Pizza Time Explosion is an action game that puts the player in control of a slice of pizza as it collects toppings while avoiding filthy hazards. The game might have a ridiculous concept, but there is a fun experience to be found within the cheese and dough.
Slice Of Fun
The premise of Pizza Time Explosion (for as much as it has one) is that the player takes on the role of an abandoned slice of pizza that has been dumped in a garbage chute. The pizza enters the Pizza Dimension and must grab pieces of topping to feed the ever-growing Pizza Star in the center of the stage. The player has limited time in which to grab the toppings before moving on to the next stage. If the player manages to avoid taking damage from hazards (like roaming flies or rotten toppings), then their score multiplier will increase and the resulting explosion from the Pizza Star will be all the more impressive.
The basic gameplay loop of Pizza Time Explosion involves collecting items to beat the high score, with the chance to unlock different items during the stage, such as new backgrounds. The game uses a top-down perspective, and the player has to search each stage for errant toppings. The stages keep escalating in difficulty and the player only has a limited amount of time for each, with the clock resetting once they find all of the toppings.
The player does have a few advantages in the form of pepperoni slices that can clear enemies from the stage and prune juice that can let them skip to the next stage, but this is risky as the clock won't reset. There are just enough hazards and options to keep the action interesting without bogging the player down with too many decisions, and there is a lot of a frantic fun to be had when playing. The controls are also slick and responsive, but only when using a joystick, as using a keyboard requires the player to manually turn using the buttons, which doesn't feel anywhere near as precise.
One issue that Pizza Time Explosion has is with its aesthetics. The backgrounds are trippy in the same manner as the battle screens in EarthBound. The effect can be unpleasant, especially in a fast-paced game. There are options to tone down these effects, but there are still some backgrounds that are either distracting or nauseating.
The sprites for the hazard items in Pizza Time Explosion are also difficult to make out during an initial playthrough, and it can be hard to tell between them and the toppings during the first few runs. The lack of any multiplayer mode is also disappointing, as the game would be a perfect fit for a local split-screen experience.
Kiss The Chef
Pizza Time Explosion is an enjoyable arcade-style shooter that will please those who love a challenge and beating high scores. The game isn't exactly bursting with content, but there is plenty here when you consider that it's an indie budget game that is centered around one pizza's journey to give everyone more pizza.
A PC copy of Pizza Time Explosion was purchased by TheGamer for this review. Pizza Time Explosion is available from the game's official website and it will be made available on Steam on December 18, 2019
Pizza Time Explosion