Upcoming indie titleAntonblasthas drawn a lot of comparisons with 2023’sPizza Tower, to the point where some are calling the former aPizza Towerclone, a sentiment that others have quickly hit back against.
Nintendo’s latestIndie World Showcaseaired earlier today, and one of the games featured wasAntonblast, an upcoming 2D platformer that admittedly shares a few hallmarks with indie darlingPizza Tower. Both boast fast-paced gameplay, a rather manic art style done in pixel art graphics, and stages that, once completed, require you to run back through them while a timer counts down.
My face when chat calls ANTONBLAST a Pizza Tower clone even though it was announced before Pizza Towerpic.twitter.com/JIMY78Fjw2
However, it’s unfair to dismissAntonblastas aPizza Towerclone when there’s a simple explanation as to why they share a lot of DNA. It’s because both games are influenced by Nintendo’s ownWario Landseries, which saw Wario barrel through levels and then, upon reaching the goal, rush through them in reverse before a time limit runs out.
On social media, there are those who thinkAntonblastandPizza Towerare a bit too much alike;one user on X(formerly Twitter) even assumed they’re from the same developer, whileanother thought they were the exact same game. Plenty of people, though, have jumped toAntonblast‘s defense and are doing what they can to stop assumptions of it being aPizza Towercopycat from spreading any further.
Twitter users have alreadypushed back against these, quick to point out theWario Landinspirations. Sadly, the easiest reference pointWario Land 4isn’t readily available. Hopefully Nintendo will add it to its library of GameBoy Advance games on its Nintendo Switch online service. Others, likeLordLicoriceDrphave been sharing a fan comic of the two game’s protagonists sharing aPredator-style handshake, obviously made to dissuade any hostility between fans of either game.
Many seem simply happy to seeAntonblastcoming to Switch in the first place, especially sincePizza Toweris still locked to PC, with no signs of it ever getting a port. Plus, theWario Landseries has been on hiatus since 2008, so fans of it are just thrilled to see other developers fill the void.
