When you break a platformer down to its very basics, the key to success is great-feeling movement. Running, jumping, double jumping, whatever it is you do in the game, it has to feel perfect. Thanks to its inventive drilling mechanic that lets you zip around stages, this year’s charming indie Pepper Grinder is a great entry in the platformer genre. You might have missed the game when it was released on Switch and PC earlier this year, but now that it’s on PlayStation and Xbox you have another chance to get in on the fun.
At the start of Pepper Grinder, you wash ashore an island full of enemies as the titular heroine Pepper—that’s one half of the title! Soon enough you get access to a giant drill , the Grinder — wow, that’s the other half of the title. The Grinder allows you to drill into different surfaces in each level, offering a unique movement mechanic that everything else in Pepper Grinder is built around. While moving through ground with the Grinder you feel like you are shooting through water, and you can pull off thrilling moves like jettisoning yourself out of the ground to make big leaps. When you pick up the basics of movement and get into the rhythm, stringing together jumps and drilling into the ground to pick up speed and rush through levels is an exhilarating feeling that never gets old. At its best times Pepper Grinder’s flow-state movement mechanics evoke the very best platformers.
The only place Pepper Grinder really puts the brakes on its fun movement-based adventure comes when combat becomes a heavier focus. There are boss fights sprinkled in and your average grunt enemy to take down across stages but combat isn’t nearly as thought out or satisfying as speeding through levels. However, the best additions to Pepper Grinder come in its later stages, where the levels amp up just enough to keep offering a new challenge. Once you get into the game’s excellent movement you’ll find yourself rushing through levels as fast as possible until suddenly the game is over.
Pepper Grinder is now available on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
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