Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return Special Edition Review - A Painful PS1 Relic

Time is crueler to video games than it is to TV shows and movies. Sure, there are all-time classics that are still as fun today as they were back in the day, like Space Invaders and Tetris, but that's because of simple gameplay loops that are enjoyable regardless of their presentation.

The original PlayStation is in an odd position when it comes to retro games, given how bad many of its games look on modern displays. The fact that it was an early 3D system and couldn’t quite match arcade visuals ensured that many games of the time have visuals that have aged terribly.

Visuals aren’t everything, as there are still many classic PS1 games that can be enjoyed to this day. However, there’s a reason Square Enix keeps remastering and remaking its games from that era: it doesn’t take much work to make these old titles palatable to a modern audience.

And now we come to the subject of today’s review, Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return Special Edition, which is a remastered version of a PS1 game from 1999, brought to modern platforms by Limited Run Games.

Tomba 2 was well-regarded in its day, but that was a long time ago, and while the remaster may iron out some of the game’s most frustrating issues, it doesn’t prevent the worst problems from standing out.

Making Sense Of Tomba 2

Tomba 2 stars the titular caveman-like guy, who makes up for low intelligence and lack of speech with his incredible agility and strength. After learning that evil pigs have kidnapped his friend Tabby, Tomba rushes to her home in the Coal-Mining Town to save her.

Tomba 2 is light on story and even lighter on character. This is to be expected, being an action-platformer on the PS1, with most of the events just being an excuse to lead Tomba through each stage.

The story in Tomba 2 is completely bizarre, with its colorful world being home to all manner of fantastical beasts, like mermaids, as well as guys like Santa Claus hanging out. Tomba 2 is bursting with charm in this regard, making it easier to look past the game’s ancient visuals.

The PS1 wasn’t as great at handling 3D spaces as its rival, the N64, which inhibited platformers on the system. Tomba 2 got around this by mixing 2D and 3D perspectives. The majority of the game takes place on a 2D side-scrolling plane, but there are sections where the player can move back and forth along the axis into the background, exploring new areas. There are a few 3D areas and minigames, but the bulk of Tomba 2 uses the segmented style for its areas.

Exploration is a key part of Tomba 2, as there are tons of small side quests and unlockables. As an early Metroidvania, Tomba 2 rewards players who go back and search old locations using later power-ups and keys, as there are tons of items to collect.

What’s New In The Tomba 2 Special Edition?

Off the bat, I should clarify that the Tomba 2 Special Edition is less of a remaster and more of a rerelease. The visuals, controls, story, and soundtrack are the same; there are just more options thrown in.

While there are several aspect ratios available in the Tomba 2 Special Edition, they all result in an ugly black banner and do little to improve the visuals. This is a PS1 game through and through, and taking a closer look at the old 3D models and 2D sprites does little to enhance the experience.

The Tomba 2 Special Edition has save states and a rewind function, much like the retro games on Nintendo Switch Online. There’s also a Museum mode that features a ton of artwork from the game.

The save states are, by far, the best addition to Tomba 2 Special Edition. The base version of the game has only save points, with no autosave feature. You’ll need to get used to saving manually often, as Tomba 2 can be a brutal game, especially on its first run-through.

The main reason to own Tomba 2 Special Edition (outside the availability on modern platforms) is the save state and rewind making it less agonizing to play, at least for contemporary sensibilities, as the game has a few significant issues with its difficulty.

The Pains Of Playing Tomba

By far the biggest issue with Tomba 2 is the horrible controls. Tomba’s jumping and landing feel overly twitchy and responsive when left or right are pushed, yet Tomba himself needs dead-on accuracy to grab onto ledges or enemies. There are way too many cheap deaths or the need to redo puzzles due to over- or undershooting jumps.

This issue is exacerbated by Tomba’s main method of dealing with enemies – throws. You need to stun an enemy with one of the melee/ranged weapons Tomba uses throughout the game, and then jump on top of them, before throwing them to the side.

Not only does your accuracy need to be perfect, but going too far in either direction means taking damage, as touching enemies hurts Tomba. You only start out with a few hit points before dying, meaning any encounter is deadly, thanks to the screwy controls. Luckily, you can expand your health points over the course of the game, and there are healing items, but the issue lies more with how combat is handled. There are items later in the game that make it easier to kill enemies, but you have to get to them first.

And then there’s the second major cause of death: the camera. There are far too many leaps of faith for a game with this much jumping, which isn’t helped by the power-ups being poorly explained and needing some experimentation. Some enemies love to jump out from blind spots ahead of the player for some cheap hits.

Tomba 2 also has a few mandatory timed minigames that deserve a special place in PS1 platformer hell. It’s easy to see why the rewind and save states are so handy in the Tomba 2 Special Edition, as they’re vital for getting through the game without punching a controller.

Tomba 2 Is A Product Of Its Time

And then, there’s the soundtrack. While most of the tracks are good, they’re often overwritten by the “Conversation” theme whenever the player is talking to someone. This farty trumpet song will haunt you in your dreams, much as it does mine, due to how often you hear it throughout the game.

The save states also address another problem with Tomba 2 – no cutscene skips. There are lots of little cutscenes throughout the game, all with the awful tune, and if you die mid-quest without saving, then you’re going through them again.

Tomba 2 also has a rough dub, but that’s to be expected. The game came out in an era when games seldom had dubs, never mind good ones. Just be prepared for some droning and annoying voices.

The best way to describe Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return Special Edition is that it’s a product of a different time. It’s not a bad game because someone threw out a piece of unfinished trash. It’s bad because it comes from a much less refined era. While the changes in the Special Edition do alleviate the annoying parts, you’re still better off playing one of the many other better Metroidvanias on the market.