PuPaiPo Space Deluxe from BolHut is a shoot ‘em up in which you’re tasked with finding the legendary space pizza. Learn more in our PuPaiPo Space Deluxe review!

 

PuPaiPo Space Deluxe takes you through seven stages as you search for the legendary space pizza. To be able to travel between each stage, your spaceship’s engine will need to recharge for 90 seconds. As you wait for it to be ready to go, you will need to defend yourself against the different enemies for each area, so that you can then take on the deadly boss. Survive, and you will get to space jump to the next stage, where you’ll need to wait for another 90 seconds as you do the whole waiting thing all over again. You can take on this adventure on your own or play with four players in total with the local co-op multiplayer.

Controls are easy to get the hang off since the game is a twin-stick shoot ‘em up by nature. You’ll move around with the left analog stick or the D-Pad, aiming and shooting with the right analog stick. PuPaiPo Space Deluxe also has an auto-shoot feature, which can be activated with the A and X buttons. You also have a powerful bomb that can be activated with the B, Y, or ZR buttons to destroy any enemies or bullets that are near your ship. You can also slow down time with the ZL button so that you can have a chance to avoid the enemies and their attacks.

 

Before you start your journey, you can select between playing the game on Easy, Normal, Hard, or Ultra. For Easy and Normal, you will only get to play five of the seven stages in total, with Easy giving you ten continues to complete your run. Hard, as expected, is going to be a more challenging experience, but it will give you the chance to give it your best shot as you try to complete all seven stages in your quest for the legendary space pizza. If you feel that Hard is not that challenging, then you can go all-in and take on the game in the Ultra difficulty setting to see if you’re as good as you think you are!

Stages are of the “arena-style single-screen” variety, so for each of the seven stages, you will be spending your time in the one screen arena per level as you try to stay alive. Enemies of all shapes and sizes will try their best at destroying you, either by crashing into your spaceship or by shooting deadly bullets that will damage your spaceship with every hit. Get hit enough times, and your spaceship will go boom, forcing you to use a continue to carry on with your space quest exactly where you left off.

PuPaiPo Space Deluxe features an in-game achievements system. The first one on the list is obtained for starting your first run with the game, with the rest being awarded for completing each of the stages in the game, as well as one for completing the whole game and finally obtaining the legendary space pizza. There’s one for beating four stages without using a single continue. A handful will be unlocked for getting more than 10,000 and 40,000 points for beating the game without using a single bomb, or for beating the game without collecting a single power-up, to name some examples.

Once you complete the game, you will unlock extra modes to play. There’s Boss Rush Mode in which you’ll take on all of the bosses in the game one after the other, and Survival Mode, in which you will have to try and stay alive for as long as possible. And while playing any of the modes, you might run into special enemies that you can defeat to add them as a new pilot option.

PuPaiPo Space Deluxe is a colorful twin-stick arena-style shoot ‘em up with a good challenge for Nintendo Switch owners, available at a budget price of only $4.99. It offers bite-sized stages that will test your skills, 90 seconds at a time, and it’s a good option to play between bigger games. Are you up to the challenge?

Disclaimer
This PuPaiPo Space Deluxe review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by BolHut.