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86-626: Tomba! is a 1997 platform-adventure game developed by Whoopee Camp and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation . It was released in Japan in 1997 and in other territories the following year. The game centers on the eponymous feral child as he attempts to recover his grandfather's bracelet from an evil race of anthropomorphic pigs. Creator Tokuro Fujiwara developed Tomba! after leaving Capcom in 1995, founding Whoopee Camp as director, producer and lead designer. He chose

172-423: A non-linear event system, as well as Tomba's gradual growth in abilities and resources. Tomba! ' s score was composed by Fujiwara's longtime Capcom collaborator Harumi Fujita , who eagerly approached Fujiwara for a position upon learning of Whoopee Camp's establishment. The game's Japanese version features the song "Paradise" by Tokyo Channel Q as its opening theme, and "Que Serã Serã" by Fumitaka Fuchigami as

258-608: A true 3D platformer is a French computer game called Alpha Waves , created by Christophe de Dinechin and published by Infogrames in 1990 for the Atari ST , Amiga , and IBM PC compatibles . Bug! , released in 1995 for the Saturn , has a more conservative approach. It allows players to move in all directions, but it does not allow movement along more than one axis at once; the player can move orthogonally but not diagonally. Its characters were pre-rendered sprites, much like

344-452: A 1980 arcade release by Universal , is sometimes credited as the first platformer. Another precursor to the genre from 1980 was Nichibutsu 's Crazy Climber , in which the player character scales vertically scrolling skyscrapers. The unreleased 1979 Intellivision game Hard Hat has a similar concept. Donkey Kong , an arcade video game created by Nintendo and released in July 1981,

430-401: A 2D plane are called 2.5D , as they are a blend of 2D and 3D. The first platformers to simulate a 3D perspective and moving camera emerged in the early-mid-1980s. An early example of this was Konami 's Antarctic Adventure , where the player controls a penguin in a forward-scrolling third-person perspective while having to jump over pits and obstacles. Originally released in 1983 for

516-480: A 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure , for its Dreamcast console. It used a hub structure like Super Mario 64 , but its levels were more linear, fast-paced, and action-oriented. Tokuro Fujiwara Tokuro Fujiwara ( 藤原 得郎 , Fujiwara Tokurō , born April 7, 1961) , sometimes credited as Professor F or Arthur King , is a Japanese video game designer, involved in the development of many classic Capcom video games . He directed early Capcom titles such as

602-462: A balance between open-ended and guided exploration. Another platform-adventure released that year, Pony Canyon 's Super Pitfall , was critically panned for its vagueness and weak game design. That same year Jaleco released Esper Boukentai , a sequel to Psychic 5 that scrolled in all directions and allowed the player character to make huge multistory jumps to navigate the vertically oriented levels. Telenet Japan also released its own take on

688-481: A bouncing car that jumps on various platforms such as buildings, clouds, and hills. Jump Bug offered a glimpse of what was to come, with uneven, suspended platforms, levels that scroll horizontally (and in one section, vertically), and differently themed sections, such as a city, the interior of a large pyramid, and underwater. Irem's 1982 arcade game Moon Patrol combines jumping over obstacles and shooting attackers. A month later, Taito released Jungle King ,

774-525: A brief burst of episodic platformers where the first was freely distributed and parts 2 and 3 were available for purchase. The abundance of platformers for 16-bit consoles continued late into the generation, with successful games such as Vectorman (1995), Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995), and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995), but the release of new hardware caused players' attention to move away from 2D genres. The Saturn , PlayStation , and Nintendo 64 nevertheless featured

860-450: A forward-scrolling effect similar to Sega's 1985 third-person rail shooter Space Harrier . 3-D WorldRunner was an early forward-scrolling pseudo-3D third-person platform-action game where players were free to move in any forward-scrolling direction and could leap over obstacles and chasms. It was notable for being one of the first stereoscopic 3-D games . Square released its sequel, JJ , later that year. The earliest example of

946-540: A gold bracelet as an heirloom. One day, Tomba's bracelet is stolen following a confrontation with a group of Koma Pigs. He pursues them to a nearby village, where he is directed to the 100-Year-Old Wise Man. The Wise Man tells the story of the Seven Evil Pigs' rise to power, and reveals that the Koma Pigs are stockpiling gold. He advises Tomba to find his bracelet by hunting the seven Evil Pigs hiding throughout

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1032-609: A high quality of animation. The 1988 shareware game The Adventures of Captain Comic was one of the first attempts at a Nintendo-style platformer for IBM PC compatibles . It inspired Commander Keen , released by id Software in 1990, which became the first MS-DOS platformer with smooth scrolling graphics. Keen's success resulted in numerous console-styled platformers for MS-DOS compatible operating systems, including Duke Nukem , Duke Nukem II , Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure , and Dark Ages all by Apogee Software . These fueled

1118-631: A number of successful 2D platformers. The 2D Rayman was a big success on 32-bit consoles. Mega Man 8 and Mega Man X4 helped revitalize interest in Capcom 's Mega Man character . Castlevania: Symphony of the Night revitalized its series and established a new foundation for later Castlevania games. Oddworld and Heart of Darkness kept the subgenre born from Prince of Persia alive. The difficulties of adapting platformer gameplay to three dimensions led some developers to compromise by pairing

1204-441: A quarter and a third of all console games. By 2006, the genre had experienced a decline in sales, representing a 2% market share as compared to 15% in 1998. In spite of this, platformers are still being commercially released every year, including some which have sold millions of copies. A platformer requires the player to maneuver their character across platforms to reach a goal while confronting enemies and avoiding obstacles along

1290-404: A score of 31 out of 40. The events were praised for their variety, quantity, and non-linearity. Mark Cooke of GameRevolution noted that Tomba! was the first platform game to grant such freedom, following attempts by RPGs such as The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall . However, John Ricciardi of Electronic Gaming Monthly and Joe Rybicki of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine warned that

1376-470: A shift in design. Later 3D platformers like Banjo-Kazooie , Spyro the Dragon , and Donkey Kong 64 borrowed its format, and the "collect-a-thon" genre began to form. In order to make this free-roaming model work, developers had to program dynamic, intelligent cameras. A free camera made it harder for players to judge the height and distance of platforms, making jumping puzzles more difficult. Some of

1462-406: A side-scrolling action game some platform elements: jumping between vines, jumping or running beneath bouncing boulders. It was quickly re-released as Jungle Hunt because of similarities to Tarzan . The 1982 Apple II game Track Attack includes a scrolling platform level where the character runs and leaps along the top of a moving train. The character is little more than a stick figure , but

1548-725: A teenager with a rebellious personality to appeal to gamers who saw the previous generation of consoles as being for kids. The character's speed showed off the hardware capabilities of the Genesis, which had a CPU clock speed approximately double that of the Super NES. Sonic 's perceived rebellious attitude became a model for game mascots. Other companies attempted to duplicate Sega's success with their own brightly colored anthropomorphisms with attitude. These often were characterized by impatience, sarcasm, and frequent quips. A second generation of platformers for computers appeared alongside

1634-417: A total of 130 events. The player begins the game with a maximum of four " vitality points " that are represented as a series of yellow bars on the upper-left corner of the screen. Tomba loses a vitality point if he is hit by an enemy, touches a sharp object, or falls into deep water. Vitality points can be restored by eating fruit. When all vitality points are depleted or if Tomba falls down a bottomless chasm,

1720-488: Is central to the genre, though there are exceptions such as Nintendo 's Popeye and Data East 's BurgerTime , both from 1982. In some games, such as Donkey Kong , the trajectory of a jump is fixed, while in others it can be altered mid-air. Falling may cause damage or death. Many platformers contain environmental obstacles which kill the player's character upon contact, such as lava pits or bottomless chasms. The player may be able to collect items and power-ups and give

1806-474: Is in a vector game called Major Havoc , which comprises a number of mini-games, including a simple platformer. One of the first raster -based platformers to scroll fluidly in all directions in this manner is 1985's Legend of Kage . In 1985, Enix released the action-adventure platformer Brain Breaker . The following year saw the release of Nintendo's Metroid , which was critically acclaimed for

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1892-465: Is the endless runner , where the main character is always moving forward and the player must dodge or jump to avoid falling or hitting obstacles. Various names were used in the years following the release of the first established game in the genre, Donkey Kong (1981). Shigeru Miyamoto originally called it a "running/jumping/climbing game" while developing it. Miyamoto commonly used the term "athletic game" to refer to Donkey Kong and later games in

1978-626: The Atari 2600 , with 256 horizontally connected screens, became one of the best-selling games on the system and was a breakthrough for the genre. Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle was released on the ColecoVision that same year, adding uneven terrain and scrolling pans between static screens. Manic Miner (1983) and its sequel Jet Set Willy (1984) continued this style of multi-screen levels on home computers . Wanted: Monty Mole won

2064-683: The MSX computer, it was subsequently ported to various platforms the following year, including an arcade video game version, NES , and ColecoVision . 1986 saw the release of the sequel to forward-scrolling platformer Antarctic Adventure called Penguin Adventure , which was designed by Hideo Kojima . It included more action game elements, a greater variety of levels, RPG elements such as upgrading equipment, and multiple endings . In early 1987, Square released 3-D WorldRunner , designed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nasir Gebelli . Using

2150-530: The Master System with Alex Kidd in Miracle World . It has horizontal and vertical scrolling levels, the ability to punch enemies and obstacles, and shops for the player to buy power-ups and vehicles. Another Sega series that began that same year is Wonder Boy . The original Wonder Boy in 1986 was inspired more by Pac-Land than Super Mario Bros. , with skateboarding segments that gave

2236-694: The Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, became the archetype for the genre. It was bundled with Nintendo systems in North America, Japan, and Europe, and sold over 40 million copies, according to the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records . Its success as a pack-in led many companies to see platformers as vital to their success, and contributed greatly to popularizing the genre during the third and fourth generations of video game consoles. Sega attempted to emulate this success with their Alex Kidd series, which started in 1986 on

2322-556: The run-and-gun shooter Commando (1985), the platformers Ghosts 'n Goblins (1985) and Bionic Commando (1987), and the survival horror game Sweet Home (1989). He was also a main producer for the Mega Man series and worked on the CP System arcade game Strider (1989). He also conceived of Resident Evil as a remake of his earlier game Sweet Home and worked on the game as general producer. He worked as

2408-537: The virtual camera , it had to be constrained to stop it from clipping through the environment. In 1994, a small developer called Exact released a game for the X68000 computer called Geograph Seal , which was a 3D first-person shooter game with platforming. Players piloted a frog-like mech that could jump and then double-jump or triple-jump high into the air as the camera panned down to help players line up their landings. In addition to shooting, jumping on enemies

2494-599: The 1980 arcade video game Space Panic , which has ladders but not jumping. Donkey Kong , released in 1981, established a template for what were initially called "climbing games". Donkey Kong inspired many clones and games with similar elements, such as Miner 2049er (1982) and Kangaroo (1982), while the Sega arcade game Congo Bongo (1983) adds a third dimension via isometric graphics . Another popular game of that period, Pitfall! (1982), allows moving left and right through series of non-scrolling screens, expanding

2580-468: The Enchanted Castle , which was only modestly successful. That same year, Capcom released Strider in arcades, which scrolled in multiple directions and allowed the player to summon artificial intelligence partners, such as a droid, tiger, and hawk, to help fight enemies. Another Sega release in 1989 was Shadow Dancer , which is a game that also included an AI partner: a dog who followed

2666-480: The Hedgehog into 3D. Their project, titled Sonic Xtreme , was to have featured a radically different approach for the series, with an exaggerated fisheye camera and multidirectional gameplay reminiscent of Bug! . Due in part to conflicts with Sega Enterprises in Japan and a rushed schedule, the game never made it to market. In the 1990s, platforming games started to shift from pseudo-3D to "true 3D," which gave

Tomba! - Misplaced Pages Continue

2752-616: The Real Evil Pig in his trove of gold, Tomba recovers his bracelet and leaves it resting upon his grandfather's grave. Tomba! was created by Tokuro Fujiwara , who left Capcom in December 1995 after 13 years as an employee. Fujiwara's motivation stemmed from a desire to create new and original games, which he felt he was unable to do within Capcom. Upon exhausting his accumulated vacation days, Fujiwara resigned immediately following

2838-469: The United Kingdom press. Examples include referring to the " Super Mario mould" (such as Kato-chan & Ken-chan ) as platform games, and calling Strider a "platform and ladders" game. The genre originated in the early 1980s. Levels in early platform games were confined to a single screen, viewed in profile, and based on climbing between platforms rather than jumping. Space Panic ,

2924-455: The Year". Another term used in the late 1980s to 1990s was "character action games", in reference to games such as Super Mario Bros. , Sonic the Hedgehog , and Bubsy . It was also applied more generally to side-scrolling video games , including run and gun video games such as Gunstar Heroes . Platform game became a common term for the genre by 1989, popularized by its usage in

3010-529: The acrobatics evoke the movement that games such as Prince of Persia would feature. B.C.'s Quest For Tires (1983) put a recognizable character from American comic strips into side-scrolling, jumping gameplay similar to Moon Patrol . The same year, Snokie for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers added uneven terrain to a scrolling platformer. Based on the Saturday morning cartoon rather than

3096-465: The audio were more mixed. Some were impressed by the soundtrack and considered it catchy, with Cooke declaring that the game "may set a new high water mark for platformers." Others were more apathetic, with Bro Buzz of GamePro finding the sound effects "minimal to an extreme" and claiming that the music was "limited to one catchy but repetitive, goofy tune". Despite Tomba! ' s positive critical reception, its commercial performance proved lukewarm;

3182-415: The basis for the non-linear mission structure found in most open-world, multi-mission, sidequest -heavy games. Another Capcom platformer that year was Bionic Commando , which popularized a grappling hook mechanic that has since appeared in dozens of games, including Earthworm Jim and Tomb Raider . Scrolling platformers went portable in the late 1980s with games such as Super Mario Land , and

3268-616: The change was motivated by the fact that "tomba" is an Italian word meaning " grave ". The opening theme for the European version is "No Sweat" by North & South, which was also used as the theme song of the television series of the same name . Tomba! was re-released on the PlayStation Network in Japan on July 6, 2011. Distributor MonkeyPaw Games spent one year formulating an English-language distribution deal with Sony and Fujiwara. The English-language version of Tomba!

3354-609: The console as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, along with Super Mario World , while Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis . Sonic showcased a new style of design made possible by a new generation of hardware: large stages that scrolled in all directions, curved hills, loops, and a physics system allowing players to rush through its levels with well-placed jumps and rolls. Sega characterized Sonic as

3440-534: The continent and gathers the rest of the Pig Bags. In the midst of his travels, an older Wise Man informs Tomba that the gold being hoarded by the Seven Evil Pigs is the source of their power. After Tomba captures the Seven Evil Pigs and lifts their spells over the land, an eighth Evil Pig Bag manifests within his possession and reveals the lair of the Evil Pigs' creator and leader, the Real Evil Pig. After defeating

3526-537: The controls. Rybicki cited the high amount of load times as a negative point, and John Broady of GameSpot criticized the limited save system as a "chore", suggesting that a system that saves the game after each event would have been more logical. The game's visuals were lauded for their bright and colorful presentation, smooth character animation, and combination of 2D character sprites and 3D polygonal environments. Crispin Boyer of Electronic Gaming Monthly compared

Tomba! - Misplaced Pages Continue

3612-421: The criteria of a platformer, and was billed as an action adventure . It used true 3D characters and set pieces, but its environments were rendered using a rigid engine similar to the one used by Wolfenstein 3D , in that it could only render square, flat corridors, rather than suspended platforms that could be jumped between. Sega had tasked their American studio, Sega Technical Institute , with bringing Sonic

3698-419: The earlier Clockwork Knight . The game plays very similarly to 2D platformers, but lets players walk up walls and on ceilings. In 1995, Delphine Software released a 3D sequel to their 2D platformer Flashback . Entitled Fade to Black , it was the first attempt to bring a popular 2D platformer series into 3D. While it retained the puzzle-oriented level design style and step-based control, it did not meet

3784-529: The ending theme. Tomba! was released in Japan on December 25, 1997. Promotional plush figures of Tomba and a Koma Pig were distributed in limited quantities around the game's original release date. The figures were also offered as prizes in a sweepstake run by Gamers' Republic in 1999. Though Whoopee Camp retained a close relationship with Capcom, the North American publishing rights for Tomba! were given to Sony Computer Entertainment . Tomba!

3870-411: The environment state how to use the game's controls and abilities, while a select few can be used to save the player's progress. When Tomba interacts with a certain character or environmental element, an " event " may be initiated, in which Tomba is 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

3956-521: The first award for Best Platform game in 1984 from Crash magazine. Later that same year, Epyx released Impossible Mission , and Parker Brothers released Montezuma's Revenge , which further expanded on the exploration aspect. The first platformer to use scrolling graphics came years before the genre became popular. Jump Bug is a platform-shooter developed by Alpha Denshi under contract for Hoei/Coreland and released to arcades in 1981, only five months after Donkey Kong . Players control

4042-482: The foreground and background, and the camera panning and curving around corners. Meanwhile, Pandemonium and Klonoa brought the 2.5D style to the PlayStation . In a break from the past, the Nintendo 64 had the fewest side scrolling platformers with only four; Yoshi's Story , Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards , Goemon's Great Adventure , and Mischief Makers —and most met with a tepid response from critics at

4128-470: The game a greater sense of speed than other platformers at the time, while its sequel, Wonder Boy in Monster Land added action-adventure and role-playing elements. Wonder Boy in turn inspired games such as Adventure Island , Dynastic Hero , Popful Mail , and Shantae . One of the first platformers to scroll in all four directions freely and follow the on-screen character's movement

4214-518: The game did not sell enough copies to qualify for inclusion in Sony's Greatest Hits , although it sold well enough to justify a sequel. Whoopee Camp released Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return for the PlayStation in 1999, and the game was also met with positive reviews. However, it sold less than its predecessor and Whoopee Camp disbanded after its release. Tomba! later garnered a cult following . Platform-adventure game The genre started with

4300-489: The game refreshing after a glut of post-apocalyptic three-dimensional third-person shooters at E3 1998 . Erik Engström of Hardcore Gaming 101 saw influences by various anime from the late 1970s and early 1980s; he compared the game's rural and fantastical setting and occasional scatological references to Akira Toriyama 's Dr. Slump , and compared the Koma Pigs to the Yatterman character Odate Buta. Reactions to

4386-525: The game takes place in a side-scrolling perspective . However, Tomba can occasionally climb over walls to move between the foreground and background as separate areas. Some areas allow the player to explore them in an isometric view . Along with the ability to jump, Tomba can attack enemy characters by leaping onto and biting into their back before tossing them in a straightforward trajectory. Tomba can also attack enemies by obtaining various weapons, such as flails and boomerangs . Signposts scattered throughout

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4472-416: The game's 2D side-scrolling perspective for the format's straightforward nature, and created a non-linear " event " system to differentiate the game from other platforming titles. Tomba! was received positively by critics, with praise for its controls, visuals, and varied gameplay objectives. However, the game's audio received a more mixed reception. Despite the game's lackluster commercial performance, it

4558-402: The game's visuals to Klonoa: Door to Phantomile , particularly in the "almost perfect marriage" of its disparate graphical elements. Cooke described the hand-drawn cutscenes as endearing and humorous, and regarded the introduction to be the game's best feature. All four reviewers for Electronic Gaming Monthly appreciated the game's eccentric and lightly humorous tone, as did Rybicki, who found

4644-498: The gameplay from its precursor but traded the frog-like mech for a cartoony rabbit mech called Robbit. The title was successful enough to get two sequels and is remembered for being the first 3D platformer on a console. Rob Fahey of Eurogamer said Jumping Flash was perhaps "one of the most important ancestors of every 3D platformer in the following decade." It holds the record of "First platform videogame in true 3D" according to Guinness World Records . Another early 3D platformer

4730-457: The genre continued to maintain its popularity, with many games released for the handheld Game Boy and Game Gear systems. By the time the Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 launched, platformers were the most popular genre in console gaming. There was a particular emphasis on having a flagship platform title exclusive to a system, featuring a mascot character. In 1989, Sega released Alex Kidd in

4816-413: The genre, such as Super Mario Bros. (1985). Donkey Kong spawned other games with a mix of running, jumping, and vertical traversal, a novel genre that did not match the style of games that came before it, leaving journalists and writers to offer their own terms. Computer and Video Games magazine, among others, referred to the genre as "Donkey Kong-type" or "Kong-style" games. "Climbing games"

4902-404: The imminent path. Upon completing an event, the player is rewarded with "Adventure Points", which can be used to access additional events and unlock specifically-marked chests. Multiple events can be undertaken at once and often do not require being cleared in any specific order. The game features an inventory system that displays the player's current collection of items and events. The game includes

4988-652: The land. He also describes the Evil Pig Bags that could reveal the Pigs' hiding places, and suggests learning more from the Dwarf Elder in the next village. The Dwarf Elder gives Tomba a blue Pig Bag and tells him that the Bags can reveal the entrance to an Evil Pig's hideout if Tomba approaches it. However, he warns that the individual Evil Pigs do not hide in the same area where they have cast their spell. Tomba explores

5074-454: The levels were open and had objectives. Completing objectives earned the player stars, and stars were used to unlock more levels. This approach allowed for more efficient use of large 3D areas and rewarded the player for exploration, but it meant less jumping and more action-adventure . Even so, a handful of boss levels offered more traditional platforming. Until then there was no settled way to make 3D platformers, but Super Mario 64 inspired

5160-451: The main character new abilities for overcoming adversities. Most games of this genre consist of multiple levels of increasing difficulty that may be interleaved by boss encounters, where the character has to defeat a particularly dangerous enemy to progress. Simple logical puzzles to resolve and skill trials to overcome are other common elements in the genre. A modern variant of the platform game, especially significant on mobile platforms,

5246-489: The maze game, Namco's 1984 Pac-Land is a bidirectional, horizontally-scrolling, arcade video game with walking, running, jumping, springboards, power-ups , and a series of unique levels. Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani described the game as "the pioneer of action games with horizontally running background." According to Iwatani, Shigeru Miyamoto described Pac-Land as an influence on the development of Super Mario Bros. . Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. , released for

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5332-405: The more linear 3D platformers like Tork: Prehistoric Punk and Wario World used scripted cameras that limited player control. Games with more open environments like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie used intelligent cameras that followed the player's movements. Still, when the view was obstructed or not facing what the player needed to see, these intelligent cameras needed to be adjusted by

5418-534: The new wave of consoles. In the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Amiga was a strong gaming platform with its custom video hardware and sound hardware . The Atari ST was solidly supported as well. Games like Shadow of the Beast and Turrican showed that computer platformers could rival their console contemporaries. Prince of Persia , originally a late release for the 8-bit Apple II in 1989, featured

5504-511: The original compositions Fujita created on the synthesizer as opposed to the tracks from the PlayStation version, which used sampled audio . The enhanced version, titled Tomba! Special Edition , was released on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Steam on August 1, 2024, with a PlayStation 4 release to follow later. Tomba! received favorable reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings . In Japan, Famitsu gave it

5590-400: The overlapping events may easily result in players getting sidetracked. The game's side-scrolling segments were considered reminiscent of platform games from earlier generations, particularly Fujiwara's past titles Ghosts 'n Goblins and Ghouls 'n Ghosts . Cooke, however, felt that the lack of innovation made the gameplay "a little too tired". Several reviewers praised the responsiveness of

5676-408: The platform-action game, Valis , which contained anime -style cut scenes . In 1987, Capcom 's Mega Man introduced non-linear level progression where the player is able to choose the order in which they complete levels. This was a stark contrast to both linear games like Super Mario Bros. and open-world games like Metroid . GamesRadar credits the "level select" feature of Mega Man as

5762-416: The play area. Nintendo 's flagship Super Mario Bros. (1985) was a defining game for the nascent genre, with horizontally scrolling levels and the player controlling a named character—Mario, which became a mascot of the company. The term platform game gained traction in the late 1980s, as did the alternate form platformer . During their peak of popularity, platformers were estimated to comprise between

5848-561: The player around and aid in battle. In 1990, Hudson Soft released Bonk's Adventure , with a protagonist positioned as NEC 's mascot. The following year, Takeru's Cocoron , a late platformer for the Famicom allowed players to build a character from a toy box filled with spare parts. In 1990, the Super Famicom was released in Japan, along with the eagerly anticipated Super Mario World . The following year, Nintendo released

5934-420: The player loses a life . If all lives are lost, the game ends prematurely . Years ago on an uncharted archipelago , a group known as the Seven Evil Pigs appeared and used their magical powers to tarnish the land. Their underlings, the Koma Pigs, began terrorizing the populace with their mischievous pranks. Years later, a curious and energetic boy named Tomba diligently protects his grandfather's grave and wears

6020-405: The player more control over the character and the camera. To render a 3D environment from any angle the user chose, the graphics hardware had to be sufficiently powerful, and the art and rendering model of the game had to be viewable from every angle. The improvement in graphics technology allowed publishers to make such games but introduced several new issues. For example, if the player could control

6106-1048: The player. In the 1990s, RPGs , first-person shooters , and more complex action-adventure games captured significant market share. Even so, the platformer thrived. Tomb Raider became one of the bestselling series on the PlayStation , along with Insomniac Games ' Spyro and Naughty Dog 's Crash Bandicoot , one of the few 3D games to stick with linear levels. Moreover, many of the Nintendo 64 's bestsellers were first- and second-party platformers like Super Mario 64 , Banjo-Kazooie , and Donkey Kong 64 . On Windows and Mac , Pangea Software 's Bugdom series and BioWare 's MDK2 proved successful. Several developers who found success with 3D platformers began experimenting with titles that, despite their cartoon art style, were aimed at adults. Examples include Rare 's Conker's Bad Fur Day , Crystal Dynamics 's Gex: Deep Cover Gecko and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver , and Shiny Entertainment 's Messiah . In 1998, Sega produced

6192-401: The release of Resident Evil . Fujiwara soon established the independent development studio Whoopee Camp, and became the director, producer and lead designer of the studio's debut game Tomba! . Fujiwara chose to make a side-scrolling game as he believed this fundamental experience would excite players in a straightforward way. To distinguish Tomba! from other action games, Fujiwara designed

6278-489: The time. Despite this, Yoshi's Story sold over a million copies in the US, and Mischief Makers rode high on the charts in the months following its release. The term 3D platformer usually refers to games with gameplay in three dimensions and polygonal 3D graphics. Games that have 3D gameplay but 2D graphics are usually included under the umbrella of isometric platformers , while those that have 3D graphics but gameplay on

6364-540: The top down perspective, Frogger (1981) as climbing games. In a December 1982 Creative Computing review of the Apple II game Beer Run , the reviewer used a different term: "I'm going to call this a ladder game, as in the 'ladder genre,' which includes Apple Panic and Donkey Kong ." That label was also used by Video Games Player magazine in 1983 when it named the Coleco port of Donkey Kong "Ladder Game of

6450-437: The video game industry internationally. The following year, Donkey Kong received a sequel, Donkey Kong Jr. and later Mario Bros. , a platformer with two-player cooperative play . It laid the groundwork for other two-player cooperative games such as Fairyland Story and Bubble Bobble . Beginning in 1982, transitional games emerged with non-scrolling levels spanning multiple screens. David Crane's Pitfall! for

6536-455: The visual flash of 3D with traditional 2D side scrolling gameplay. These games are often referred to as 2.5D. The first such game was Saturn launch title , Clockwork Knight (1994). The game featured levels and boss characters rendered in 3D, but retained 2D gameplay and used pre-rendered 2D sprites for regular characters, similar to Donkey Kong Country . Its sequel improved upon its design, featuring some 3D effects such as hopping between

6622-428: The way. These games are either presented from the side view, using two-dimensional movement, or in 3D with the camera placed either behind the main character or in isometric perspective . Typical platforming gameplay tends to be very dynamic and challenges a player's reflexes, timing, and dexterity with controls. The most common movement options in the genre are walking, running, jumping, attacking, and climbing. Jumping

6708-413: Was Floating Runner , developed by a Japanese company called Xing and released for PlayStation in early 1996, before the release of Super Mario 64 . Floating Runner uses D-pad controls and a behind-the-character camera perspective. In 1996, Nintendo released Super Mario 64 , which is a game that set the standard for 3D platformers. It let the player explore 3D environments with greater freedom than

6794-505: Was a primary way to attack. This was the first true 3D platform-action game with free-roaming environments, but it was never ported to another platform or released outside Japan, so it remains relatively unknown in the West. The following year, Exact released their follow-up to Geograph Seal . An early title for Sony's new PlayStation console, Jumping Flash! , released in April 1995, kept

6880-425: Was followed by a sequel in 1999, Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return . Tomba! maintained a cult following years after its debut, and was re-released on the PlayStation Network in 2011. Tomba! is an open world Metroidvania game with RPG elements . The player controls the titular character Tomba, who must explore his home island, defeat the evil Koma Pigs and recover his grandfather's golden bracelet. Most of

6966-532: Was found in any previous game in the genre. With this in mind, Nintendo put an analog control stick on its Nintendo 64 controller, a feature that had not been seen since the Vectrex but which has since become standard. The analog stick provided the fine precision needed with a free perspective. In most 2D platformers, the player finished a level by following a path to a certain point, but in Super Mario 64 ,

7052-532: Was re-released on the PlayStation Network in North America on June 19, 2012 and in Europe on October 3, 2012. The deal between MonkeyPaw Games, Sony and Fujiwara did not initially include the game's sequel, and the involved parties elected to wait until Tomba! ' s re-release showed satisfactory sales figures before arranging the sequel's re-release. In the month of its North American debut, Tomba!

7138-505: Was released in North America on July 16, 1998 and in Europe on August 28, 1998. The international release was improved, with shorter load times, more responsive controls, Gouraud shading on background elements, and other visual improvements. The intro theme "Paradise" was retained for the American release, but with the vocals removed. The game is titled Tombi! in European territories; Erik Engström of Hardcore Gaming 101 speculated that

7224-418: Was the first game to allow players to jump over obstacles and gaps. It is widely considered to be the first platformer. It introduced Mario under the name Jumpman. Donkey Kong was ported to many consoles and computers at the time, notably as the system-selling pack-in game for ColecoVision , and also a handheld version from Coleco in 1982. The game helped cement Nintendo's position as an important name in

7310-400: Was the third best-selling PSOne Classic . On July 12, 2023, Limited Run Games announced they would be working with Fujiwara to release an enhanced version of Tomba! on Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 and Windows . The new version will run on Limited Run Games' Carbon Engine and feature a new soundtrack by Fujita. The soundtrack for the enhanced version is arranged from

7396-540: Was used in Steve Bloom's 1982 book Video Invaders and 1983 magazines Electronic Games (US)—which ran a cover feature called "The Player's Guide to Climbing Games"—and TV Gamer (UK). Bloom defined "climbing games" as titles where the player "must climb from the bottom of the screen to the top while avoiding and/or destroying the obstacles and foes you invariably meet along the way." Under this definition, he listed Space Panic (1980), Donkey Kong , and despite

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