A few things have kept me sane during the last sad few weeks: tinkering in Go and Pizza Tower. It's been a while since I shared a soundtrack is amazing post---the last one was Shredder's Revenge in June last year.

Thanks to a golden tip from Simon Vandevelde, I played Pizza Tower on Steam last week and every single aspect of the game has been nothing short of amazing indeed, thanks Simon! We both are big Wario Land fans, and after two decades of radio silence from Nintendo, indie developer Tour de Pizza did what Nintendont. PC Gamer even goes as far as placing Peppino's Tower before Wario's Castle:

A brilliantly energetic and creative platformer that doesn't just do right by its inspiration Wario Land, but actually surpasses it.

Energetic is the perfect term to describe the amazing soundtrack that accompanies those crazy platform escape sequences. Every single track on the album is a banger: I can't think of a single one that's merely mediocre or okay. Just like the unique level design, all tracks have their own unique vibe to them and nothing is recycled in any way, from the nerve-wrecking It’s Pizza Time! when you’re racing against the clock back to the entrance:

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To the laid-back Tropical Crust or funky Good Eatin' that's pumping through the speakers while playing a game of Golf. This is one of those rare instances where I bought the soundtrack without thinking twice, even before finishing the game. The last time this happened was TNMNT: Shredder’s Revenge.

Or how about the funky Extraterrestrial Wahwahs:

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Does this remind you of another game? How about Jazz Jackrabbit 2? I recognized sound samples of both Wario Land 4 and Jazz 2. Especially the former stands out as you'll encounter shameless samples right after selecting a save slot in the form of a TV. How's that for wearing influence on your sleeve?

Pizza Tower has been in development by a small team for five years and you'll tear through it in less than seven hours. It's just €19,50 on Steam, but don't forget to buy the soundtrack by Ronan "Mr. Sauceman" de Castel, ClascyJitto & Post Elvis over at Bandcamp.

If you like craziness, nineties cartoons, smoking and coughing pizza slices loitering around in Pig City, Wario Land, 2D platforming, amazing sound and level design, hilarious animations, beating Pizzaface to a doughy pulp, rescuing pizza ingredients and cashing them in, discovering secrets within secrets---please buy and play this game.