When I think of a 2D side-scrolling platformer, I think of suspended platforms, obstacles to avoid, and… jumping. Lots of jumping. There’s no shortage of games in the genre, either, though it’s arguably difficult to imagine how the simple concept can still be pushed forward (though I’m sure that some creative developers will continue to come up with novel ideas to surprise us players). What usually separates a great platformer from a mediocre one is how good the movement mechanics feel: how the character controls, and how one or two buttons can be used to create complex movement sequences and overcome difficult platforming challenges.
Of course, there are games that have already tried to shake up the traditional platformer formula. Super Hiking League DX introduced vertical platforming instead of side-scrolling stages. Jump King stood out with its lack of air control and punishing level design. And now we have Pepper Grinder, a game that barely emphasizes jumping at all, instead focusing almost entirely on grinding.
As the title suggests, Pepper is the blue-haired protagonist, equipped with a massive drilling device. Her jumps are intentionally pitiful, so the primary means of traversal is drilling your way through walls of dirt or underwater. It’s a unique mechanic that immediately makes the game stand out, and is expanded further with a short boost move that lets Pepper launch herself out of dirt patches at high speed to reach greater distances.
With this mechanic serving as the foundation for movement, the game continues introducing new ideas as you progress: lava that briefly solidifies when cooled and allows you to dig through it, drill-operated platforms disappearing crystals that punish routing mistakes, etc… The drill also serves purposes beyond movement. In one stage, you might attach a rocket launcher to it, which you’ll use to dispatch of enemies, and break open the path forward. In another, you’ll use it to power platforms, cling to launchers reminiscent of Donkey Kong’s barrel cannons, or pilot a monstrous exosuit capable of tearing through everything in its path.
There are also some light combat elements in Pepper Grinder. The drill can be used to dispatch the various Narling enemy types standing in Pepper’s way, ranging from basic enemies to shielded variants, giant sword-wielders, or ranged enemies equipped with machine guns. Each world also concludes with a boss fight. These encounters are built around the drilling mechanic and can surprisingly take a few attempts to overcome. Combat-wise, the bosses are easily the highlight, serving as proper tests of your drilling skills. Overall, Pepper Grinder has a lot of good ideas, but it never fully explores them. It’s a very short game, featuring only four worlds with roughly four to six stages each, including bonus stages and boss fights. The levels themselves are also brief: most can be completed in two minutes or less if you’re focused on speed.
And if you’re going for the Platinum Trophy, you’ll have to be fast, because earning a Gold Medal in every Time Trial stage is required. Each stage also contains five hidden coins, though they’re usually easy enough to locate on a second run through the level since they aren’t that well hidden.
This is also where some gameplay issues start becoming more noticeable.
Combat with the drill is… rough. Especially when you don’t have a ranged attachment like the machine gun, engaging enemies often feels frustrating. For many Narling variants, you need to approach them, wait for them to raise their weapon, and then ram into them with your drill spinning. It completely disrupts the otherwise satisfying flow of drilling through stages and maintaining momentum.
Honestly, the game probably would have benefited from removing combat entirely. At the very least, it needed significantly more refinement. In its current state, it feels unnecessary and frequently frustrating.
The platforming mechanics also aren’t quite polished enough for Time Trials. There are issues with ledges and movement interactions that barely register during casual play, but become increasingly irritating when trying to move as quickly and precisely as possible.
Shops offer cosmetic items for Pepper, along with sticker pages and stickers for players interested in completing the sticker collection. You can also purchase additional hit points, though these are single-use only. Unfortunately, buying stickers and health upgrades is unecessarily cumbersome. You need to drill into a machine, wait for the item to slowly pop out, and then collect it manually. Want four extra hit points? Repeat the process three more times. It’s not a major issue, but it’s hard to understand why the system was designed to be so clunky in the first place.
As for the Trophy List, the aforementioned Time Trials are really the only noteworthy challenge. Everything else revolves around completing stages, collecting coins, and finishing the sticker album, which itself requires all Gold Medals anyway.
The Time Trials themselves aren’t excessively difficult, though the boss fights tend to be the biggest hurdle. Completing them within the target time often requires hitting tight damage cycles and playing extremely aggressively to push phases forward quickly enough. That means taking risks, but thankfully the fights are short enough that repeated attempts rarely become too frustrating.
And if you’re struggling with Gold Medals, the game does include an accessibility slider that lets you reduce the game speed by up to 50%. This absolutely trivializes the difficulty and does not disable trophies, though it also makes the levels and boss fights painfully slow and extremely boring. Still, the option is there if you need it.
All Gold Medals
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