Samurai Pizza Cats: Blast from the Past! Preview: If you grew up in the 90s, you perhaps watched an anime named Samurai Pizza Cats. Maybe it was one of, if not your first ever anime. For the unfamiliar, SPC was the English adaptation by Saban Entertainment of an action comedy anime by studio Tatsunoko Production (Speed Racer, Gatchaman/G-Force), seemingly to capitalize on the peak popularity era of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now over thirty-five years later, you can finally play as the Samurai Pizza Cats in a new video game. At Tokyo Game Show this year, I got to finally do a hands-on demo of Samurai Pizza Cats: Blast from the Past! developed by indie studio Blast Zero!
The game lives up to its “Blast from the Past” name both in reviving a franchise from yesteryear and in the kind of game it is. While it is an action role-playing experience, its gameplay is also a throwback: side-scrolling 2D platforming with beat ‘em up style combat – fitting for the era the original show is from. Once through the tutorial, I could freely switch between the three different Samurai Pizza Cats. Each has their own abilities, weapons, and attacks.
The leader Speedy Cerviche has strong, close quarters attacks using his sword. Guido Anchovy meanwhile has his Samurai Sunspot Umbrella weapon, but his special strength is traversal: he’s able to jump off walls and hover thanks to his jetpack. For more ranged attacking, Polly Esther has heart-shaped projectiles and shuriken ninja stars at her disposal. The three cats’ different weapons and abilities add variety in the combat and movement, as well level design.
Certain segments will require you to switch to a certain cat to progress onward, like a platforming section that needs Guido’s traversal abilities. For most of my playtime, the levels allowed me to tackle things with whichever Samurai Pizza Cat I wanted to though. Being able to freely switch between them in a flash was handy and fun. However, switching won’t save you from a game over from one cat’s health being wiped out. The three characters do not have separate health bars, so you’re managing the same health level no matter what cat you’re playing as.
Something else you’ll immediately notice as well is the game’s charming retro art design. Why does it perfectly capture the visual style of the original TV series? That’s because the game uses art directly from anime studio Tatsunoko. Characters, objects, and backgrounds have the grain and texture of hand-painted anime cels. Meanwhile, cutscenes are straight 2D anime clips, complete with analog effects like scanlines and head-switching noise.
Even the audio of the cutscenes has that analog era fuzziness despite the voice lines being newly recorded. On that note, the writing in the cutscenes feels true to the spirit and tone of the show. Dialogue is snappy, fun, and humorous, retaining the anime’s penchant for fourth wall breaking jokes. My demo had lines acknowledging the Samurai Pizza Cats’ thirty five year return and Tokyo Game Show even.
Sometimes you want to play a game that’s straight-forward and fun, and Samurai Pizza Cats seems to scratch (pun intended) that itch. Fans of the anime should get an absolute nostalgia kick, especially from its purrfect retro presentation. But even those unfamiliar with the show should be feline good about this one. There’s quite a bit to appreciate and enjoy in Samurai Pizza Cats: Blast from the Past! I can’t wait to play the full game when it comes out.
Samurai Pizza Cats: Blast from the Past! was demoed on a desktop PC with a PS5 DualSense controller.
Thank you to Red Dunes Games for having me at its Tokyo Game Show 2026 booth.
