Samurai Pizza Cats: Blast From the Past Gets Its First Playable Demo at TGS

I never expected the Samurai Pizza Cats to make a comeback as a video game, but I’m certainly not going to complain about it. I loved watching the show when I was younger, and its ridiculously catchy theme song still lives in my head rent free. Now, publisher Red Dunes Games and developer Blast Zero are bringing Speedy, Polly, and Guido back for Samurai Pizza Cats: Blast From the Past, an action RPG inspired by the wonderfully strange 1990s anime.

Nearly one year after the game was first announced, fans will finally have an opportunity to play it during Tokyo Game Show 2026. Red Dunes Games will offer an exclusive playable demo in Hall 7 at Booth N03, giving attendees their first hands-on experience with the game’s platforming, combat, and character-switching mechanics. The demo will focus entirely on the action side of the game, so players should not expect to see everything that Blast Zero has planned for the finished version.

Advertisement

All three Samurai Pizza Cats will be playable, with each character bringing a noticeably different fighting style. Speedy Cerviche is the close-range fighter and appears to be the best choice for players who want to get directly into an enemy’s face. Guido Anchovy specializes in platforming and aerial attacks, while Polly Esther uses projectiles and can fight from a safer distance. Players will be able to switch between the three almost instantly, opening the door for combos that use their different attacks and abilities together.

That character-switching system sounds like it will be one of the biggest parts of the combat. Rather than simply choosing one Pizza Cat and sticking with them, the game will reward players who learn when and how to swap between the entire team. Blast Zero says there will be a high skill ceiling for those willing to experiment, while a card-based upgrade system will allow players to customize each character and develop their preferred style of play.

The full game will go beyond the platforming and combat featured in the Tokyo Game Show demo. Samurai Pizza Cats: Blast From the Past will also include character leveling, RPG customization, progression, and exploration. It is not retelling episodes from the original series, either. Instead, it will feature an entirely new adventure filled with familiar characters while expanding the world fans remember from the show.

Advertisement

Blast Zero is also putting a ridiculous amount of work into recreating that world. Art director and lead animator Laurent Romero reportedly captured and organized more than 10,000 screenshots of locations from the anime alone. The team studied backgrounds, attacks, landmarks, and even maps of Japan to understand how the different areas should connect. Combined with the hand-drawn animation, that attention to detail should help the game look and feel like an episode of the original series instead of something merely wearing its skin.

Even the Japanese and English versions are being treated differently, with each receiving its own script to preserve the humor and characterization fans remember. That is important because the English dub’s jokes and completely unhinged personality were a massive part of its charm. I’m already impressed by the game’s art style, and this is a chance to play a game based on a show that was very much part of my childhood. Sign me up. I’m ready.

Advertisement

Samurai Pizza Cats: Blast From the Past is currently planned for release in 2027, and is in development for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Blast Zero Red Dunes games Samuari Pizza Cats