Two years ago, Tour de Pizza created a game and my life has been blessed ever since...to say that I love Pizza Tower would be an understatement. Obsession might be more accurate. It's the only game I can think of that I could play endlessly and be perfectly fine with that. It is probably my favorite game ever, with games that have significant nostalgic or sentimental value for me holding a higher place then it. I enjoy this game so much that I drove myself mad painstakingly recreating the entirety of Hellsing's famous 'War' speech with the characters of Pizza Tower all for the joke of Pi Day, because there's something fundamentally wrong with me!
Unfortunately my mind destroys all things that are beautiful. For as I worked on this project, my undying need to reshape the things I enjoy to further suit my sensibilities took hold yet again. It is both a blessing and a curse, but mostly a curse.
As is often the case, the more time I spent drawing Pizzahead and looking into his design I found it to be...lacking. That's not to say that he doesn't have a great silhouette, but more that I felt he didn't exactly hit the name on the end as to what he was supposed to be lampooning. Sure, we know that Pizzahead is essentially a pizza-based Ronald McDonald because of the context of the game, but if you saw him unattached to Pizza Tower would you get That? For something as silly and on the nose as Pizzahead, I think that needs to be corrected!
My overall goal was to keep Pizzahead's original look in tact while both playing up the appeal of Ronald McDonald and making him fully embody the pizza of Pizza Tower to make something that feels more realized as a 90's food mascot. Thus I incorporated all of the toppins into his outfit while upping his clown-like appearance. I also gave him an inverted version of Ronald's color scheme. Admittedly I found myself torn on whether or not to go for Ronald's newer design with the jacket so I did both. (Perhaps he wears the jacket in the first phase of his fight, then removes it like some anime villain in the second phase, only to laugh it off like it's no big deal. I don't know.)
In the end I did what I always do. Create something I actually enjoy more and give myself an unfathomably bitter-sweet feeling whenever I look at it or the original source material. It isn't the first time and it won't be the last. Expect a 'Pizza Tower: My Way' in the future, whenever I have time.
