Friday, May 24, 2013

Acquisition Time with The Gay Gamer™: Pizza Pop! (Famicom)

No one's ever accused me of having an altogether level head with it comes to buying games--especially Japanese ones from the 8-, 16- or 32-bit eras.

Case in point: the recent-ish pick-up seen in the following photos.



The pick-up in question is Jaleco's Pizza Pop! for the Famicom, of course. While most people consider this side-scrolling platformer to be of questionable quality (at best), it's always held a special place in my heart.

Why? I'm not entirely sure. Yes, I like its "totally '80s" graphics, and I'm also pretty darn fond of its colorfully cartoonish packaging, but I'm not sure that tells the whole story.


Regardless, I like the game quite a bit--which is why I nabbed this particular copy as soon as I came across it on ebay a few months ago.

I've only popped it into my lusciously red Twin Famicom once since then--mainly so I could make sure it's in full working order--but I'll return to it sooner rather than later, there's no question about that.


In the meantime, I invite you to take in the photos published throughout this post and the walkthrough video that can be found here.

The photo below highlights a particularly interesting part of this game's box, by the way--specifically, the advertisement that appears on its top "flap."



Have any of you played Pizza Pop! before--either using a real cartridge and Famicom or via emulation? If so, what did you think of it?

See also: previous posts about the Famicom

12 comments:

sharc said...

i see your cart doesn't come with jaleco's bottom "slipcover" bit that snaps over the connectors. ordinarily that might sound snide, but LET ME TELL YOU you're better off without the damned thing. any time i try to pry it off it feels like i'm the wrong dude trying to take the sword in the stone.

oh, right, the game itself? colorful and got some neat style to it. i feel like they couldn't quite make up their mind between making a game about cheesy americana and a one about delivering pizza to hilariously dangerous videogame locations. prepare to shake your fist at the pizza spatuala thing's three pixel-long range and the way your jumps all have way too much hangtime! not that it isn't worth finishing, but, y'know.

thegaygamer.com said...

Oh! I didn't even know such a thing existed before you brought it up, sharc, as this is my first time at the Jaleco Famicom game rodeo.


Also, it doesn't surprise me too much that this particular copy is missing some element or other, as I got it for about $10 on ebay. Despite the game's questionable quality, I was expecting a CIB copy of this game to cost many times that.


Of course, the box is dinged up to hell, so that alone could explain the price, too.


Regardless, I'm glad I finally own a copy of it. Yes, the game is pretty heavily flawed, but I still like it :)

sharc said...

yeah, just trying to circumvent the horrible alternate timeline where
you find out this is missing a bit and maybe get the idea it is worth
tracking down a complete cart for the sake of that stupid cover thing. it is very much not.

fc
stuff is kind of weird in that outside of the big names and equivalents
to expensive NA titles, a lot of good games go for chump change if
you're patient. with the nutty price bump in the nes market i consider
selling the whole lot and going famicom-only.

thegaygamer.com said...

Oh, you don't need to worry about me looking for an even more complete copy of this game, sharc. I'm not *that* much of a collector/completist.


I agree with you about a lot of Fami games being reasonable enough when it comes to pricing, although like you said, you have to be patient with some of them.


Lots of people still like to overprice their games in the hopes that some sucker will buy them, so you really have to wait around for someone to offer up an actual auction or a more reasonably priced "buy it now" option.

michaelstearns said...

I have to say I'm intrigued by the shots on the back. What's going on on those girders? Is he climbing a rope or using some kind of hoot shot? (Maybe it's overly optimistic to expect a hook shot!) And riding a delivery bike! I totally want to try it out.


Is that Ikari Warriors on the top flap?

thegaygamer.com said...

It's definitely not a hook shot, Michael, although I can't remember exactly what it is either. I think he's just grabbing onto a hook?

Anyway, yes, this game definitely throws a bunch of different gameplay elements at you.


Not all of them are implemented successfully, of course, but it's still worth playing through if you're at all interested in the premise, I think.

VGJunk said...

I guess you already know what I think of Pizza Pop, ha ha! This is the first time I've seen a decent shot of the box art - so he really is supposed to look like a bellhop? What an odd choice, but then it's a Jaleco game so I wouldn't expect anything else.
P.S. he is just hanging onto a hook, yeah.

thegaygamer.com said...

Yeah, the "bellhop look" is weird. Maybe that's how the Japanese think American pizza delivery guys/gals dress?

Kaze said...

Wow, very cool! I had never heard of this game before! After checking out some footage it looks really cute! I should track it down
and try playing it. The colors and setting kind of remind me of EarthBound a bit! ^^

apricotsushi said...

I don't know anything about this game, but I love the illustrations!

thegaygamer.com said...

Yeah, that's part of the reason I wanted a complete-in-box copy of this game, Anne. Actually, the in-game graphics are pretty nice, too--it's in the gameplay that things break down a bit. Still, it's pretty fun.

thegaygamer.com said...

Well, I'm glad I could educate you about it, Marty! Also, I'd definitely say it's worth trying if you like 8-bit platformers--although I have to warn you that it's a tough game, and sometimes in a kind of "cheap" way.