Historically Accurate Animaloids

For many in North America growing up in the ’90s, Samurai Pizza Cats was their introduction to anime. The show follows a group of animal android cat ninjas (who like pizza) who protect Little Tokyo from being overthrown by the villainous Big Cheese. The anime has its fans, and I dare you to listen to its opening theme song and not get it stuck in your head, but it was not, strictly speaking, a hit. Still, that isn’t stopping developer Blast Zero from making a remarkably faithful action-RPG platformer based on the series that looks just like the show in all its ’90s-era animation glory.

“The team and I strongly believe in the power of nostalgia; we love the show, both English and Japanese, and hope that through the new game, Samurai Pizza Cats: Blast From The Past we can bring Pizza Cats to the attention of a new generation,” Blast Zero CEO Dave Baljon tells me over e-mail in response to a straightforward question: why now? “In the end, [Samurai Pizza Cats IP holder] Tatsunoko Production felt that we could do it, I guess; if they had said no, there would be no... ‘why now.’”