Tomba!
Encyclopedia
Tomba! is a side-scrolling
adventure game
created by Whoopee Camp
Co. Ltd. for the Sony
PlayStation. Tomba! was followed by a sequel titled Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return
. The imaginative atmosphere and innovative gameplay of Tomba! has continued to keep it nostalgically popular with gamers. The series is the brainchild of Tokuro Fujiwara
, who also created the Ghosts'n Goblins and Mega Man
series. It was also one of the earliest Playstation games to take advantage of the Dual Shock feature.
The intro song to the PAL
version, No Sweat!, was performed by the CBBC
band, North & South
, while the one for the NTSC
version is an instrumental of Paradise.
The protagonist is an energetic pink-haired youngster named Tomba. One day, seven evil pigs appeared, and using their magical powers, they mutated the surroundings into a bizarre landscape. The underlings of The Evil Pigs, called the Koma Pigs, stole Tomba's grandfather's bracelet and a substantial amount of gold through a strange lust for it.
Tomba's quest is to fetch his bracelet, which requires trapping the Evil Pigs along the way. Trapping them involves finding the Evil Pig Bags, which are keys to entering each realm of each Evil Pig. He must also complete missions for other people to get items and the Evil Pig Bags. Some side-missions are purely for fun and irrelevant to the main storyline.
The protagonist of the game. He is known for his wild bushy pink hair and his green (and sometimes purple) shorts. His grandfather's bracelet was stolen by Koma pigs. Throughout his journey he befriends the people of the Dwarf village and the Old Wise Men and in return receives the tools and skills necessary to defeat his enemies.
Charles
Charles is a funky yet hip monkey. Tomba meets Charles when Charles gets stuck in a tree and cannot get down because he is tired from starvation. Tomba then brings him food and in return Charles teaches Tomba some unique abilities such as "The Animal Dash" and later in the game also teaches him to swim. Charles can be seen in the game wearing a red baseball cap, a light-blue vest, pink and white striped shorts and white gloves and shoes. Charles also keeps a parasol with him, which he later in the game gives to Tomba.
100 Year Old Wise Man
This wise man helps Tomba in his journey by giving Tomba a key to unlock treasures. He also tells a story about the evil pigs and assigns Tomba the task of rescuing the chicks located in the Kokka Eggs.
Baron
Baron is a dog, that was ill and with the help of Tomba, he was restored to good health and aided Tomba on his journey, by taking him wherever he needs to go in the game that has been previously visited. Also, Baron has unlimited usage, unlike Charity Wings.
Yan
Yan is a mysterious boy who hides in different places of the game to challenge Tomba to locate him in a "hide and seek" manner.
status, it gained a sequel
; however, the developer Whoopee Camp
went out of business shortly afterward.
Side-scrolling video game
A side-scrolling game or side-scroller is a video game in which the gameplay action is viewed from a side-view camera angle, and the onscreen characters generally move from the left side of the screen to the right. These games make use of scrolling computer display technology...
adventure game
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
created by Whoopee Camp
Whoopee Camp
Whoopee Camp was a video game developer started in 1997.They had hoped to make innovations in the gaming world but only made two games: Tomba! in 1997, and Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return in 1999...
Co. Ltd. for the Sony
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
PlayStation. Tomba! was followed by a sequel titled Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return
Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return
is a platform-adventure video game game developed by Whoopee Camp and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation...
. The imaginative atmosphere and innovative gameplay of Tomba! has continued to keep it nostalgically popular with gamers. The series is the brainchild of Tokuro Fujiwara
Tokuro Fujiwara
Tokuro Fujiwara , sometime credited as Professor F or Arthur King, is a Japanese video game designer, best known for creating Ghosts 'n Goblins and producing the Mega Man series. He worked as the general manager of the Capcom Console Games Division from 1988 to 1996...
, who also created the Ghosts'n Goblins and Mega Man
Mega Man (video game)
Mega Man, known as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System . It is the first game in the original Mega Man series and the entire Mega Man franchise...
series. It was also one of the earliest Playstation games to take advantage of the Dual Shock feature.
The intro song to the PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
version, No Sweat!, was performed by the CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
band, North & South
No Sweat (TV series)
No Sweat is a British television children's comedy show that went to air on the BBC's analogue channels in the late 1990s. The show followed the exploits of struggling boy band, North & South, consisting of Jimmy , Greg , Miles and Giles , who were a band in real life, scoring four UK Top 40 hits...
, while the one for the NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
version is an instrumental of Paradise.
Mission System
The game is based around a mission system, where the main character's (Tomba's) skills are employed to complete various tasks. Completion of a mission gives a certain amount of adventure points (AP) which are required for AP boxes which contain food (which gives you AP and restores 1 space of vitality) or items, and you may for example need 50,000 AP to open one. AP is also used to gain access to special places or information later in the game. Not all missions are necessary to progress in the game, however they are required to achieve full completion. There are 130 events (missions) in the game. Many events rely on other events to be completed. Due to the game resetting itself after the true evil pig has been captured, the last 3 events are completed right after another at the end and thus, the player can only play through the game with 127/130 complete. But, they can save the 'Seven Friends' event onto their file by using the Charity Wings or Baron after going into the pig's lair. And then all that needs to be done is use of the save point that's near the true evil pig gate.Setting and story
Tomba! is set on a group of islands in the middle of an ocean which do not appear on any map. Formed with great provinces in the north and smaller islands in the south, the region was home to peaceful people who lived in tranquility for many years. The island was once a beautiful place, home to birds and plantations.The protagonist is an energetic pink-haired youngster named Tomba. One day, seven evil pigs appeared, and using their magical powers, they mutated the surroundings into a bizarre landscape. The underlings of The Evil Pigs, called the Koma Pigs, stole Tomba's grandfather's bracelet and a substantial amount of gold through a strange lust for it.
Tomba's quest is to fetch his bracelet, which requires trapping the Evil Pigs along the way. Trapping them involves finding the Evil Pig Bags, which are keys to entering each realm of each Evil Pig. He must also complete missions for other people to get items and the Evil Pig Bags. Some side-missions are purely for fun and irrelevant to the main storyline.
Characters
TombaThe protagonist of the game. He is known for his wild bushy pink hair and his green (and sometimes purple) shorts. His grandfather's bracelet was stolen by Koma pigs. Throughout his journey he befriends the people of the Dwarf village and the Old Wise Men and in return receives the tools and skills necessary to defeat his enemies.
Charles
Charles is a funky yet hip monkey. Tomba meets Charles when Charles gets stuck in a tree and cannot get down because he is tired from starvation. Tomba then brings him food and in return Charles teaches Tomba some unique abilities such as "The Animal Dash" and later in the game also teaches him to swim. Charles can be seen in the game wearing a red baseball cap, a light-blue vest, pink and white striped shorts and white gloves and shoes. Charles also keeps a parasol with him, which he later in the game gives to Tomba.
100 Year Old Wise Man
This wise man helps Tomba in his journey by giving Tomba a key to unlock treasures. He also tells a story about the evil pigs and assigns Tomba the task of rescuing the chicks located in the Kokka Eggs.
Baron
Baron is a dog, that was ill and with the help of Tomba, he was restored to good health and aided Tomba on his journey, by taking him wherever he needs to go in the game that has been previously visited. Also, Baron has unlimited usage, unlike Charity Wings.
Yan
Yan is a mysterious boy who hides in different places of the game to challenge Tomba to locate him in a "hide and seek" manner.
Reception
Despite almost universally positive reviews, Tomba! only sold moderately well. Although it failed to acquire Greatest Hits/PlatinumPlatinum range
The Platinum Range is a Sony PlayStation budget range in the PAL regions, notably Europe , Australia, New Zealand, India, and Africa...
status, it gained a sequel
Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return
is a platform-adventure video game game developed by Whoopee Camp and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation...
; however, the developer Whoopee Camp
Whoopee Camp
Whoopee Camp was a video game developer started in 1997.They had hoped to make innovations in the gaming world but only made two games: Tomba! in 1997, and Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return in 1999...
went out of business shortly afterward.