Tomba! Special Edition Review – Still Charming Nearly 30 Years Later

Preservation has become a bigger concern in gaming. The idea beloved experiences can be lost to time is something a lot of players want to avoid. It’s certainly unfortunate so many games I grew up on are not playable without pulling out the system it originally released on. This is getting better, like Capcom’s upcoming Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics includes The Punisher, though there is still a long way to go. One of the most recent returning titles is a favorite from my youth, Tomba! Special Edition. With so much time between the original release, and now; does it stand the test of time, or is it simply good to have the option to play?

Tomba! Special Edition follows Tomba, a strange pink haired kid that dutifully protects his deceased grandfather’s prized gold bracelet. One day a group of Koma Pigs stole it as part of an ongoing effort to stockpile gold. Determined to return the prized item, Tomba sets out to defeat the Seven Evil Pigs, and reclaim the prized heirloom.

Unsurprisingly, the story is not particularly deep. Most of the narrative is told through a small number of interactions, or brief cutscenes.

The Good ol’ Days

Each cutscene really shows Tomba! Special Edition’s age. They have that unmistakable ’90s anime feel to it, are extremely pixelated, and far from fluid animations. The overall quality ultimately depends on the scene. There were some that reminded me of the early adventures that ignited my passion for gaming, and others that are rough to look at. Overall I am happy it retains the original charm, even if this approach won’t resonate with everyone.

Gameplay is deceptively simple. The world of Tomba! Special Edition is 2.5D, so certain areas will have things to do in both the foreground, and background. Most tasks are solved by simply pouncing on the problem. Want to learn another language? Leap on a dwarf, and give them a bite. Defeat an enemy? Hit them with an attack, followed by jumping on them.

Despite sounding rather simple, Tomba! Special Edition more than makes up for it with in-game events. A total of 130 are scattered across the world, though some of these are not optional. Most simply ask players to explore the larger world. Like going a specific path will give a unique item, or Tomba will be tasked with finding a certain object. I genuinely appreciate these puzzles can be solved without a guide, though resources obviously exist if something has you stumped.

While Tomba! Special Edition aged surprisingly well, that isn’t to say there aren’t rough patches. One of the biggest is inconsistent hit boxes. There were a surprisingly high number of times I took unexpected damage. These include touching a sleeping enemy, my jump being slightly off, colliding with a pig while holding another enemy, and things of the like. As annoying as this is, Tomba! Special Edition mitigates it by adding rewind, and the ability to save at any time.

Another common annoyance was mechanics that don’t work as expected. These are mostly fun ideas that were likely considered innovative at the time. For example, in the Dwarf village there are a number of seesaw platforms. It’s incredibly easy to put them in a bad position, or struggle to make some of the more demanding jumps.

English versus Japanese Manual

Finally, I want to highlight Tomba! Special Edition‘s museum. In addition to including standard things like development documents, advertisements, and official artwork are box arts, videos highlighting Tomba’s history, and the original manuals. It’s interesting to see how different the Japanese, and USA manuals are, as well as other choices like packaging. It isn’t perfect, like the original USA disc art is missing, but it’s a small touch that will likely mean a lot to a number of gamers.

Tomba! Special Edition Review Verdict

Editor’s Note: Tomba! Special Edition was reviewed on PlayStation 5, and a copy was provided to us for review purposes.