If I had one word to describe Tomba!, it would be “odd”. As you begin the game, you are immediately approached by a man with a hat. He explains to you some of the game’s mechanics while Tomba (the main character) gets surprised, and then just stares at him and listens attentively. Just like that, the action starts and you begin making your way across the game.

Tomba! (or Tombi! in the PAL version) takes place in a land of sorcery, evil pigs and other magical creatures. Along the way you meet many peculiar characters who add to the oddness of the game. For some reason just about everyone has to assume some funny pose when talking to you. I was about 8 years old when I played this game for the first time. An aunt gave it as a gift to my younger brother. My brother began playing the game and we just started laughing at the odd situations and the music. I remember we got into a fit of laughter the first time we saw the “Whoopee Camp” (the company behind the game) logo. I think any 8 year old playing Tomba! definitely would’ve had a good laugh.

Everything about the game is cartoonish and easy to appeal to children. However, the game proved to be difficult for us and we didn’t get too far. Fast-forward to 5 years later and we were finally older children. At last, with our superior intellect and advanced hand to eye coordination (and the knowledge of the existence of Gamefaqs), we finally managed to beat the game. It really was an accomplishment and was also exciting because for the first time we saw all the dimensions of the game. More than a decade has passed after that and I still play it once in a while. Tomba! is probably not the most innovative or addicting game of all time, but it’s definitely a good game. Now, to move on to review the game itself.

Beware of evil pigs!!

Sound

One of my favourite elements of the game is the soundtrack. Tomba! features bright and catchy music with a funny tone. The music always captures the feeling of the stage, whether it be dramatic, mysterious or just a happy village. At the same it manages to maintain the game’s essence, which is just a colourful adventure not meant to be taken too seriously. I particularly like the “Village of all beginnings” and the “Mushroom forest” theme’s. Those are the ones that stuck most to my head when I was little. There is not much voice acting in the game, but Tomba does make noises when jumping and being hit by enemies. Some of the other enemies also make noises, and the music of the game and sound effects all add up to making the game feel alive. 

Graphics

I personally think that the graphics and the whole image of the game is its strongest charm. At first look the game seems like it’s 2D, but at a closer inspection you can see that many elements are rendered in 3D. The 3D models give it an interesting look and contrast. The backgrounds are my favourite part of the graphics. Everything is rich and vibrant. The landscapes are particularly beautiful. There are also a couple of animated cutscenes which are really well done. They serve to tell you about the backstory, important moments or show you a beautiful landscape just for the heck of it (Yes, I have a thing for landscapes). They are really well done anime style cutscenes which kind of remind me of the ones from the “Tales of” series of RPG’s. The whole image of the game is really well done and blends in together. Everything from the menus, the way events are presented to you and the manner in which the characters behave just oozes with personality. It’s all that little stuff that makes me enjoy the game.

Gameplay

Tomba! is pretty straightforward and the controls are easy. The game is a 2D platformer with some 3D elements to it. You just basically run, jump and grab things. Jumping on people and biting them seems to be Tomba’s special ability, and more than one character expresses a WTF reaction when Tomba jumps on them. It is a relatively short game and and should easily be completed in less than 10 hours. It pretty much consists of completing small quests, called events. Not all events have to be completed to finish the game, and completing all the events really doesn’t give you anything special. The game however, suffers from a small but significant flaw that can somewhat piss people off (and I don’t mean urinate). There are a few events that can be missed for different reasons. So if you screw up and save the game, you won’t be able to complete all the 130 events. It happened to me once and I did urinate, I mean, get pissed off, not literally. The beginning can also be kind of frustrating as you need to constantly be moving and backtracking from place to place to complete the events. Later on however you get access to items which permit you to travel instantly to other places.

My Opinion

I think Tomba! can definitely be an entertaining game. If you’re into anime you will definitely enjoy it. If you’re not into anime you can also enjoy it. The game is not really all that difficult, but towards the end you do need to pay attention to what the characters say and think a little. So it should keep just about everyone entertained to a degree. Tomba! is also constantly presenting you with new events so you always have a new challenge to be looking forward to. I do consider it to be one of those hidden jewels the Playstation had. A sequel was released 2 years later which was fully 3D and improved many aspects of the game. However, I personally like the graphics and image of this game more.