so satisfying, too. I never felt like I didn't stand a chance against Perfect ranks or other level-bound achievements. I bet that the developers went out of their way to make perfection feel possible to encourage you to achieve it.

This game has quickly become one of my top 15, and will stay there for a long while to come. I don't think any platformer will match its magnificence for years. Although I was sweating and swearing through its chaos, I will forever remember Pizza Tower as the glorious platformer that it is.

I didn't get this game, and I'm bummed about it. I wish I could've really loved this game. The design of it didn't work for me, I don't understand what the point of it was, and the story, if there even was one, was lost on me. The gameplay was weirdly inconsistent; I don't like how it went from being super fast paced to suddenly slowing down completely in the next puzzle.

However, it wasn't completely without its merit. The music slapped really hard and was my favorite soundtrack of the year. The boss fights were well designed and probably the most fun I had while playing. It also had a great sense of humor and didn't overstay its welcome.

I could see why this game is so well liked, but as far as side scrolling platformers go, I don't think I'll look back on this one too much.

Developers Mr. Pig and Sertif were handling the pure essence of the late 90's with this one. This was like the sudden resurrection of the Ren & Stimpy show; a speed run through a Nickelodeon slime obstacle course; a junk food fueled gaming marathon with a bean bag chair and a 32" CRT.

There's a glorious level of detail in every inch of this fairly meaty experience. The Microsoft Paint art style transcends its low technical fidelity through heaps of garnish and fun animation work. Character sprites are memorable and often hilarious. Levels writhe with character, almost literally, and almost all 22-24 of them are unique in appearance. And the music accompanying it all is equally as detailed and varied, with a nice mix of classic chip-tune instruments and more modern beats with sampling.

If you have any nostalgia for the heyday of the pizza and X-games world, you'll have a wonderful time even just watching this game.

And under that is a very solid high-speed platformer.

I can't claim a large amount of experience with 2D platformers, as I've always had an odd hangup with them — thankfully I've been getting around that recently — but I know I like Rayman Origins, and the flow of the levels here is reminiscent of that. More... brutal, but similar. I've been told it's like a spiritual succesor to the Wario Land series, and I can easily imagine that with the vibe this game gives off, but I'm entirely unfamiliar with those games.

For the most part Pizza Tower is a smooth experience, and even when it's not "smooth" it's gratifyingly "chunky" with the combat and box breaking. There's also a lot of great variation in the gameplay with the level specific power ups and gimicks. The way they're tailor fit to the context you find them in keeps them from becoming throwaway "nice-to-haves" that you eventually start skipping because you either never get to the "right" time to use it or because collecting it isn't worth going out of your way for.

Doesn't hurt that they're just fun, too.

But sometimes I do feel like there's a bit too much of a conflict between the game encouraging you to go quickly and follow a clear line and it wanting to throw unexpected obstacles at you and have to learn the layout to earn your speed. The result for me was that, for the regular gameplay, there was a lot of whiplash. I also found a few of the control scheme options were a bit frustrating. In particular, a lot of the interactions around wall-climbing and diving.

I also... think the boss fights are too long. 16 hits was a bit past the point of tedium for me.

But overall that wasn't enough to ruin the experience by any stretch. And if you enjoy 2D Sonic, Mega Man, and the like, I wager you'll be much better off than my 3D brainrot crippled self.

So, unless you are particularly averse to platformers or can't understand the appeal of the art style, I would recommend giving this game a go. And if you're the speedrunning crowd, this seems like a very rewarding course to learn.

How I learned to stop worrying and love Pizza Tower.

Seriously though, despite being a bit disappointed in my first playthrough, I kept coming back to it eventually in some way. The Noise update gave me another reason to do a full playthrough since he is a pretty different character, and I think that was enough to convince me that this game is actually pretty great. As much as I want to hate it due to its Ohio rizz band kid zoomer fanbase, I really can't. It really is an exceptional game. There's a lot of charm and genuine soul put into this that's very rare these days. I even went for a few P ranks and was surprised by how addicting it was. Definitely don't have the patience to P rank the whole game, but I finally get what people love about this game.

It's still not as good as Wario Land 4 though.

Sonic if it was actually good

In all seriousness though; this game is the absolute proof that games don't always need to be these cinematic "masterpieces" with deep story or overly complex gameplay systems; all you need sometimes in a game is just some very goddamn addicting and fun high-speed platformer action, an absolutely knee-slapping sense of humor, art, and animation, and some of the tightest controls and the most creative level design in recent memory, and hey, doesn't all a game need is to be fun sometimes?

God bless you, Pizza Tower, you magnificent bastard.

They don't make 'em like this anymore. By which I mean, they don't make games where even the most inconspicuous block has a face somewhere between Peter Griffin and a creepypasta, they don't just put random-ass golf levels and FNAF parodies on the critical path and they don't spontaneously sprinkle in power-ups that constitute you rolling around in a barrel on Tony Hawk-style half pipes or getting squished into a pizza box and flying by flapping the lid up and down like a pair of wings.

Maybe the world's most boring, stick-up-the-ass critic could argue that they shouldn't make 'em like this anymore, because damn - this game sure does get confusing sometimes! I'll admit, sometimes Pizza Tower verges on sensory overload; it has the same problem I have with 2D Sonic (ironic, considering how many cues it takes from those games) in that it throws too much shit at you too fast. So many mechanics, objects, enemy types that it kinda hurts the flow of the level. But even this was less egregious than most 2D Sonics I've played in that regard, it all still flows together well enough and more importantly - so much of the stuff that these levels throw at you is so inherently wacky and fuckin' funny that you just kinda gotta throw the sneering critic aside for a moment and appreciate how much fun this game is having with you.

I think mechanically Pizza Tower does have a bit of an identity crisis. It supposedly went through quite a lot of versions and drafts during development (apparently originally being a horror game, which you can definitely see with some of the late game stuff, lmao) and the bones of indecision are still there a bit I think. I'm not sure if this game wants to be Wario Land or Sonic Mania. When you get to go fast and blaze through the level, it feels amazing! Because the game is super mechanically sound with a lot of movement options and the level design mostly accommodates for that really well - yet it also wants you to explore somewhat and pick up all the collectibles and secrets, which sometimes requires you stopping and looking, or even turning around and going back on yourself and breaking the pace. Personally, if a sequel were ever made (and god I hope it is) I think they should lean in on the Sonic stuff! The game is absolutely at its best when you're going fast and feeling the rhythm of the level design, the existence of P Ranks seems to acknowledge that, and the levels are brilliantly crafted in a way that makes them feel good to go fast through and to escape through equally fast on your way out. It's really miraculous how different almost every level feels on your way out - and how many interesting things Pizza Tower does with its level design in regards to going backwards.

As a certified goober, I love this game thematically, artistically and creatively, it has all the colour and personality and fun that only indie games and occasionally Nintendo really deliver on nowadays. In terms of pure gameplay it has moments of brilliance, but some pace-breaking and frustration that holds it back from being the very best it can be in my opinion. I know indie games don't do sequels very often, but that's why I want one to Pizza Tower so bad - because this thing is already really good, and just a touch of polish away from being in GOAT territory. Crust Cove and Deep Dish 9 are already some of the best video game levels I've played in years and that finale in general just fuckin' rules. More of that please! And less unintuitive boss hitboxes and water that behaves one way in one level and then totally differently in another!!

Asides from some of the smaller platforming parts being completely annoying with these controls and just don't mesh well with the game's overall breakneck pace and the shotgun which just flat-out doesn't work with the pace here, this is one of the most exciting games I've played in a while. 90's Nickelodeon/Cartoon Network art style alone is enough to recommend it. Soundtrack kills too! Or at least the iconic It's Pizza Time! track which violently overshadows all the other tracks with how catchy it is. Took a good while for me to get into this (and I'm still trying to figure out if I'm fighting with the controls or if they're fighting with me), but boy does it feel otherworldly when you start to feel yourself getting better at it by racking up higher and higher combos and cursing less (or less at the stuff you struggled with in the beginning) as you work your way up the tower. Highlights are Peppino's facial animations on the television (and everywhere else, the taunt button is just wonderful), corpse surfing, and the finale with racing down the tower through all the levels once again. Love that the game understands that jumping on enemies nowadays is LAME. Suplexing tomatoes and cheeses are where it's at now. So much unique stuff going on here that I could easily rack up several more hours in this. Know for a fact that should this ever get ported to Switch or should I ever acquire a Steam Deck that those several more hours would be immediately acquired. Very good game but a perfect handheld/portable game.

Pizza Tower is ingenious all around. You can tell immediately upon reaching the main menu that there is a certain look and sound to it that it strives to achieve, and all the way through it nails that perfectly. It's very reminiscent of 90s/early 00's cartoons with it's messy look that occasionally veers into the hyper absurdly detailed. It's crazy and vibrant in all respects, and the soundtrack matches that exact tone with unique tracks for every level.

It doesn't stop at the aesthetic however, as Pizza Tower plays tremendously. Plenty of movement options that those with fast reflexes (or good memorization) can absolutely master levels. Sprinting up walls, rolling through tight spaces, ground slamming blocks, and lots of other one-off gimmicks that give each level their own unique feel. Plenty of secrets to uncover too, both in the hub and each level via collectibles, secret areas, and special treasures. If you've played Wario Land before, it's the same deal here - reach the end of the level, and then sprint all the way back to the start on a timer. While the game doesn't have health bars outside of boss fights, it will certainly remind you how you are doing via it's ranking and combo system. I genuinely don't think I have any real complaints outside of not liking the second boss fight very much.

Pizza Tower is hands down a must play for anyone who loves side-scrolling platformers as it is one of the best in the genre. It just feels and looks as good as it is gross.

O melhor: Ditar seu ritmo e apreciar como cada level é bem construído
O pior: A dupla Gustavo e Brick mereciam mais fases!
Me IRL: Peppino Spaghetti (gordo, pobre, puto e ansioso)

"Mesmo quando é ruim, é bom" é uma frase que pode ser usada para definir uma pizza. E também pode ser usada para definir vários jogos indie side scrollers que se inspiram em jogos clássicos e são "funcionais". Pizza Tower tem em Wario Land sua principal influência (além de jogos como Sonic e Jazz Jackrabbit) e poderia se contentar em ser igual aquela pizza congelada de supermercado, que mata sua fome mas não tem nada de especial. Incrivelmente, o jogo tem um capricho digno daquela pizza bem recheada feita no forno a lenha, que alimenta toda a família num domingo à noite. E sim, encerro aqui as referências à pizza.

O jogo é um plataforma 2D com fases extensas, cada uma com vários segredos e gimmicks próprios. Nosso protagonista Peppino Spaghetti tem agilidade e uma gama de movimentos absurda, e é uma sensação única dominar o layout de uma fase e sair atropelando tudo o que vem pela frente como um trem desgovernado, especialmente no desafio final de cada estágio, que consiste em voltar ao ponto inicial o mais rápido possível. Mesmo com tanto foco em agilidade no seu gameplay, o triunfo no design de Pizza Tower é que ele também funciona com uma abordagem mais lenta, explorando cada canto das fases em busca dos coletáveis. Não há morte no jogo, o dano sofrido apenas afeta seu score na fase, então é fácil decidir como abordar cada desafio.

O que chama a atenção de cara em Pizza Tower é seu visual, algo como um cartoon da Nickelodeon dos anos 90 feito no MS-Paint. Imagino que não agrade todo mundo, apesar de achar bem charmoso, mas vendo o jogo em ação não dá pra não admirar a gigantesca quantidade de animações, todas muito expressivas para os mais variados tipos de situação. Menos controversa é a qualidade da trilha sonora, combinando perfeitamente com a loucura geral.

Pizza Tower é uma excelente surpresa, quem gosta de plataforma 2D tem muito a desfrutar aqui. E Peppino Spaghetti já é um dos melhores novos personagens do ano.

If there’s one thing I’ve noticed across the many 2D platformers I’ve played, it’s that they rarely allow you to go at breakneck speed. If you’re moving too fast to react to obstacles, then you will crash into them and the speed flow will be broken. So how can a platformer allow you to go fast without streamlining the level design into a series of straight lines that lack challenge? Sonic’s answer to this conundrum was to slow you down with vertical slopes and stairs for platforming sections. This worked well enough that I was convinced a fast-paced platformer must occasionally slow you down to be interesting, until now.

Pizza Tower is refreshing in so many ways I don’t even know where to begin, but I’ll try. For one, the controls are a contender for the best in any platformer. They have a slight learning curve, but all of Peppino’s movement options are responsive, satisfying to pull off, and most importantly, flow into each other seamlessly. Even when you turn around, he keeps most of that speed. Being able to run up any wall feels great and is something Sonic should consider incorporating. The momentum is perfect.

Like any great platformer, the levels are designed around these controls. There are very few moments where you will encounter a wall or obstacles that feel explicitly designed to slow you down. Even then, the knockback is very brief. To accomodate the speed, levels are, funnily enough, a series of straight lines and inclines. The reason it works here, however, is an excellent balance between moments where you can hold the run button to rampage through enemies and moments of hot-footed platforming necessitating a variety of inputs and quick reflexes. An autorunner, this is not.

As nice as all of that is, there’s only so many ways to arrange platforms. The levels would have gotten stale if they all lacked gimmicks like John Gutter, the first level. Pizza Tower is not like this. Almost every level has at least one gimmick that changes the gameplay enough to be stimulating on its own while still allowing you to move quickly. The weakest levels slow you down too much (Bloodsauce Dungeon), have uninteresting gimmicks (Pizzascare), or are simply out of place (GOLF).

The ranking system is excellently done. Grabbing all of the secrets and completing a second lap of the escape sequence while keeping my combo active was as tough and stressful as it was exhilirating and rewarding. It’s completely optional, but achieving them in my favorite levels was the highlight of my playthrough. It was so enjoyable I’d go as far as to say this is how the game is meant to be played.

Audiovisually, Pizza Tower is superb. The art style won’t be for everyone, but the exaggerated 90s flair gives it a surreal vibe that stands out from the chunky pixel art of most indie titles. Peppino is also extremely expressive no matter what you’re doing. He has a large variety of taunts, idle animations, and running cycles, all of which are buttery-smooth in motion. The sound design is an earworm, though I couldn’t help but notice a lot of it sounded similar to cartoon stock sound effects. After a trip to the wiki, I can confirm this to be true. The music is great, but only in the moment. I can’t recall any tune aside from “It’s Pizza Time!”, which is a certified banger.

Also great is the bosses. All of them have thrilling attack patterns and are far better than I would have expected for a platformer lacking a dedicated combat system. There probably could have been a time limit instead of giving Peppino a health bar to keep continuity with the main levels, but that’s a minor complaint.

Not so minor is the handling of secrets. In any other platformer I would praise their inclusion, but here, I found a lot of them to be too well-hidden and disruptive to the relentless pacing. Memorizing their locations is completely doable to earn a P-rank, but that only reinforces my point. They’re not satisfying to find for their own sake. The levels aren’t built for exploration anyway, so fewer of these or having them signposted by a trail of ingredients more often would have been appreciated.

The lighter exploration is also why, despite my comments in the first paragraph, I can’t entirely agree with the Sonic comparisons. They’re both speed platformers, yes, but their approaches to exploration and even level design are worlds apart. As much as Sonic is known for going fast, slowing down was encouraged for obtaining the Chaos Emeralds. If you didn’t care for them, the higher routes offered a quicker way through the levels when mastered. They were designed to appeal to both types of players and were very successful. Its use of physics-based movement is also still unmatched to this day and feels distinct from a dedicated run button. Just to be clear, Pizza Tower and Sonic offer completely valid ways of designing speed platformers. But they are different, and that’s a good thing. That is also why I avoided mentioning Mario’s greedy rival until now. For one, I haven’t played Wario Land 4 yet. And two, the one Wario Land game I have played, 3, is not applicable here due to its much slower, but still fascinating, puzzle-platformer design.

So, yeah, Pizza Tower is great. The best indie platformer in years. Highlighting its few flaws as much as I did only serves to highlight just how expertly cooked it is on the whole. Tour de Pizza served up a delicious debut and I’m eagerly awaiting their next meal!

Dizem que Pizza Tower é parecido com Wario. Para mim, que nunca teve um console da Nintendo nem interesse em fazer essa pesquisa; PT foi algo inovador, um mix de Coragem o Cão Covarde, pizza e plataforma.

O jogo é recheado de estilo. A trilha sonora, os chefes, as fases e até os movimentos dos personagens - tudo tem um toque característico que é puro charme. Nesses aspectos, não tenho absolutamente nada a reclamar.

No entanto, durante a maior parte do jogo, me deparei com um dilema: como conseguir correr o mais rápido possível sem sofrer danos, enquanto procuro coletáveis escondidos em cada fase? Demorei um pouco para me adaptar a esse ritmo caótico, quase contraditório; até que tudo se conectou e acabei me divertindo bastante.

Sem dúvida, este é o meu indie favorito de 2023. Além disso, PT foi um dos poucos jogos que conseguiu me motivar a continuar jogando mesmo após terminá-lo. Fiquei empenhado em descobrir segredos, melhorar minhas pontuações e desbloquear conquistas.

Jogotop.

Honestly wasn't really expecting this one to vibe with me, and certainly wasn't expecting to list it among my favorite games of 2023. Holy shit were my expectations blown away. Everything in this game works. Music, animation, design, movement, core gameplay loop - everything is exactly what it needs to be. I don't necessarily think it's the greatest game of all time, but I do think it is a perfect game in the sense that it is perfectly put together. Everything was tested to hell and back, everything unnecessary being cut or removed and every element that remains being polished to a mirror sheen. It's downright impressive, and it's a blast to play. Probably 2023's best.