Square's Tom Sawyer
Encyclopedia
is a console role-playing game for the Nintendo
Family Computer
(known internationally as the Nintendo Entertainment System) game console. The game is directly based on Mark Twain
's renowned novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
, and was developed in the role-playing game niche that made Square
famous with its acclaimed Final Fantasy
series of video games. The game is featured in GameSpy
's retrospective overview of the Nintendo Famicom; Benjamin Turner and Christian Nutt's Square column concludes that "one of the most amusing Square games that didn't come [to the U.S.] was Square's Tom Sawyer, an RPG starring the happy-go-lucky boy wonder that featured a...racially insensitive...character."
in 1855 the fictional St. Petersburg, Missouri
(modeled after Twain's boyhood home of Hannibal, Missouri
). The game features the iconic whitewash
ed buildings from the novel and retains most of the main characters. Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Jim, Injun Joe, Aunt Polly, and Sid are all present, although Becky Thatcher is replaced by a girl named "Amy", possibly Amy Lawrence, Tom's ex-girlfriend. The game centers around Tom's search for treasure.
map separates it from games like Final Fantasy
and Dragon Quest. The game retains a traditional battle system, where character performance in combat is determined by numerical values for attributes such as health, power, and speed. The values of the characters' attributes increases as the characters gain experience through successive battles. Although Square's Tom Sawyer boasts a large item inventory, it eliminates the system of equipment; players instead fight monsters using their fists.
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Family Computer
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
(known internationally as the Nintendo Entertainment System) game console. The game is directly based on Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's renowned novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. The story is set in the Town of "St...
, and was developed in the role-playing game niche that made Square
Square Co.
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
famous with its acclaimed Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
series of video games. The game is featured in GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
's retrospective overview of the Nintendo Famicom; Benjamin Turner and Christian Nutt's Square column concludes that "one of the most amusing Square games that didn't come [to the U.S.] was Square's Tom Sawyer, an RPG starring the happy-go-lucky boy wonder that featured a...racially insensitive...character."
Setting
Square's Tom Sawyer takes place on the Mississippi RiverMississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in 1855 the fictional St. Petersburg, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
(modeled after Twain's boyhood home of Hannibal, Missouri
Hannibal, Missouri
Hannibal is a city in Marion and Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. Hannibal is located at the intersection of Interstate 72 and U.S. Routes 24, 36 and 61, approximately northwest of St. Louis. According to the 2010 U.S. Census the population was 17,606...
). The game features the iconic whitewash
Whitewash
Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a very low-cost type of paint made from slaked lime and chalk . Various other additives are also used...
ed buildings from the novel and retains most of the main characters. Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Jim, Injun Joe, Aunt Polly, and Sid are all present, although Becky Thatcher is replaced by a girl named "Amy", possibly Amy Lawrence, Tom's ex-girlfriend. The game centers around Tom's search for treasure.
Gameplay
The presentation of Square's Tom Sawyer only loosely mirrors that of traditional Japanese role-playing games. The game's sidescrolling navigation is less open-ended than most RPGs, while the absence of an overworldOverworld
An overworld is, in a broad sense, an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other video game genres....
map separates it from games like Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy (video game)
is a fantasy role-playing video game created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, developed and first published in Japan by Square in 1987. It is the first game in Square's Final Fantasy series...
and Dragon Quest. The game retains a traditional battle system, where character performance in combat is determined by numerical values for attributes such as health, power, and speed. The values of the characters' attributes increases as the characters gain experience through successive battles. Although Square's Tom Sawyer boasts a large item inventory, it eliminates the system of equipment; players instead fight monsters using their fists.
External links
Square Enix Square's Tom Sawyer Page- http://www.somethingawful.com/d/rom-pit/squares-tom-sawyer.php