Pizza and ninjas – need I say more?

Okay, I guess I can say more. Ninja Pizza Girl is part runner, part platformer. You start the game out going from left to right, jumping and sliding under obstacles. Before long, new obstacles are added, rival pizza ninjas will attempt to stop you and call you mean things, and you’ll be going back and forth while dealing with verticality. As you do so, there are plenty of collectibles throughout the levels, which can be used for unlocking trophies by buying things such as games or new outfits. There is even an unlockable that lets you play the whole game in first person mode, which is not by any means easy.

In addition to unlockable modes, the game provides a story mode and a speedrun mode. The story, while certainly not necessary, is appreciated. It gives a bit more of a reason to play through the levels, opposed to just collecting items and getting the fastest time. Dialogue is funny, albeit unexpected at first. Who would think that the opening of the game would have you delivering pizzas to people without pants? I never expected to relive my days of delivering pizzas in the middle of personal activities. Later on you’ll bring two people together romantically, but that’s obvious when talking about pizza. What is pizza if not love? What is life without pizza?

There is also a pretty strong message about bullying throughout, obviously stating why it’s bad and what it does to people. The game touches on apologies and forgiveness, as well as friendship and love. It’s all a bit unexpected from the get go, but it fits the game well enough.

Of course, the game has its issues. Not every pizza is perfect, after all. Some of those added obstacles mentioned previously don’t always add to the game as you would expect, creating more frustrating moments than fun. Also, platforming does have it’s issues; one I kept running into being climbing. I found it was really easy to get stuck on the wall in a jump/fall pose instead of activating the animation to flip up where I wanted to be. You have to hit it just right or you’ll be stuck forever. Not really, you can get back down and keep trying, just be careful that you actually do it properly or you’ll find yourself with cold pizza.

The game doesn’t overstay its welcome by any means; like pizza, it comes and goes fast. With just over 20 levels, it can be completed in just a couple of hours. Getting all the trophies will take a bit longer though, depending on your skill. Getting all the collectibles and beating the levels the fastest way possible will add some length, but only for those looking to 100% the game.

Ninja Pizza Girl is a game that came with great excitement as every pizza does, and while it started out delicious and hot, as it cooled the taste diminished. It didn’t end badly by any means, but the overall experience wasn’t as good as the first piece. For what it is, it’s a fun game. It has some rough edges, but sets out to do what it intends. The story is ridiculous, the premise is wonderful, and there is plenty to find enjoyable if you like this genre of game. A bit more QA would’ve really helped though.

5 out of 10

Pros

• Pizza
• Most Toppings

Cons

• Some Appetizers
• Anchovies

Ninja Pizza Girl was developed and published by Disparity Games. The game launched on PC September 30th, 2015 and more recently on X1 and PS4 July 20th, 2016 for $9.99. The game was provided to us for review on PS4. If you’d like to see more of Ninja Pizza Girl, check out the official site.

 

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