An Alien Invasion Isn't Enough To Stop This Pizza Boy From Delivering Pizzas In World 1-1

WORLD 1-1 ($0.99) by Headlight Software, Inc. is a game that combines the retro style of platformer games from the 1980s with the modern action of endless runners.

I grew up in the late 1980s, so I definitely miss those days of sitting in front of the television and playing all of those classic video games all day. Ah, those were definitely the days, where games were nothing but a bunch of chunky looking pixels, and the gameplay mattered more than the graphics. Things were simple back then, but thankfully, there are developers out there who understand this simple life and recreate it with a contemporary twist.

There’s an alien invasion of Earth going on, but you’re a pizza delivery boy and you have a delivery guarantee that doesn’t not exclude invasions. Talk about serious devotion here, right? You will need to navigate through the dangers of an alien-invaded Earth and deliver your pizzas on time. Because pizza is still incredibly important to have in the middle of the end of the world, don’t you know?

The graphics in World 1–1 are amazing. At first, you’ll see smooth, sharp graphics in the introduction, but once you actually get going with the game itself, you’ll be teleported back to the 1980s with true-to-style, fuzzy 8-bit graphics. In fact, the transformation from the current-day style to the pixelated look are quite stunning. World 1–1 also features an amazing chiptune soundtrack that is sure to please old-school gamers.

As I mentioned before, this is a hybrid of platformer and endless runner. You may immediately think of another recent release, Super Bunny Land, because it’s also the same premise. However, I personally am liking World 1–1 a bit more, simply because of the pure vintage graphics and controls.

As you’d imagine, the controls in World 1–1 are pretty simple, and much more optimized than those found in Super Bunny Land. You can choose either tilt or joystick for movement. You will want to tilt or drag the joystick left to slow down your character (who runs automatically, by the way). Tilting to the right or dragging the joystick in that direction will make you run faster, of course. A button in the bottom left will be visible, and you just need to tap it to jump. If you hold it down, you will jump higher and longer, which is useful for reaching higher areas of the game.

As you run, you can collect slices of pizza along the way. If you collect more and then run past a house or building to deliver them, you will net big bonuses to your score, which is essentially the amount of money you make on that run. These houses also serve as checkpoints, essentially, as you can choose to continue at them if you die, for a price of course.

The game ends when you either fall into a pit, get left behind (it’s side scrolling), or you run into an alien without a shield. Your score is determined on how far you got, as well as how many pizzas you collected, and the deliveries you made. If you do well on all of these things, then you should make a lot of money to be stored in your bank.

The cash you earn from your runs can be used in the shop to purchase stronger power-up items (these are scattered throughout the levels, so make sure you keep your eyes peeled for them), upgrades to the amount of money you make from tips or slash the price of continues, and even a different them (by default it’s Alien Invasion for normal difficulty, and Alien Apocalypse for hardcore difficulty). Some of the items can be on the more expensive side, so you will need to do a bit of grinding in the game before you can earn everything. Of course, there’s also the option of getting everything (including a 2X pizza slice power-up) through in-app purchases.

Another magical thing about this game, which also reminds me of Super Bunny Land and Robot Unicorn Attack 2, is the fact that each level for the game is randomly generated, so you won’t be playing on the same level each day. This helps keep it fresh and interesting, and you’ll be coming back for more every day.

There is full Game Center integration for leaderboards (Cash Earned, House Reached in Normal and Hardcore difficulty), as well as 19 achievements to obtain. When you combine these with the fun and addictive nature of the game, then you have an endless supply of replayability, making this game a definite keeper.

The only negative about this game is the fact that it is currently iPhone-only. It would be nice to see it in action on the iPad, or even the iPad mini in the future. And at that point, it would be even better if there was iCloud game save data sync, so your progress on one device will not be lost on another.

If you have a love for platform games, endless runners, amazing 8-bit style graphics, and magnificent chiptunes, then I highly recommend you pick up World 1–1 for yourself and check it out. It’s available in the App Store for your iPhone for only $0.99.