Pizza Pop!
Pizza Pop! (ピザポップ!) is a 1992 Japanese video game by Arc Co., and published by Jaleco for the Nintendo Famicom. The game stars a part time pizza shop employee who delivers pizzas while avoiding hazards.
Plot
The game stars Kid who is working part-time at a pizza shop.[1] He is trying to save money to buy a ring for his girlfriend.[2] However Nick, a rival employee from another pizza shop attempts to prevent this. Kid must deliver pizzas all over the city while avoiding Nick's disturbance so he can buy the ring.[3][4] He delivers a multitude of different pizzas all over the city, including curry pizza, mixed pizza, seafood pizza and Fruit pizza.[5] At the end of the game, Kid does not buy a ring for his girlfriend, but Nick gives them a bouquet.[5]
Development
The game was developed by Arc Co., Ltd., which was later renamed Arc System Works.
Gameplay
Pizza Pop! is a side-scrolling action game.[1] And it contains seven levels in total.[5] Stages have a time limit, and at 30 seconds remaining an alarm will sound.[5]
Balloons can be found in the stages in the game, and they drops items.[5] One such item is a pizza symbol which earns the player 100 points.[5] Another item is a heart symbol which restores health.[5] Another item is a symbol showing kid's face. This symbol which gives the player another life.[5]
Once a player loses all their health, they loser a life. After losing three lives, they get a game over, where there is a scene showing Kid being berated by his boss. From there, the player can use a continue and start from the beginning of the stage.[5] However there are only two continues. Thus, the player must finish the game with only a total of 9 lives.[5]
The rival Nick appears at several points in the game. For instance, in the first stage he appears as a mid-boss by summoning several cats, and then later at the end of the stage summoning a boss.[5]
There's a wide variety of enemies to encounter in the game. These include cats, dogs, kids, people.[2]
After several stages, there is a bonus stage. The player must collect pizzas and then put them into the oven. The player earns 100 points per pizza, and will receive a life if no pizzas are dropped.[5]
Kid is armed primarily with a spatula as a weapon, but it doesn't have much range.[5]
During the levels, various background characters can be seen such as a weightlifter training in the streets.[5]
The player can move in four directions, and can jump as well. The player can also use the collected pizzas to heal their health.[3][6]
There is also a special attack where enemies can be flattened into a pie shape by jumping on them, then collected with the spatula. Then these flattened enemies can be then thrown at other enemies as a projectile.[7][5] This can sometimes be the only effective way to reach certain enemies.[2]
One level in the game is a delivery to a beach. The first half of the stage is advancing past a broken bridge, while the second half is using a Jet Ski to finish the delivery.[8]
Several stages use vehicles such as a motorbike or a jet ski, before switching back to on foot.[5]
Stages in the game include a beach, streets, a haunted house, a port city, and a construction site.[5][8]
The stages contain hazards for the player to encounter, such as conveyor belts. In other areas, pressing a switch can activate cranes.[5]
Release
The game was released on January 7, 1992 by and published by Jaleco for the Nintendo Famicom home console.[1] The game was released near the end of the the life span of the Famicom console.[5] The Super Famicom, the system to replace the Famicom had been released on November 21, 1990.[9]
In 2017, the game was featured as a challenge on the Japanese television series Game Center CX.[10]
Reception
Upon release, in the "Cross Review" section the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu four reviewers gave the game a total score of 18 out of 40. Reviewers noted that despite the novel setting, the game is a rather standard unoriginal game.[1]
Readers of Family Computer Magazine (Famimaga) voted to give the game a score of 15.8 out of 30.[11]
Polish magazine Top Secret gave it a score of three out of 5 while saying the graphics were fine, but the animations did not impress.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d "ピザポップ [ファミコン]". Famitsu. Enterbrain. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b c d "Nintendo: Pizza Pop!". Top Secret. No. 27. June 1994. p. 38.
- ^ a b Jaleco Archives. Tokyo: Yasuhon Corporation. 2016. p. 97. ISBN 9784408112039. OCLC 967584371.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "Pizza Pop Instruction Manual". Jaleco. 1992. pp. 2–3.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Pizza Pop!". Game Center CX. Episode 234. February 16, 2017. FujiTV One.
- ^ "Pizza Pop Instruction Manual". Jaleco. 1992. p. 4.
- ^ "Pizza Pop Instruction Manual". Jaleco. 1992. p. 5.
- ^ a b "Pizza Pop Instruction Manual". Jaleco. 1992. pp. 5–9.
- ^ "Retro Diary: 08 November – 05 December". Retro Gamer. No. 122. Imagine Publishing. 13 December 2013. p. 11.
- ^ "ゲームセンターCX - フジテレビONE/TWO/NEXT(ワンツーネクスト)". otn.fujitv.co.jp. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
- ^ "「超絶 大技林 '98年春版」". PlayStation Magazine. Tokuma Shoten / Intermedia Company. April 15, 1998. p. 111.