Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return

Tomba using the Flying Squirrel Suit in the cursed Kujara Ranch

Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return is a side-scrolling platform game in which the player controls the titular character Tomba. Tomba! 2 is displayed in a full three-dimensional perspective in which movement is performed on predetermined linear paths. Whenever Tomba reaches a point where additional paths intersect with his current one, a set of flashing arrows appear above his head. At that point, Tomba can move in any direction that the arrows point.[1][2][3] Some areas in the game enable the player to explore them in a top-down view, allowing Tomba to move around freely.[2]

Along with the ability to jump, Tomba can attack enemy characters by leaping onto their back, biting into them and tossing them in a straightforward trajectory. Tomba can increase the variety in his offensive measures by obtaining weapons such as flails, boomerangs and mallets.[1][4] Throughout the game, different suits that can augment Tomba's abilities or protect him can be obtained. For example, the flying squirrel suit allows Tomba to glide long distances while the pig suit allows Tomba to communicate with friendly pigs.[1][2][3] To reduce backtracking, magical feathers scattered throughout the game can be used to instantly transport Tomba to any area that has previously been visited.[2]

Progress in the game is driven by the completion of a large number of "events", which are initiated by Tomba interacting with a character or environmental element and being given a task to accomplish or an obstacle to overcome. Such events may consist of finding a lost item, rescuing a stranded character or clearing a blockade in the imminent path.[3][4] Upon completing an event, the player is rewarded an amount of "Adventure Points", which can be used to advance toward a new area and unlock specifically-marked chests.[2] The game features an inventory system that compiles the immediate given set of events for review as well as a collection of the items that have been obtained.[4]

Tomba is brought by his friend Zippo a mysterious letter addressed to him. According to the letter, Tabby, Tomba's girlfriend, has disappeared. Tomba leaps into the sea in search of her.[5] Tomba and Zippo wind up in a fisherman village where they meet an old man named Kainen. From there they move on to the Coal-Mining Town where Tabby's house is, but discover that she is unavailable.[6] Gran, a denizen of the Coal-Mining Town, mentions seeing Tabby travel to the Kujara Ranch by trolley,[7] but the trolley she used to travel there returns empty. A panicking trolley worker reveals that the Evil Pigs kidnapped Tabby when she tried to protect a pendant that was given to her by Tomba as a gift.[8] Gran explains that the Evil Pigs have cursed the entire continent, and gives Tomba a red Pig Bag that is capable of capturing the Flame Pig that has cast his spell on the mines.[9]

Tomba ventures throughout the continent gathering the rest of the Pig Bags. He cures the Coal-Mining Town of its inferno by capturing the Evil Flame Pig, cures the Kujara Ranch of its perpetual snowfall by capturing the Evil Ice Pig, cures the Donglin Forest's gloominess by capturing the Evil Ghost Pig, lifts the Circus Town's curse (which has turned its citizens into pigs) by capturing the Evil Earth Pig and cures the Water Temple of its perpetual rainfall by capturing the Evil Water Pig. When all of these Evil Pigs have been captured, their leader, the Last Evil Pig, reveals himself to Tomba and tempts him to find his lair.[10] Tomba and Zippo locate the Last Evil Pig in an underground area underneath the Coal-Mining Town, where the Last Evil Pig freezes time in a last-ditch effort to stop Tomba.[11] A final battle against the Last Evil Pig ends with his capture, but he promises his eventual return.[12] Tomba and Zippo find Tabby in the Last Evil Pig's lair and escape the collapsing area on the back of the flying dog Baron. Following a feast at Tabby's home, Kainen appears and gives Tomba a tuxedo for him to wear as a reward for going on every adventure possible.[13] Tomba is allowed to pilot the local windmill owner's new boat to return home.[14] However, Tomba gets involved in an accident on the boat's maiden voyage.

For Tomba 2! The Evil Swine Return, Whoopee Camp founder Tokuro Fujiwara transferred directorial duty to Kuniaki Kakuwa, but retained his other positions in development.[15] A fully polygonal approach was taken to the game's graphics to achieve a greater freedom in expression. This shift to three-dimensional graphics allowed for concepts that weren't possible in the previous title, such as dynamic camera movement during cutscenes. Despite the change in graphics, the first game's basic systems and gameplay were preserved as to not alienate players of the previous title.[16] Hidetaka Suehiro provided level design for the latter half of the game and set up the AI movement for the enemy characters.[17] The music was composed by Shiina Ozawa,[15] with a new score by Ashif Hakik being recorded for the international version.[1][18] The Japanese-language version includes the voice talents of Ichirō Nagai, Satomi Kōrogi and Yuki Matsuoka among others.[15] The game was publicly unveiled by Sony at the 1999 Electronic Entertainment Expo,[19] and was released in Japan on October 28, 1999.[20]

The English-language voices were provided by the Actors Phantasy Company. Peter Kepler provided the voices of several characters in the game, including Zippo, Gran, and all six of the Evil Pigs, while Wally Fields voiced Kainen and Nancy Burr voiced Tabby. Additional characters were voiced by Kurt Bodden, Paul Rosa, J.S. Gilbert, Ian Reddoch, Tim Enos, Jay Ginsburg, Laura Jean Valentine and Elaine Clark.[21] The North American release date for the game was announced by Sony on November 11, 1999.[22] A playable demonstration was integrated into the Jampack Summer 2K compilation CD released by PlayStation Underground.[23] Tomba! 2 was released in North America on January 18, 2000 and in Europe on June 16, 2000.[24] Whoopee Camp was disbanded following the release of Tomba! 2, and much of its staff later transferred to Access Games.[25] The company had been developing the PlayStation 2 title Extermination prior to its dissolution.[26]

When an English-language distribution deal for Tomba! on the PlayStation Network was formulated between MonkeyPaw Games, Sony and Fujiwara, the involved parties elected to hold off on including Tomba! 2 in the deal until the Tomba! re-release showed satisfactory sales figures.[27] Tomba! 2 was re-released on the PlayStation Network in Japan on September 28, 2011,[20] in Europe on November 21, 2012[28] and in North America on February 18, 2014.[29] Tomba! 2's initial release on the North American PlayStation Network was that of the Japanese version; MonkeyPaw Games experienced emulation issues with the English-language version that prevented its immediate release and intended the Japanese version to be a placeholder.[30] The English-language version of the game was released on the PlayStation Network in North America on November 5, 2015.[31] From November 3 to November 9, those who were verified to have purchased the Japanese version were able to download the English version at no extra charge.[32] To commemorate the release of the English version, MonkeyPaw Games created and distributed limited-edition Tomba plushie figures as part of a special promotion on Twitter from November 3 to December 25, 2015.[33]

Although Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return received generally positive reviews from critics, it sold less copies than its predecessor.[39] Slo Mo of GamePro commended the game as "intricate, yet accessible" with an "above-average" challenge for experienced gamers in its "tricky side-stories and item quests", and also noted the game's "crisp" controls and "handy" inventory system.[4] Jeremy Conrad of IGN stated that the sequel "takes everything that was great about the first game, makes it better, and then throws in even more new features", but noted that some objectives, particularly the trolley minigame, can be "frustrating and difficult".[2] Peter Bartholow of GameSpot described Tomba! 2 as a "slick and refined" "repackaging of the original game" and also pointed out the difficulty of the "less necessary" objectives, but added that the sequel's additions made it easier to navigate the game's world and that players "should be able to get through the game without too much trouble".[1] Randy Nelson of Next Generation stated that "Classic-style platforming adventures don't get much better - or deeper, or quirkier - on 32-bit. Not a dramatic progression for the genre overall, but eminently playable (and lovable) nevertheless."[37] Mark MacDonald of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine felt that the game's more interesting puzzles were outnumbered by tedious and minor errands that were too numerous to keep track of or care about, and found more enjoyment in the old-fashioned platforming that was complemented by the responsive controls and the variety in weapons, items and abilities.[38] Sean Johnson of Game Revolution described the quest system as "interesting" and favored the ability-augmenting suits for "giv[ing] Tomba 2 more personality, and break[ing] the monotony of searching through the lands," though criticized the movement style as a "nuisance" and some of the more minor quests that are "extremely time-consuming and cramp the pacing of the adventure."[3] Shawn Smith of Electronic Gaming Monthly commended the game's quantity of tasks, but described many of them as "not particularly challenging" and "tedious in some respects", and singled out the game's boss fights as having "provided no challenge whatsoever". Che Chou of the same publication similarly noted that some of the tasks "still suffer from the same sort of tedium from the first game", and Chris Johnston described the game as "a tad bit on the easy side".[35]

Slo Mo described the game's settings as "intricate" and "gorgeous", the graphics as "visually unique" and "finely crafted", the color scheme as "eye-catching" and "exuberant", and the characters as "weird", "wacky" and "cutesy".[4] Conrad praised the game's graphics as making a "very good-looking platformer" and noted the "insanely vast color palette and lighting effects that take advantage of the hardware".[2] Both Bartholow and Johnson commended Tomba! 2's graphics as being some of the best on the PlayStation and compared the visuals to those of animated cartoons, though Johnson experienced difficulty with some camera angles.[1][3] MacDonald described some of the game's levels as "really cool" and identified the game's colorful and detailed graphics as "a great example of what the current generation of PS games are capable of."[38]

Slo Mo praised the score as "a soothing symphony of well-thought-out music" that "nicely complement[s]" the style and atmosphere of the levels, and noted the game's sound effects as "sweet" but "light".[4] While Conrad described the voice-acting as "decent" and the majority of the music as "passable", he criticized the "monotonous music that plays during all conversations" as "annoying".[2] Bartholow noted that the North American version's music "retains the reggae-ish timbre of the original title's music, but for the most part it isn't as repetitive or potentially annoying as the original's music". He added that "Sony's surprisingly competent voice-overs help bring the game's wacky world and characters to life".[1] Johnson was surprised by the game's voice-acting quality and felt that it enhanced the game's experience, but dismissed the music as "fairly generic".[3] Conversely, Smith derided the voice-overs as "ridiculously lame".[35]

• Tomba! The Wild Adventure PSN Page
• Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return at MonkeyPaw Games
• Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return at MobyGames