When was the last time you threw pizzas at paying customers? In a video game, it’s likely been a while. If that’s all you do while dodging obstacles, it gradually becomes mundane. But to help out your grandmother’s business in Brazil in the 1980s, you must stand out from the crowd. The premise of Foodboy is based on delivering pizzas fast, efficiently, and without crashing into something.
Foodboy does a great job at being quick, simple fun. Throwing pizzas to customers and navigating through the streets is funny and slightly challenging. There’s also some skins to motivate you to pick up discs and get high scores. Unfortunately the fun gradually evaporates as you repeat the same gameplay without any variation. The controls and camera angles aren’t great, sometimes hindering you instead of helping. It’s a decent arcade game for quick fun but it demands practice, making it more frustrating than fun.
Foodboy is a casual arcade game from Dopamin Game Studio where you ride around Brazil delivering pizzas. You are a young man doing his best to help out his grandmother’s pizza delivery service. To ensure customers get their pizzas in a timely manner, you throw them at customers. As you progress through Brazil’s landscapes, you find more distractions that threaten to derail you. But you won’t give up your goal to deliver pizzas.
That’s the written premise but you would be forgiven for not even knowing that was the case. The initial story is found from external sources; the game makes no mention of it at all. If no one told you about the story, you would think it’s a game about throwing pizza at anything that moves. There’s also no connection to a business in general or your performance somehow helping the business. It’s just you throwing pizzas at customers while making sure you don’t crash due to obstacles. While you don’t expect arcade games to have a deep story, not including the premise at all doesn’t help. Your actions don’t match the premise, which is throwing pizzas at people who want them. There’s no money to be collected and doing well in the game involves throwing pizzas at the right people. For all you know, you are just selectively targeting people to get pizzas. Without a connection it feels like your actions are random and you are depriving people of good pizza.
Even if the premise isn’t touched upon, the gameplay reflects your goals accurately. You ride around on a bike and aim pizzas at people. Pizzas work as a powerful weapon; they can neutralize every living thing except customers and stationary obstacles. While you don’t have to deliver every pizza, you must not let any obstacle disrupt your progress or you start over. When you finish a level, your score depends on discs you picked up and pizzas you delivered.
Gameplay is silly and amusing because you are an uncaring pizza delivery person. Customer standing on the sidewalk waiting for you? Throw a pizza at them. Someone standing on top of a building waiting for a pizza? Use a ramp to get enough height for a throw. A random sports player kicking a ball at you? Throw a pizza at the offender and keep going. It’s hard not to laugh when a pizza knocks someone over.
Your performance mostly depends on the number of customers who got a successful delivery. If you fail, that customer chases you and no longer accepts their delivery. Getting three stars is the goal of every stage, but sometimes you work your way up through practice. Knowing the obstacles to avoid and where customers are located help you get a higher score. Eventually, you throw pizzas with the skill of a professional.
As silly as gameplay is, there’s no variation other than increasing the number of obstacles. The game becomes boring quickly as you repeat the same actions after every stage. It’s better to play in short bursts, though you need lots of practice to clear the stages in the second half. Your only rewards are customizable skins which don’t change anything but your appearance. It’s tough to keep playing when there isn’t much satisfaction other than clearing a level.
It’s also difficult when the controls and camera angles aren’t exactly cooperative. You can move left or right but you can’t control your speed. This is frustrating when some sections have you rapidly speed up but you can’t slow down. The camera also shifts at every curve and you must adapt to it. Unfortunately, this is also the time where obstacles come in and your movements are hard to adjust while turning. Both of these factors combined make the game frustrating at times.
At the end of the day, Foodboy is a decent arcade game if you want something quick. It’s not revolutionary or ordinary and you will get bored quickly. Unless you are someone who aims for 100% completion, there’s not much fun to be had. Even the later stages turn out to be a slog. But if all you are looking for is simple fun, Foodboy definitely fills that urge.
Victor played Foodboy on PC with a review code.
