
	Platform PlayStation Genre Platformer Publisher SCEA Developer Whoopee Camp Released 1998
Newsletter
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: Subscribe \| Unsubscribe

Tomba!

Of all the various platformers to come to the PSOne, few hold as special a place in gamers' hearts as Tomba!. Created by Tokuro Fujiwara, the mastermind behind both the Mega Man series, and Ghosts n' Goblins, Tomba was an entertaining game both for its unique aesthetic as well as its gameplay.

Set on a group of islands out in the ocean, Tomba is living a relaxing, quiet life until a group of strange, magical pigs descend on the land, mutating much if its surroundings and inhabitants into peculiar creatures. On top of this, these portly troublemakers had the nerve to steal Tomba's grandfather's bracelet. This spurs the young adventurer into action as he sets forth on a journey across the islands to retrieve his bracelet and undo everything that the pigs have unleashed on the islands.

Advertisement

While at it's core, Tomba!'s gameplay was like what one would expect from any platformer with jumping, dodging, and the like, what made this game special was how it threw objectives at the player in order to progress. Some areas may be completely blocked off until you figure out what you need to get past it, and obtain said tools. On top of this, completing these objectives

Advertisement

rewarded players with Adventure Points which could be used to purchase various items, health, or open new areas of the game. Objective-based gaming is very common today, but in the late 1990s, this was a rather novel feature to find in a console platformer. About the only real downside to the game was that it had save points spread out quite a bit, making it a chore to try and save your game at times.

It's a shame the game didn't take off commercially despite scoring well with reviewers. All signs point to this having been the result of poor distribution on Sony's part, which is odd considering how much they promoted Tomba! on demo discs at the time. Now gamers have to pay through the nose on online auction sites if they want the game, as it hasn't even been made available as a download at the PlayStation store (largely because the game's developer went out of business over a decade ago, and there would be all sorts of legal hurdles involved with re-releasing this game).

Mr. Nash
October 24, 2010