Can’t teach an Old Pig new tricks

Tomba! or as best I know it as Tombi! is a classic platform adventure game originally released for the PlayStation and is a game I am excited to get back into as I had a blast playing this growing up. Now anyone confused by the name, the European version of Tomba! was known as Tombi! which still seems to be the case today as the version of the game I have on PlayStation 5 displays it as Tombi! Special Edition although the home screen background, game title and marketing of the game lists it as Tomba! so that’s what we will go with.

In Tomba! Special Edition you play as a feral pink haired wild child who has his grandfather’s bracelet stolen by evil pigs that now plague the land and now he sets off on a journey fully throwing pigs around himself while doing so. So what is Tomba! Well the game itself is a platforming game with RPG elements. From the offset it looks like your average platformer. You collect apples, throw enemies and swing across the dangerous terrain in order to progress but underneath all of this is an adventure that has more to it than meets the eye.

As already mentioned Tomba! is a platformer with some RPG elements so aside from platforming you have a world of NPC’s all eager for some help and just from the beginning of the game you will find yourself with a few tasks which pop up on the screen with an AP reward which when finished adds to your total AP which is shown in the top right corner. To begin with you will complete these tasks as you go such as getting the tornado and using it to clear the fog into the next area, This is a must as you cannot progress otherwise. The game also has an inventory system and you can pick up quest items which can be used from there also, there are useable items such as feathers which will will whisk you away to other areas. There’s also various weapons and pants which you can equip which can alter your attack and mobility and change how you interact with the environment.

After meeting the 100 year old wise man you gain the ability to open chests and you will be able to open ones that you previously went past as well as any future ones. Not all chests though as there’s many different types. Remembering where these are is important as you will need to backtrack once you get the ability to open them. You will also come across AP boxes which can spew out rewards and these will become available once you have amassed enough AP as shown on them.

Tomba! is a colourful game , not only is it vivid and full of colour but is also wacky and crazy in many ways. Once you get to the forest full of laughing and crying mushrooms you will understand why.

Tomba! is by no means a big game but there is so much crammed into its small world that some events are well hidden and won’t be found by your average player. You don’t need to do these to finish the game, but if you want to absolutely 100% everything then it’s certainly worth trying to mess around with the terrain no matter how insane that may seem. Those pink plants that excrete gas in the beginning of the game for example are not just for show. Tomba! is definitely one of those where do I go next kind of games as in that I definitely do remember getting stuck when I first played it and admittedly it is one of those games I did not finish however after a bit of perseverance I can say I have now finished it and enjoyed it just as much as I remember.

Now while I have talked about the game as a whole how does it differ from it’s 90s counterpart? Well Tomba! Special Edition does indeed come with some new features. Most notably is the rewind feature allowing you to rewind the game should you fall into difficulty, again Tomba! is not a difficult game but some areas are tricky to navigate like the pesky mushroom forest and this alleviates the annoying of waiting for the game to load again should you lost a life, you can get straight back in without much downtime now. You can also save anywhere now whereas you would previously have had to use the signs which can be found at the start of each area. The game does not feel it has improved in any capacity in terms of graphics but actually seems to have aged quite well. What you do get however is the ability to play with different display methods and also use different borders to display around the game screen, a nice retro touch and if you wish to play with the original audio you can also do that but if you want something a bit more modern then that is an option too as the whole soundtrack has had a remaster. The games sound and music is top notch although the mushroom forest is where I did turn it down just for the sheer annoyance of that zone, you will see for yourself if you don’t already know. The game also features a museum crammed with a load of original artwork, documents and creator interviews if that’s your sort of thing.

So is Tomba! Special Edition worth picking up? Most certainly, it is a charming game full of character and does feel like a retro cult of the 90s. It’s one of those hidden gem kind of games and one which at the time was certainly unique in every aspect. The game looks and plays as great as I remember and I look forward to uncovering all the hidden secrets I missed as a kid.

A PlayStation 5 review code was provided by Limited Run Games

The post Review – Tomba! Special Edition (PlayStation 5) appeared first on GameHype.

The Baconator Returns

HIGH It’s endlessly charming. The new soundtrack is fantastic.

LOW The extra features are not explained. The museum lacks polish.

WTF Tomba keeps items in his stomach, like Snake did with cigarettes in Metal Gear Solid…

Tomba! Special Edition is a reminder of the bygone days of the PS1, when developers took experimental approaches to the then-new Sony console. Tomba!, a 2.5D game from 1997, defied the logic that 3D was where every developer should be heading. What resulted was an experience that still looks beautiful, has a ton of charm, a cult following, and remains enjoyable more than 20 years after its debut.

Tomba! Special Edition is an action-platformer with light RPG elements. The titular character must defeat the evil Koma Pigs to recover his stolen bracelet. Along the way, Tomba will encounter and befriend many creatures and people who need help, while also carrying out objectives to advance the story, finding ways to the evil pigs’ lairs, or opening new pathways to needed items in this fairly non-linear adventure.

The characters are all endearing and charming in their own way. From standard fantasy dwarves to wilder fare like mouse cowboys, each area was packed with unique and colorful characters. Each map is bright and picturesque, and the music has been wonderfully enhanced with a remastered soundtrack that pops.

Looking at the gameplay, platforming is the star of the show here, as Tomba is given various methods to traverse the world, such as a parasol for slowing down his fall rate or a grapple line to grab and swing from various objects. The 2.5D aspect also allows Tomba to go into the background and play in a different part of some levels. This was a pretty clever way to add… depth…. to platformers, which often didn’t use background layers like this. In this aspect, Tomba! excels.

To dispatch enemies, Tomba must jump and grab onto them, so that he can then fling them. Sometimes stunning them is necessary first, and combat never became dull since different enemies required unique strategies. The boss pigs in particular were a highlight, as each has their own arena where the objective is to throw them into an Evil Pig Bag. (Yes, it’s called that.)

As Tomba! Special Edition is an updated release, there are some great quality-of-life features that I found incredibly helpful during my time playing. For starters, there’s a helpful rewind feature that allowed me to move the game back anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. This allowed me to retry difficult platforming sections without losing progress or health. There’s also a way to save at any time, which made the challenge even more friendly to new players of the series, like myself.

In addition, a museum feature allowed me to view art and documents, such as advertisements and manuals. There were also videos with Tokuro Fujiwara (director and creator of the series) about the development process of the original Tomba! and a music player where any of the tracks can be listened to.

While this new version of an old classic seems great as I’ve described it so far, there are a few issues with both the game and the supplementary material.

For example, with the historical videos, there’s no way to rewind or even pause the playback. This seems like a pretty standard feature in 2024, and the omission of any controls here is pretty annoying.

In regards to the game itself, it suffers from long load times between areas. In many cases, this isn’t really noticeable, but when having to many between short screens in succession, it became an annoyance. There’s also noticeable frame juddering, particularly when weather effects are present.

Also annoying is that the rewind and save features are not explained to the player beforehand. I figured them out by pressing random buttons, which is hardly optimal. New features like these need to be explained, so people will know exactly how to take full advantage of them. (The music also cuts out for a few seconds when using rewind, taking me out of the mood.)

Mechanically, Tomba! Special Edition suffers from some wonky physics, although these issues were present in the original. When swinging between platforms, it’s common to miss the next one due to how easy it is to overshoot an object and how little time to correct there is. Jumping also feels imprecise, often feeling too floaty.

Finally, mission design is often a bit too obtuse for its own good. For example, sometimes it’s necessary to talk to unassuming NPCs several times despite not having any reason to do so. There’s also a good deal of backtracking to be done, and sometimes I felt frustrated wasting time looking for answers, only to find that something else needed to be done first. Clearly, we’ve learned a lot about signposting and quest structure since the game was originally designed.

Tomba! Special Edition is a charming reminder of the experimental days of the PS1 era, and the cute characters and wonderful soundtrack still appeal. However, the flaws in this port and some of the game’s original issues might make it a bit tough for newcomers to fully embrace this beloved cult classic.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Disclosures: This version of Tomba! is developed and published by Limited Run Games. It is currently available on PS4/5, XBO/X/S, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PS5. Approximately 8 hours was devoted to the game, and it was not completed. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: This game has an ESRB rating of E10+ rating for Alcohol Reference, Crude Humor, and Mild Fantasy Violence. The ESRB rating states: “This is an adventure platformer in which players follow a hero (Tomba) attempting to retrieve a stolen keepsake from evil pigs. From a side-scrolling perspective, players traverse whimsical environments while collecting fruit, performing quests, and defeating animal/monster enemies. Players use a spiked ball to knock out enemies; player can also grab and toss pigs into other characters. One mission involves fixing a pump to provide wine for a village. One level depicts pixelated cherub characters urinating on the ground; the cartoony cherubs’ pelvic regions and buttocks are briefly depicted. ”

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game offers subtitles, but only during gameplay. Subtitles cannot be resized. (See example above.) This game is not accessible, due to a lack of subtitles during voiced cutscenes.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. A screen will appear before the game is started that explains the controls. On PS5, circle attacks with the equipped weapon, X is for jumping and can be used to scroll through text, square is for interacting with objects and NPCs, triangle opens up the items menu, the touchpad opens the entire menu, L2 opens the rewind menu, and R2 opens the emulation menu. The first areas of the game will also explain them. However, there is no way to reference most of these controls without either restarting the game (since backing out to the main menu is not possible) or going back to the tutorial areas. The rewind and save anywhere features are not explained at all.

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