With such a huge selection of platforming games on the App Store, the debate is always raging as to what the best “Mario-like” platformer is. For my money, it’s Pizza Boy [Free], and not just because of the main character’s glorious beard and the fact that I myself used to deliver pizzas. In fact, currently you don’t even need money to see for yourself if you feel the same as I do. Pizza Boy is free for today, September 7th, to celebrate its one year anniversary since release.
In case you haven’t heard, Pizza Boy is an exceedingly cute and colorful platforming game done up in the classic 16-bit style. It contains all the coin collecting, enemy killing, and platform hopping that you would expect from such a title, and it really nailed the proper feel of speed, jumping and character movement that gave it that Mario vibe.
We totally dug Pizza Boy in our review, with the only negative comments having to do with what a short title it was. Developer Acne Play rectified that pretty well with an update last December that added a bunch of new levels and other assorted goodies, extending the experience quite a bit.
Of course, one of the best things about Pizza Boy is the nearly flawless virtual controls. I’m not sure what kind of magic voodoo the developer has infused into the game, but Pizza Boy comes as close as anything to making me forget that I’m using touchscreen virtual buttons. Several platformers have emerged since that have proven worthy in the control department as well, but a year ago Pizza Boy was easily the epitome of great virtual controls, and still is really.
What I’m really trying to boil this down to is that you’re nuts if you don’t grab Pizza Boy while it’s free. If you’re already a fan of iOS platformers but hadn’t got around to getting Pizza Boy yet, then you’re in for a real treat. If you’ve thus far been a doubter of virtual controls being precise enough for a traditional platforming game, then you owe it to yourself to try out Pizza Boy. If you can’t like these virtual controls, then you probably won’t ever like them period.
Hurry and pick up Pizza Boy while it’s free for today and check out the game discussion in our forums.