Two dimensional side-scrollers was a genre once though of being dead, until the time when a little guy named Tomba! arrived on the PSX courtesy of Whoopee Camp. Sony (who published the game) wanted to bring back the genre and make it like it was back in the good ol' days. So they decided to make a platformer entitled as Tomba which was a game about a pink/purple haired kid who was sent out to retrieve his grandfather's gold watch from the Evil Swine who attacked Tomba's neighborhood. After Tomba accomplishes that task he is relaxing with his friend Zippo (which is the start of Tomba! 2) and he receives a letter. If you want to know a little more about the story keep reading. So now that Sony has released the second Tomba, has the game changed much from the previous Tomba?

      On the visual side Tomba! 2 is first-rate, the game is overflowing with luxuriant looking colors that almost come to life before your very own eyes. The character detail is amazing. Compared to the first Tomba I'd have to say that Tomba 2 looks much better, not only because he is in 3D but because Whoopee Camp perceptibly learned how to push the PS even further. Now, to talk about Tomba himself, the developers did a fantastic job in making Tomba look much better, although he still suffers from very minor clipping around the shoulder area. It isn't terribly noticeable but if you have good eyes you'll catch it. Another clipping problem in Tomba! 2 is when Tomba climbs up the stairs in Win's house, you will notice Tomba's feet sink into the pavement. As for the CGs, Tomba! 2 does have CGs and the animation looks very nice but the compressing could have been better. The CGs are somewhat grainy in Tomba 2, but it could be because of the limited space on the CD which forced them to use high compression for the CGs. But never the less, everything in Tomba 2 looks great, the environments are very detailed and colorful, while Tomba himself is looking pretty good as well.

      Many remember Tomba! for its wacky story which was about pigs taking over the land that Tomba lives on. Well the plot in Tomba! 2 is slightly similar, the evil swine have returned and this time they have kidnapped Tomba's friend. (NOTE: The following may be a slight spoiler so those of you do not want to know what the games story is just scroll slightly down.) Tomba receives a letter from the swine saying that his friend been kidnapped, many thoughts go through his mind but without hesitation Tomba runs off and jumps into the lake to save his friend, and that is where the game picks up. Like the first Tomba!, Tomba! 2 still has weapons, keeps its RPG element and adds new clothes that will grant Tomba new abilities. Like the first Tomba, you still have to carry out many missions that entice the game even further, as you progress through the game you may notice some of the missions may be trickier than others but they are possible to beat.

      The title is not only adventure, instead just like the first Tomba!, Tomba! 2 consists of action and RPG genres as well and that really makes the game more interesting. There are no dimensional battles, no hard menus to understand nothing that will turn off a gamer. It [Tomba 2] is definitely one of the easiest games not only to comprehend but to enjoy as well. Tomba! 2 is definitely worth all of your hard earned pennies so go ahead and purchase Tomba 2, especially if you are a fan of the original.

      It came to much surprise to me when I heard voice acting in Tomba 2. Although its voice acting is definitely not on par with games like Metal Gear Solid or Syphon Filter it is a good try. The voices are pretty much precise, but they don't really match the expressions in the dialogue. For instance whenever you see exclamation points (!!!) in one of the sentences, it doesn't sound like there are any because their voice tones are way off the scale in the dialogue. But unlike other games such as Alundra 2 and Brave Fencer Musashi, Tomba! 2 features voice acting in every sequence not only in key sequences.

      The control has changed to some extent but it doesn't really make the game's control too much different from the originals control. You still have the same basic layout instead this time the dual shock and analog are supported much nicely. The dual shock effect is very sensitive and active to the games action, while the analog feels much more fluid to play with.

      Tomba! 2 definitely proves that 2D side scrollers are not dead, although the game may be in 3D it still carries 2D in the heart. This title should not be missed by any one, it features an excellent new graphics engine, great sound (despite the somewhat lacking voice acting) and exceptional gameplay that makes Tomba 2 one of Sony's biggest gems to treasure.

02/10/00  SolidSnake

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Graphics: 8.9
Gameplay: 9.0
Sound: 7.5
Control: 9.1
Replay Value: 8.8

Rating: 8.9