I'm currently 20 years old. Having not been alive to see them, I've had somewhat of a fascination with the 1990s ever since I was very little. 90s games and animation in particular have always had a grip on my brain, being so off the wall, so different from what I would see on TV and the games my siblings were playing. Even now, I'm always playing 4th gen games of basically random quality while a lot of my friends are talking about whatever the big new game is that I'm totally clueless on. This month's was Pizza Tower, which piqued my interest because I had actually heard about it years ago. From everything I've seen over time, it looked like a game right up my alley, so I decided recently to give it a go.

At its core, Pizza Tower is an ode to all that 90s stuff that I love. It's a bit ugly in style, but in that deliberate Ren & Stimpy or Ed, Edd n' Eddy kinda way, and I warmed up to it almost immediately. There's also a ton of recognizable 4th gen influence here, but the most obvious gameplay comparison, the one proudly worn on Pizza Tower's sleeve, is Wario Land 4. If Wario Land 4 is this purely satisfying to play, then I might as well get around to it as soon as possible. This game is so fucking fun, dude. It's such a blast from start to finish. I love the movement so much, how expressive it is, how fun it is to goof around with. The music is killer as well, only elevating the aesthetic and overall experience further. It really feels like you're playing through an old cartoon series.

My only gripe I can think of is with the bosses. They're not that bad, but they're considerably less intuitive than the core gameplay. It's sometimes hard to tell when you can hit them, though this isn't an issue with the earlier ones. They also each have double the health displayed on screen, which is just really bizarre to me. As soon as you deplete it, it refills and a second phase begins with more shit flying around. I don't have a problem with a second phase, I just wish the full health was more clearly illustrated, you know? Anyway, it might just be that I'm not very good, but each of the bosses took me several tries. I find that it really disrupts the flow of the high-octane levels inbetween. Though I suppose if they attempted to keep that speed going, there's a chance it would end up with Sonic Advance 2-esque bosses. That would probably be much worse.

At the end of the day, yeah this is really fucking good. Believe the hype, etc etc. It's clear a lot of love was put into this, and I think the 5 or so years it spent in development turned out to be totally worth it. Whether you're some kind of 90s nostalgist (or someone who's just into that kinda stuff like I am) or you just like really fast, speedrun-friendly games, Pizza Tower should be quite a treat for you.