VGR Tomba!/Tombi!

The kind of game nobody expected to see released on such a 3D-oriented 32-bit system - a fun 2.5D sidescrolling action/adventure platformer!

Easily my personal all-time favorite title of the entire Playstation library, no kiddin'!

VGR: Tomba! also known as Tombi! in Europe and Ore! Tomba ("Me! Tomba") in Japan

From Whoopee Camp/SCEA (NTSC)/SCEE (Pal)

Played on Playstation

Also available on /

Type Sidescroller adventure/action-RPG/platformer

Year 1997/98

Developed by the small independent Japanese studio Whoopee Camp, founded in 1997, Tomba! (or Tombi! as I'm used to call it) is a very different type of sidescroller game developed exclusively for the original Sony Playstation.

Actually, it's the kind of game you would usually expect to see on a system like the Sega Saturn. In fact it was the exact opposite of what Sony was trying to sell at the time. It is a known fact Sony was trying to push as much modern 3-dimensional action games as possibles to establish their new PSX console in a market heavily dominated by Nintendo coming off a successful 16-bit era.

But you see, Tomba! wasn't very heavy on action. It was mostly played on a 2-dimensional plan with very little 3D effects pushed forward unlike similar titles like Klonoa or Pandemonium, and used 2D sprites for most part of the game. And it was a fun comedic all-ages style game while the big sellers were more serious games like Doom, Final Fantadsy VII and Tekken.

It was simply completely different from what the core audience was expecting on the system. It had more in common with the Zelda series for its fetching quests and exploration and backtracking in this huge expansive world similar to a Metroidvania title. And visually the closest other game I can think of which had a similar look, visuals and tone to it is probably the very underrated Sega Saturn title Astal. A sort of cartoony action-RPG, like a Zelda II done right.

The game opens with a very charming cute anime-style cutscene that tells you everything you need to know.

Tomba is a young pink-haired savage kid. His name was probably changed to "Tombi" in Europe because of how close it sounded to a couple French ("falling") and Italian ("grave") words.

Tomba lives in this set of small islands. He lost his grandpa a while ago, and the only reminder he still had was this old gold bracelet. One day a bunch of pigs stole it and that's the occasion he took to discover the outside world. Along the way he would encounter several inhabitants of these various regions and come to their help along facing this army of pigs taking over the entire place...

You see, one day 7 Evil Pigs with magical powers arrived in these islands. Each with their own twisted powers, they put a curse throughout the surroundings. They sent these pig henchmen to collect all the gold they need to power their magic.

The objective in this game is to locate each Evil Pig and defeat him or her in his realm to help the locals.

Tomba will try to help everyone he meets in these different villages, including this monkey Charles stuck in a tree near his home or get the help from these old mystic wise men.

The story takes several cues from the classical tale Journey to the West - both the original Chinese novel and Akira Toriyama's manga Dragon Ball actually. You can even see a bit of the original kid Son Goku from the beginning of DB in Tomba.

Tomba! plays on a "sidescrolling" 2D plan, with branching-out paths on a 3-dimensional plan you can find from time to time. Usually you find these alternate paths by jumping into a different plan be it climbing vertical or in the foreground and the background.

At start of the game Tomba can only attack his enemies by jumping on their face. You can also do that to grab objects or open treasure chests, etc. It only works on the most basic pig foes.

Tomba can also use his boomerang, you will obtain all kinds of upgrades and new weapons through the adventure. Each new bosses you find hidden in each region requiring a new strategy.

The more you progress the more paths will open up to you and the world will expand and get bigger. It's a huge world where you will have to backtrack back and forth quite a lot to help and solve all the problems you encounter.

There's about 130 "events" or missions to discover and most are optional to complete the game.

The game feels pretty close to your traditional Zelda formula, it's an action-RPG game with adventure elements. As you the game progresses Tomba will clean all the forests, caves and villages from the curses put by the Evil Pigs.

Tomba! was imagined by Tokuro Fujiwara. The creator of Ghosts 'n Goblins at Capcom (who also went on producing several Mega Man games and would later work on a completely different kind of game, the cult PS2 survival horror Extermination).

For Whoopee Camp, formed by various ex-employees from Capcom and SNK, it was their first game. It was also the first PSX game to take advantage of the DualShock feature.

It's a really fun and unique game. The characters are pretty funny, all having their own unique animations and patterns. A lot of attention specially went into the various hilarious little details. They put so much effort into every single aspect of the world Tomba inhabits.

The dialogues are pretty funny and didn't suffered too much through the translation from Japanese, unlike several of other contemporary games.

Such a lovely game! It simply looks gorgeous! For me it's easily one of the best looking game on the system, considering it was a time everyone was mostly concerned with producing shiny "new" 3D graphics.

Tomba! is a very fun unique and creative games. 

Blending elements of RPG and platformer. 

The game is full of allusions to obscure Japanese mythology, if you get those. But otherwise the game is just as great and imaginative and it's pretty much accessible to anyone. 

The overworld feels huge and open. The quests are numerous, pretty simple and logical (aside from a few couple odd ones, but even so the conclusions are easy to come by elimination).

The world of Tomba! is inspired by old school animes, specifically by Akira Toriyama's early works such as Dr. Slump. Even the tone and the artstyle are quite reminiscent of Toriyama. 

Such lovely graphics. Great character expressions. 

The only real complaint I can have with the game is the slight unfinished "rushed" feel you get on some later parts of the game, nothing much really to detract from the overall experience, mind you. But there's a huge gap in the journal of the events, nothing you will miss but just a few pages of tasks that are impossible to get since they're simply missing from the actual finishing game. No doubt cut content (the map even alludes to an entire village cut from the build of the game).

The music composed by Harumi Fujita is simply outstanding, very reminiscent of old catchy tunes from 16-bit days, but thanks to the CD support they rely on all kinds of instruments along digital samples. They can get a bit funky at times, great themes for most parts of the world through the game. 

The game doesn't use any actual voices, apart from Tomba's "Link style" odd screams here and there. Although a couple of animated cutscenes feature the voice acting for the old men telling the tales how the pigs came to these islands.

The game also features an animated opening introduction. While the Japanese version features a song, "Paradise" by Tokyo Q Channel (and the American release an instrumental version of this song), the European version instead received "No Sweat!", a catchy rock tune performed by the CBBC band North & South.

Tomba is not that difficult a game, but it does take quite some time since it's a fairly long adventure. Some of the sidequests require some thinking to solve, but they're never that complicated and always sort of logical. You always know what the characters require of you, there's no complicated riddles to solve or hidden meaning to what they're looking for.

Overall, Tomba! is such a fun game! Without a doubt my all-time favorite PSX game.

The game looks absolutely adorable, it's a very fun and memorable experience! Not a lot people are familiar with it since so many people missed it back then. They didn't produce many copies of it and it's quite expansive if you look for original copies of the game in second hand markets. Although it's finally available on the PS Network these days. It's wasn't heavily marketed due to much bigger titles coming out on the system at the same time, this little gem deserve some more attention if you ask me.

A must play, an Highly Recommended fun game!

I played through Tomba! (or more precisely, Tombi!) so many times, it's a classic of mine! It even ruined one of my PSX memory card due to so many times I saved copies of it while I played and replayed this game.

If I had to pick only one favorite game on Sony's original 32-bit system it would be this one, Tomba! This is definitively the best game for the console or at least one of my must plays of the original PSX for me. It doesnt feel and look nothing like any other Playstation game, as far to say it seems like a Sega Saturn game for me.

Whoopee Camp would only survive to make a second Tomba! episode, also released on the PSX in 1999. Despite a great reception for both titles at the time, they would both sell poorly, neither making it to Platinum. Most of the staff including model and sound artists, programmers, writers and composers would split and later found Deep Space to develop Extermination, a PS2 launch title. Due to a similar fate, that second studio would go shut down, only to form the much more successful Access Games studio (which I imagine still retain rights for the series..?).

 

I give it:

3 / 3 Bruces!