Even the most cursory of glances at Piggly Pagly Boom makes it fairly obvious that the game’s primary influence is Capcom’s 1989 arcade title Buster Bros., which is best known by tithe title Pang, which was used for the game’s home releases. Piggly Pagly Boom’s title even alludes to  the word “Pang” by using the made-up word “Pagly”!
We previously reported on Ratalaika Games’ release of Piggly Pagly Boom, a new porcine-themed action platformer, and now we’ve had a good few hours playing the game, we thought we’d share our thoughts with you.


Fortunately for us lucky swine, Pang is a brilliant game to begin with, and by drawing their inspiration for it, Piggly Pagly Boom’s developers, 9Ratones, have created an incredibly enjoyable arcade-style game.
The visuals of Piggly Pagly Boom are a blend omodrrn and retro, much like the game itself. The backgrounds and attacking fireballs are rendered in a sleek modern style, while our porcine protagonist is presented in more of pixel art style, which nicely emphasizes the retro nature of the game.

In Piggly Pagly Boom, you assume control of a rather mean looking pig, who’s armed with a hookshot, with which you must shoot vertically at the descending fireballs, clearing each screen of fireballs in order to progress to next. To keep things interesting, there ‘s also a bit of platforming to navigate in Piggly Pagly Boom, in order to collect coins, and reach difficulty situated fireballs.

And while the hookshot weapon is more than adequate for breaking up the invading fireballs, there are also power ups to be collected to help make your task a little easier, including laser shots and freezing time. Ah yes, time, while the aim of Piggly Pagly Boom sounds simple, you’re also up against the clock, and the time limits for each screen are rather in the punishing side, so you’ll have to be quick if you want to succeed!

In Piggly Pagly Boom, 9Ratones have created a very playable, and very addictive arcade-style title of the type that you’re likely to come back to for a quick blast for years tp come, as it’s endlessly replayable, meaning you’ll get more than your money’s worth from its bargain budget price. As well as the Xbox version we’ve been playing, Piggly Pagly Boom is also available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, and Steam, and it comes highly recommended from us at Retro News, as it’s a piggin’ brilliant game that fans of old-school arcade games will have a blast with! Or, put simply, it’s Pang with a pig!