Pepper Grinder does one thing very well, which is of course the drilling. I never quite got tired of it. It's so much fun flinging yourself out of the dirt!

I also like that the game supports multiple play styles. Like you can play it slow and explore to find the secret skull coins or you can play it fast and try to go for a low time. I feel the game could've also supported a score attack mode where you need to collect as many of the diamonds as possible, as they are fun to collect but are borderline useless in the game.

That said Pepper Grinder does try to do other things like make you drive vehicles and a few levels are basically shoot em ups. These other sections aren't bad, but they aren't amazing either. It kinda feels like they ran out of ways to make the drilling fun and just decided to add extra shit in to make it not as repetitive.

There is also a shop which unfortunately doesn't really sell anything interesting. You collect these diamonds throughout the game, but the only thing you can buy with them is stickers and temporary health. Stickers are especially bizarre as people interested in playing a fast paced platformer are probably not super interested in decorating with stickers. You can at least buy extra levels and different colors for your character with the skull coins, which ain't too bad.

That said, Pepper Grinder is never boring or frustrating to play. It's an overall a solid platformer with a fun drill mechanic and a great art style. I just think it could've been a bit more.