Is this PS1 platformer worth a butchers?

Evil pigs. Man-eating plants. Hidden paths. Wacky weapons. Moving obstacles. Can you believe what Tomba has to go through to conquer the menacing swine?!

Growing up I only had an N64, so I missed out on the PS1 era until I was much older. But still, I cant remember hearing about Tomba, even from friends who had PS1’s. Still, I’m always intrigued by older games that are news to me, especially one of my all-time favourite genres…the platformer.

Tomba originally released in 1997. Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario 64 came out the previous year, while Banjo-Kazooie (my all-time favourite platformer) would only be a year away after. So it enters the platforming arena at perhaps the worst possible time, for it to be surrounded by the golden era of 3D platformers. But what of the game in 2024?

In 2024, there is no threat of Banjo. Mario won’t be in a 3D platformer again until the Switch 2 and Crash Bandicoot 5 supposedly got the axe, so it seems like a good time for Tomba to try a revival, especially when others like Glover and Kao the Kangaroo have tried.

Tomba itself isn’t so much a 3D platformer as a 2.5D one, so it’s more traditional in a sense, but it can switch to 3D perspectives at specific times. Sometimes it can be hard to tell what you are able to jump on, which can cause problems as you can imagine. Other than that, it’s a pretty standard platformer. It has received some quality of life changes to make it more accessible to modern gamers, which is always a plus.

It’s a fun platformer to be sure and definitely feels like it deserved to be preserved like this. The visuals are charmingly retro, as is the soundtrack. The framerate is solid throughout and I didn’t come across any glitches during my playthrough.

The Verdict

Tomba may have come out at the worst time back in 1997, so it got overshadowed by other platforming gods, but looking at it now, I can see why it deserved a remaster. It’s classic platforming fun and while it doesn’t add much new to the genre, it is still worthy of your time.

Score: 7.5