My Friend Pedro Review

Bunches of Fun

Indie hits have an immense impact on the gaming industry. One developer that’s cemented themselves in the lexicon is DeadToast Entertainment. Their breakout hit My Friend Pedro recently made the leap to mobile in a brand-new way. Its new subtitle, Ripe for Revenge, speaks to its existence as both a successor and fresh take on the original Switch and PC versions. And the result? Bananas.

Your Inside Voice

My Friend Pedro: Ripe For Revenge follows your character as they listen to the vengeful yet chaotic voice of your banana friend Pedro (no, really). Players indulge in a Taken-meets-Deadpool romp across several locales and mount bloody, split-aim assaults to save Pedro’s fruit family. You battle a variety of enemies including officers of the law, people with bags on their heads, and hippies. Still, they only serve as comedic set dressing to an otherwise action-focused title.

Most of this game’s a-peel comes from the musings of the titular Pedro. He starts most levels with some quips about his longings and desires to reunite his family, motivating your escapade. Additionally, wracking up enough uninterrupted kills grant a multiplier that elicits random reactions from Pedro on the side of your screen. These little implementations really add character to what would otherwise be a generally straightforward title. They create just enough of a bridge into the world without bogging down the action with narrative.

Portable Power

Being a mobile version of a console and PC game, My Friend Pedro  may be seen as a cheap cash-in port. However, the follow through is a lot more intentional and rewarding. A chibi aesthetic has been laid on top of the grit and flash of the original. I presume this is to undercut the graphical demands of its predecessor. Everything looks and feels specific in a way that almost harkens back to the beginnings of smartphone gaming. In fact, the gameplay itself replicates that same feel.

My Friend Pedro: Ripe for Revenge plays like something you’d randomly come across on Newgrounds in 2009. That sounds like a dig, but that’s a VERY good thing. You drag your finger in the opposite direction of where you’d like to launch your character. He then jumps or rolls toward enemies, prompting slow-motion quick time circles around them. Then, you tap each enemy to shoot them and deplete their heart meters. This easy to play, difficult to master style pairs perfectly with the aesthetic which harkens to the Flash games of old. A variety of weapons and obstacles come into play across later levels to make things even more interesting.

Yummy, Yummy

My Friend Pedro: Ripe for Revenge delivers on all fronts. A superb dubstep soundtrack pulses around the action for ultimate late 2000’s glory. After completing the main story’s 37 levels, advanced players can even unlock an extra-hard Blood Rush mode. This strings together as many courses as you can play in a row without a game over, providing the ultimate challenge. Altogether, this game takes a larger package and fits it perfectly into a smartphone-shaped box. It is reminiscent of nostalgic mobile and computer gaming yet maintains all the ease of access of the current market. Altogether, I’d say it’s a strawBERRY good time.