Back in swine
You would be remiss if you don’t remember Tomba!. It was a weird and quirky game from the PSOne era about a pink-haired caveman jumping on pigs. At some point, you can’t make this stuff up. For the time Sony was greenlighting all kinds of unique titles on their freshman console, it was great. Tomba! went on to do decently with a sequel to follow three years later, then it was completely forgotten. That is until now. The year of our lord 2024 brings back the caveman and his swine stomping antics. But is it worth checking out without the nostalgia from the originals? Also, does this port bring enough to warrant the price tag?
So what is Tomba? Developed by a team called Whoopee Camp, headed up by Tokuro Fujiwara, whose credits include Ghosts ‘n Goblins and Bionic Commando for Capcom, Tomba is an action platformer that implemented the trendy two and half D that was made popular during the PSOne era. The plot involves the titular character Tomba as he attempts to recover a bracelet that belonged to his grandfather from an anthropomorphic race of pigs. Like I said earlier, you can’t make this stuff up.
This game certainly had a unique style.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: PlayStation (reviewed), Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $14.99
As a game it is fine. It is a decent mix of platforming and puzzles that control well. There are a lot of vague things here and there and it isn’t overly long. It really came and went without much fanfare back in the day and has become a sort of cult classic over the years. What I do enjoy about the game is the variety in just about everything. There are a host of weapons and even a grappling hook that comes into play later. They also do some neat things with perspective when it comes to puzzles and combat. And of course, pants! Tomba can equip new pants throughout the game. All fashionable of course.
The big question I had coming into this was the package itself. Clearly this release is for people who have nostalgia for the series, but at $19.99 what are we getting? For starters it is an interesting choice to only include the first game. I know this is niche, it isn’t going to light up the sales charts, but $20 for just the first game feels a little underwhelming. Combine that with the fact that there isn’t a ton here as far as extras go, and the value feels even less appealing.
For the visuals we have the standard options between pixel perfect, 4:3, and of course the always hated (by purists) wide stretch mode. Seriously I understand people wanting to fill up their TV screens, but man these games look bad stretched out. There are also some quality-of-life additions such as save anywhere, yes even during cutscenes. There is also a rewind feature built right in, which is nice as some of the platforming in this game is showing its age for sure.
What is he doing to that pig?!?
Probably the biggest addition to this version though is the newly arranged soundtrack. It has been composed by the original artist Harumi Fujita, and it is just as memorable as the original. Her new tunes are a nice mix of the old tracks with a modern twist. The original soundtrack is also here, but I highly recommend switching to the arranged one. It just gives the unique world of Tomba more flavor, and I appreciate that.
Even with all these features though I still feel the price point is a bit too high. It feels like this should have been both games packed together for $30 or separately at $15, it just feels a little above its value. Still there is a lot to love here if you have nostalgia for the original games. This isn’t going to convert any newcomers to the church of Tomba, but if you grew up in the PSOne era and have good memories of this quirky platformer, this package will likely satisfy.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
