Tomba! Special Edition – Pigging Out

The Bay of Pigs

The original era of PlayStation marked the beginning of multiple platformer dynasties. Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Tomb Raider and more, icons who can still grace box art to this day. Unfortunately, 1997’s Tomba never reached this level of mainstream success; instead, it became a barmy little cult favourite, just about sneaking enough sales to warrant a sequel. Now that PlayStation is enjoying its fifth iteration, perhaps Tomba!: Special Edition will provide the perfect chance for wider recognition and appreciation. 

So what exactly is Tomba? An adventure platformer with a Metroidvania structure, you’ll step into the shoes (or lack thereof) of Tomba. Tomba is a feral cave boy who has to fight off a pig invasion of his idyllic island and retrieve a stolen bracelet. Using an insanely unintuitive jump, Tomba can jump onto enemies and toss them (not like that) as his primary attack, along with flails and boomerangs. Light RPG elements add an extra layer of complexity albeit simple leveling up of limited abilities. Tomba can also climb into the background, allowing for a wildly impressive sense of depth as levels have multiple planes to explore.

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Feral Fun

A brilliant use of the limitations of the time, the first time players explore this mechanic will still leave an impression. In this rerelease, the graphics are mostly unchanged though still clean and sharp looking. There are plenty of scanline options for the presentation-obsessed retro gamers here. The soundtrack is bound to remain divisive, playing a fine line between simple and catchy and monotonous and repetitive. 

Tomba! has a unique approach to level structure. By activating in-game events, you’ll collect points to use for advancing. This encourages exploration, preventing you from simply blasting through the small yet densely detailed stages. This mechanic is a truly unique approach to level design and it would be an interesting one to revisit in a more intuitive way.

Caving In

As a historical oddity, it’s fantastic that Tomba has been made available once more. Though far from the fully-fledged remakes his platforming peers have received it’s a wonderful package. Hopefully, the sequel is on the way to provide a complete record of the Tomba series to date. Could Tomba return with a completely new title? Perhaps that moment has passed but at least his adventures will be preserved for future generations – an ironic fate for a cave-boy already out of his time.

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