Devolver Digital is at it again with another unique and fun indie game. Welcome to Pepper Grinder.
Don’t worry, this isn’t a simulation game of your everyday kitchen utensil but rather an action packed, fast paced 2D platformer featuring a powerful handheld drill.
This world is brimming with influences from many of your favourite retro games including Dig Dug, Mega Man and a little sprinkle of Donkey Kong Country.
Meet Pepper
Treasure hunter Pepper, our protagonist, is washed up onto a distant shore after her ship was destroyed in a treacherous storm.
When she awakens, she finds a group of strange looking creatures, called Narlings, running off with her treasure.
As she gives chase, a dark shadowy figure appears to stop her in her tracks. Falling into a deep cavern, Pepper grabs onto the only thing sticking out from the walls, which ultimately comes loose. This is Grinder, that awesome drill on the end of her arm, her partner and main weapon in the game.
Gameplay
Pepper Grinder adheres to traditional 2D platformer gameplay, featuring the classic progression from point A to point B across its levels. There are four worlds in the game (beach, caverns, underwater, volcanic) each having four levels, one secret level, which can be opened using a key, and a boss.
The twist here is the movement; using Grinder, I was able to majestically dive through sand and dirt, like a dolphin, building up speed along the way.
Each level provides unique challenges ranging from platforming, combat, puzzles and at times, all three.
The levels are well crafted, especially when introducing a new mechanic to the player. Similar to a 2D Mario game, Pepper Grinder always introduced me to something new at the beginning of the level where it was easy to test out.
As the level progressed, my new skills were evaluated in the form of some devious platforming which, at times, tried my patience. However, I was always able to persist and fight my way through the challenges to complete the levels.
Extra Pep In Your Step
The movement feels great in this game, especially when you have momentum up. Watching Pepper jumping and boosting through the many sandy platforms whilst effortlessly drilling her way through the thick earth is pure joy.
Having to dig and leap across sections, rather than just traditionally jumping from one platform to the next, is the highlight of Pepper Grinder.
However, when the speed is no longer there, Pepper walks at quite a meandering pace, feeling as if somehow she is being dragged down by the big metal drill on her arm. It feels quite jolting to suddenly move slowly and I couldn’t wait to be gliding through the muddy surfaces again.
At times, the platforming can be frustrating, especially with the grappling mechanic proving to be particularly challenging. Having to push one button to grab onto a hook and then quickly push another button to drill through sand caused me to die over and over again. This made me quite salty whenever I saw an upcoming grappling point.
Respawning after falling down a pit is quick and puts you right back where you left off. However, if you completely lose your health bar it is back to the checkpoint for you — which means redoing those maddening platforming sections again.
Start Your Engines
There was some relief from all the platforming challenges when Pepper Grinder changed up the level design with a special vehicle stage. The snow mobile was particularly fun as you steal it off one of the menacing Narlings and ride it across the ice, performing some incredible jumps along the way.
There is also a mech can control in one level, jumping and destroying every building and enemy in sight.
Those Narlings didn’t stand a chance!
Puzzles feature heavily throughout the different levels. Certain puzzles required me to drill in a circle to reveal hidden treasures whereas others had me destroy a set number of Narling nests to get a key to unlock doors.
These enemy fights were often in a small area and when there were a lot of enemies on screen, these could get quite chaotic. So what did the devs do? They added a gun to Grinder and suddenly the level turned into a retro run and gun, blasting those pesky Narlings out of the way.
Whatchya ‘Gacha’?
Curiously, there are no difficulty settings but you can buy extra health to help you survive longer.
The gems you collect along the way can be spent at the “Curiosity Shop”.
I could also spend my hard earned gems on gacha balls which had stickers inside them of in game characters and props.
You use these stickers to create a scene in the game’s photo mode. It’s an optional feature but it’s not user friendly on Switch, some touch screen functionality would have been nice to place the stickers down with ease.
Aside from gems, there are five hidden Skull Coins in each level. This is the premium currency in the game (all in game, not microtransactions) and can be used to buy new outfits, hair colours for Pepper, secret level keys and backgrounds for the photo mode.
Aside from the secret level key, none of these felt necessary, I stopped spending my time at the shop as I progressed through the game.
Extra Spicy Boss Battles
Boss encounters are generally well-designed and offer a satisfying level of challenge, with the World 1 boss standing out as particularly memorable. In fact, this giant beetle was my favourite boss as it utilised all the game’s mechanics well. I had to drill in a circle whilst avoiding any projectiles the menacing bug sent out and then, from above, drill into its belly and finally attack the Narling that was controlling the beast.
Unfortunately, I did come across some glitches in the final bosses where they either froze and became invincible or just completely stopped and I could hit them over and over until they died. Not exactly a thrilling way to cap off the game. The devs are aware of these bugs and apparently they will be fixed in an upcoming patch.
A Smooth Grind (Mostly)
I completed Pepper Grinder in about four hours. This was not a complete 100% playthrough as I had missing coins and stickers still to unlock. There is a time attack mode for those who are die hard fans and want the accolades of completing the levels the fastest. Doing so earns you special stickers. But, if I am honest, this wasn’t a big enough pull for me to go back and do all of this.
One thing I expect from a 2D platformer, especially one with challenging movement, is silky smooth performance and for the most part this rings true for Pepper Grinder. The game aims for 60fps in both docked and handheld mode. The bright, pixelated graphics are nothing to sneeze at either on both the big and small screen.
Only near the end of the game did I experience some big frame drops and that was when there were a lot of enemies on the screen. This section had a lot of explosions, parts of Narlings flying everywhere and the Nintendo Switch just couldn’t handle it. Hopefully this can be ironed out through future patches as well.
Graphics
One area that drew me into the game were the gorgeous graphics. Its pixel art vibes, with contrasting colours, was more than just your average garnish. Pepper had different costumes which really made her pop against the often samey, darker coloured backgrounds.
On the other hand, the enemy designs were a bit disappointing. The Narlings are the main bad guys here but throughout the game they are only ever slightly adapted.
They might have had a horn on their head, or hold a gun, but ultimately they are the same design. I would have loved to see more variations throughout the different themed worlds and some unique ways to defeat them.
The Sound Lacks Flavour
The music was fine but often just faded into the background. I had to really stop and listen to even form an opinion because I didn’t really notice it while playing. Moods changed and made some boss battles feel more exciting, but apart from that it just blended in without being ground breaking.
The same goes for the sound effects; there was a good drilling sound effect as you moved through the stage, and a bright ding every time you collected a gem.
Some sounds had more life to them than others, such as a catchy jingle when I finished a level, would have really added to the charm.
Should I Buy Pepper Grinder?
Despite its many promising aspects, Pepper Grinder fell short of my expectations. It ticks all the right boxes for the kinds of genres I love. However, I couldn’t help but come away from it feeling a bit indifferent.
Yes, the game looks great, generally runs well on the Switch and the movement is amazing, especially when you are diving through the sand at speed.
However, tedious mechanics, such as grapple hooking, took away some of my enjoyment. This didn’t make the game more challenging in a good way, it was just plain annoying dying over and over again. The game is relatively short, with little to draw me back in to fully 100% it.
If you enjoy challenging platformers such as Celeste or Donkey Kong Country, you will enjoy your time with Pepper Grinder. Just don’t go in expecting exactly the same quality.
Are you ready to add some extra pep in your step? Pepper Grinder is releasing on the Nintendo Switch and PC on March 29th. It retails for $22.50 digitally and a demo is available now to download on both platforms.
Quest Daily scores Pepper Grinder:
7/10
A copy of the game was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this review.
