Pizza Tower

Pizza Toweris a 2023platform gamecreated by theindiedeveloper Tour De Pizza. It follows apizzachef, Peppino Spaghetti, who must scale a tower to prevent the destruction of hispizzeria. Across 20side-scrollinglevels, the player increases theirscoreby gathering collectibles and defeating enemies to buildcombos. At the end of each level, they activate an escape sequence and must return to the beginning within atime limit.Pizza Towerdoes not usehealthorlives, and itsdifficultydepends on what the player chooses to achieve.
The five-year development was led by thepseudonymousdesigner McPig and programmer Sertif.Pizza Towerbegan as arole-playing video gamewithsurvival horrorelements before evolving into a platformer inspired byNintendo's dormantWario Landseries, to which McPig wanted to provide aspiritual successor. It was developed withGameMakerand features a cartoonish, high-resolutionpixel artstyle inspired bySpongeBob SquarePantsandFrench comics.Wario Land 4(2001) served as the basis for the gameplay andlevel design.
Pizza Towerdeveloped a large fandom during its development throughearly accessbuilds offered toPatreonbackers andgame demos. It was released forWindowson January 26, 2023.Pizza Towerreceived positive reviews and nominations for year-end accolades. Critics praised its gameplay, music, visuals, and humor. Critics favorably compared its art style to 1990sNicktoonsand the sense of speed to theSonic the Hedgehogseries. They considered it a worthy substitute forWario Land, some calling it better than its inspiration. Tour De Pizza supported the game withupdatesadding new content into 2024, alongside aportfor theNintendo Switch.
Pizza Toweris aside-scrollingplatform game. Its story begins when Peppino Spaghetti, an Italianpizza chefand the owner of a strugglingpizzeria, is approached by Pizzaface, a sentient floating pizza.Pizzaface threatens to destroy Peppino's pizzeria with anuclear laseratop a nearby tower. Frightened and angered, Peppino sets out to ascend the tower and defeat Pizzaface to save his pizzeria.The tower serves as the setting andhub worldof thesingle-playergame. It has five floors,each containing fourlevelsand aboss. Each level has a distinct theme and uniquegame mechanics,such as a cemetery with surfable corpses and aFive Nights at Freddy'shomage withjump scares.
Peppino, the primaryplayer character, can walk, run, jump, roll, and slide. His attacks include a body slam, grabbing and throwing enemies, and a parry.If Peppino runs for long enough, he begins to dash, allowing him to run up walls and plow through enemies and objects.Defeating an enemy initiates acombothat lasts seven seconds; to maintain it, the player must defeat more enemies and collect items.Certain levels featurepower-upsthat alter Peppino's abilities, such as guns or knight armor,and Gustavo, an alternate player character who rides on the back of his giant pet rat.Palette-swapoutfits for Peppino can be acquired through completing challenges and obtainingachievements.
Each level contains various secrets: pizza topping creatures that the player rescues to unlock boss fights;a treasure locked behind a door that can only be opened by a janitor the player must find; and three hidden rooms that provide points.At the end of most levels, the player finds a pillar they must destroy.This activates "Pizza Time", a phase in which the player must return to the level's entrance within atime limitto avoid being caught by Pizzaface.The player is forced to restart the level if they fail.A portal allows the player to do an optional second lap in which they return to the end and must make their way back to the entrance again for bonus points.After completing each level, the player is given aletter gradebased on their score and performance. The highest rank, P, can only be acquired if the player obtains enough points, finds the three secrets, collects the treasure, and completes a second lap while maintaining a single, uninterrupted combo.
Pizza Towerdoes not feature traditionaldifficulty levels; rather, the difficulty depends on what the player chooses to achieve.Secrets are optional and there are nolivesorhealth. Colliding with an obstacle does not hurt Peppino, though it lowers the player's score and subtracts two seconds from the combo timer.The only stages where Peppino can be harmed are the boss fights, arena battles against foes such as Pepperman, a large anthropomorphicbell pepper; the Vigilante, a cheese cowboy; and the Noise, Peppino's archenemy.The player must dodge the bosses' attacks and deplete their health to proceed.ANew Game Plusmode featuring the Noise as a playable character was added in a freeupdateon March 12, 2024.The Noise controls similarly to Peppino,but has a slightly different moveset revolving around his skateboard and jet pack.Playing as the Noise also alters theuser interfaceelements and music.
Pizza Towerwas the debut project of the indie developer Tour De Pizza, which developed it for around five years.Development was led by the pseudonymous designer and artist McPig,also known as Pizza Tower Guy,and funded throughPatreon.The concept originated from the Peppino character, who McPig created for comics and drawings in which he imagined pizza monsters appearing in his restaurant at night. McPig conceived a role-playing video game (RPG) with survival horror elements similar toResident Evilin which Peppino traversed his restaurant while battling pizza monsters. It featured a cartoonish but dark style that McPig compared toCourage the Cowardly Dog.
McPig attempted to develop the game usingRPG Maker, but thegame engine's limitations prevented him from achieving the animation quality he desired.McPig switched to GameMaker since it was accessible and he had seen other developers use it for smaller projects. He began developingWeenie Cop, a platform game featuring a sentienthot dogwho battledjunk foodcriminals. Though he described this project as "all over the place in the gameplay department because it wasn't very well conceptualized", it got him accustomed to GameMaker.He also conceived a game in which Peppino attacked using apizza cutterchainsaw, inspired byWario's dash from theWario Landseries.
Wanting to work from a point of reference, McPig switched to aWario Land-inspired platformer. The series had been dormant sinceWario Land: Shake It!(2008) and McPig felt it needed a spiritual successor in the vein of games likeA Hat in Time(2017),Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night(2019), andWargroove(2019) to show its publisher,Nintendo, that fans were still interested.He decided to use Peppino as the protagonist—thinking he "was just fun to draw and relatable enough in his character traits"—and retained the basic concept of "a scared crazy pizza man fighting pizza monsters" from the RPG.The title,Pizza Tower, came from theLeaning Tower of Pisa, as the "Pisa" reminded McPig of "pizza".Development began around 2018, and the pseudonymous Sertif joined as the programmer in early 2020.
McPig initially designedPizza Toweras a maze-like, puzzle-oriented platform game similar toWario Land.To prepare, he played everyWario Landgame and dropped Peppino's chainsaw to make the gameplay more similar. TheGame Boy AdvanceentryWario Land 4(2001) was the biggest inspiration, with McPig likeningPizza Tower'slevel designtoWario Land 4'swith a greater emphasis on dashing. He modeled the level progression onWario Land 4's"frog switch"game mechanicand use of power-up-based puzzles.Power-ups were originally designed in the style ofWario Land, opening new areas while slowing the player down. In 2021, the game underwent a change in direction and became more speed-oriented. The levels were streamlined and McPig and Sertif changed how they handled power-ups so they would fit the speed without feeling like a burden.
Peppino's basic moveset was based on Wario's fromWario Land 4. It evolved as McPig and Sertif observed how players played a 2019 demo that experimented "with a more free-form moveset" and decided to emphasize speed and score-attack elements.They linked Peppino's different abilities, which Sertif described as "an absolute nightmare when doing level design" since it complicated thegame balance.McPig and Sertif experimented with limitations, but found them unfun and chose to go with the freer moveset. Early versions included a traditional health system, but McPig and Sertif removed it to make the gameplay more accessible; the ranking system was included to reward skilled players.
McPig and Sertif introduced the secondary playable character, Gustavo, to streamline apizza delivery-based level as they reduced the maze-like design.They also experimented with playable versions of the Vigilante and Noise, though neither was playable at launch. Whereas Gustavo was a distinct character with dedicated segments, the Vigilante and Noise were playable in Peppino's levels and thus closer to him in feel.PC Gamertheorized that the number of power-ups changing Peppino's moveset made the addition of multiple characters with uniquespritesunfeasible.
Each level began as a basic theme, such as a city or space. McPig and Sertif conceived around 28 levels; they cut and combined themes to make development feasible. They wanted each level to feel distinct and accessible to both skilled and unskilled players. Sertif said that after conceiving a game mechanic, generally, he would begin prototyping while McPig created animations inAseprite. Sertif described this process as challenging since it meant many ideas ended up scrapped, but felt it was for the best since they both worked quickly: "we implemented a lot of things we wouldn't have otherwise, scrapping the bad ideas, leaving only the decent or good ones."Sertif estimated that every level was redesigned two or three times between 2020 and 2023.Members of McPig'sDiscordserver provided feedback throughout the development.
SpongeBob SquarePantsand theFrench comicsMcPig had grown up reading inspiredPizza Tower'spixel artstyle.McPig chose a cartoon style because it was the only one he felt confident using. Additionally, he felt low-resolution pixel art evocative of theNintendo Entertainment System(NES) andSuper NESera was too common in the indie game scene, and thatPizza Tower'sstyle and higher resolution art would make it stand out.Sertif described Peppino as "an absolute mess, and we (or rather McPig) wanted to convey that in every animation."McPig colored Peppino like Wario's sprite fromWario Land 3(2000) and his pants black to make animating them easier.He based the Noise onthe Noid, an advertising mascot used by the pizza chainDomino's, feeling he would be a suitable villain for a pizza-based game. McPig did not put much thought into the character and enemy designs, preferring to "make it up as [he went] along".
The soundtrack was composed by Ronan "Mr. Sauceman" de Castel and the pseudonymous ClascyJitto.It was de Castel's first published work; composition was mostly a hobby for him and he never released any of his music out of insecurity. He learned aboutPizza Toweraround the time he was beginning to take composing seriously and was mesmerized by the gameplay videos he saw onTwitter.He wrote ademotrack and emailed it to McPig. To de Castel's surprise, McPig loved the track and asked him to join the project.The track, which McPig felt "sounded perfectly insane and dynamic",became "It's Pizza Time!", the escape theme.McPig recruited ClascyJitto, a high school student who published music onSoundCloudandBandcampin their spare time, after they shared remixes of de Castel's work in the Discord server.
De Castel and ClascyJitto, who worked in France and the United States, respectively, each composed about half the soundtrack,while the pseudonymous Post Elvis composed the title screen theme.De Castel's video game inspirations includedSonic CD(1993) and theWario Landseries, specificallyWario Land 4. He also looked to theelectronic,funk, andhousemusic of artists such asChick Corea,Daft Punk,Mr. Oizo, andJustice.ClascyJitto, whose prior work relied heavily onsamplingand remixes, described working onPizza Toweras "sort of like a fun little game for me" since it required them to put more time into each composition.
McPig started promotingPizza Towerin 2018 by sharing screenshots onTumblr, before moving to Twitter to raise its profile. He also started the Discord server to get feedback.McPig released twogame demosin 2018, and opened a Patreon where he offeredearly accessbuilds for those who pledged $5 monthly.After Sertif joined, McPig began streaming development onTwitchand releasing builds yearly rather than monthly.
Pizza Towerwas released forWindowsviaSteamon January 26, 2023.Tour De Pizza stated that post-release development was underway in September.AHalloween-themed update, released on October 23, added a secret level, collectible pumpkins, andSteam Communityfeatures.An update adding the Noise as a playable character was released on March 12, 2024.
Pizza Towerhas developed a large fandom, which Sertif attributed to the demos, Patreon builds, andlivestreamerssuch asVinesauceshowcasing it.Following the release, Tour De Pizza collaborated withFangamerto produce merchandise including plushies, T-shirts, and pins,and the Discord server's membership grew from 5,000 to 20,000 before McPig and Sertif discontinued it.The game's Steam player count spiked to over 9,000 playing at once following the release of the Noise update.
In 2019, McPig stated that while he was open toportingPizza Towerto other platforms, he would not consider it until finishing the Windows version.ANintendo Switchversion was announced during aNintendo Indie World + Nintendo Direct Partner Showcasepresentation on August 27, 2024, and was released via theNintendo eShoplater that day.Fangamer will publish a physical edition in 2025, alongside acollector's editioncontaining a Peppino-themedegg timer.
Pizza Towerreceived "generally favorable reviews" according to thereview aggregatewebsiteMetacritic,and a "Mighty" approval rating on the aggregatorOpenCritic.It became one of the highest rated games of 2023 on Steam within a day of its release;as of August 2024, it is the highest rated 2D platformer on Steam, ahead of games such asSuper Meat Boy(2010),Celeste(2018), andKatana Zero(2019).Critics were surprised byPizza Tower'squality and considered it a worthy substitute forWario Land,some calling it a rare spiritual successor that is better than its inspiration.PolygonsaidPizza Tower"has sharpened, tuned, evolved, and damn nearperfected[Wario Land's] odd niche of platforming",andPC Gamerfound it difficult to expect a potentialWario Landrevival to be as invigorating and inventive.MeriStationsaidPizza Towerwas "an instant classic" and a breath of fresh air in the side-scrolling indie scene, which they felt was lacking creativity.
Reviewers favorably compared the visuals to 1990sNicktoonslikeThe Ren & Stimpy Show,Cartoon Networkshows, andMicrosoft Paintart.IGNsaid the intentionally cheap-looking art style lentPizza Towera striking, idiosyncratic appearance,andMultiplayer.itsaid the levels were so detailed that players would continue to find new animations for hours.The animation quality was also commended,as was the humor.IGNenjoyedPizza Tower'suse of the cartoon trope in which characters are depicted in a different style for comedic effect,and alongsidePC GamerandRock Paper Shotgun, praised the expressiveness of Peppino.PC Gamersaid Peppino's animations made him feel like a fleshed-out character despite never speaking.
The soundtrack was acclaimed for its intensity.MeriStationsaid it complimented the visuals,Multiplayer.itwrote it combined funk withmetalwhile remaining true to the style of 1990s platform games,andPC Gamerlikened its "clever" blend of a retro style andsamplestoJet Set Radio(2000).IGNsaid the soundtrack did an excellent job conveying the distinct atmosphere of each level.IGNandPC Gamerconsidered "It's Pizza Time!" a particular highlight.Beyond the soundtrack,Multiplayer.itpraised thesound design, describing the sound effects as instantly iconic.
Critics commendedPizza Tower'sgameplay. They enjoyed each level's distinct theme and mechanics as well as the secrets scattered throughout,and compared the sense of speed to theSonic the Hedgehogseries.Reviewers felt it improved and expanded on theWario Landformula,withDen of Geekcalling it "faster, crazier, [and] sillier".PolygonandIGNhighlighted the escape sequences,Multiplayer.itsaid the power-ups surpassedWario Land'sin terms of surrealness and fun,andPC Gamersaid the final boss's spectacle rivaled that of theBayonettaseries.IGNsaid that whilePizza Towerwould only take five to six hours to finish, the secrets and ranking system provided substantialreplay value,andMeriStationsaid replaying levels to obtain P ranks was where the gameplay was at its best.Polygonthought allowing the player to choose what they liked to achieve instead of featuring traditional difficulty levels was an "elegant-ass approach to game difficulty".Nintendo Life'sonly complaint was that the bosses were somewhat frustrating due to a reliance on randomness.
IGN,MeriStation,PC Gamer,andPolygonfound controlling Peppino satisfying,PC Gamerlikening his moveset to aSwiss Army knifefor its versatility.Polygondescribed Peppino's abilities as limited but intuitive and excellently complementing the level design.Conversely,Multiplayer.itandRock Paper Shotgunfelt it was challenging to become accustomed to controlling Peppino since he requires considerable precision,whichRock Paper Shotgunsaid wasPizza Tower'sbiggest flaw. While its levels were still designed inWario Land'sslow and methodical fashion,Rock Paper Shotgunwrote,Pizza Towerexpects the player to move fast, leading to the repeated frustration of losing momentum. They said this meant the game would not be for everyone, though some would consider the "rough edges... an essential part of the appeal".
On July 14, 2024, Tour De Pizza announced that they were working on a new game called Woon, stating that it's not Pizza Tower related.On August 27, 2024, the same day as the Nintendo Switch release and the release of "Pizza Tower Bonus Soundtrack" an album that features songs used for the game's content updates, Tour De Pizza announced that there would be no more updates to the game and held a livestream forTwitchwhere McPig played the entirety of an modified version of Pizza Tower with enemies from Woon as a sendoff to the game.On November 25, 2024, Tour De Pizza revealed that Woon is abeat-em-upgame and showcased early gameplay, the game will feature local and online multiplayer withSteam Workshopsupport allowing for custom skins, characters and stages.The game will also be developed with theMonoGameengine.