Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom

"Don't be fooled by appearances, this game rocks!"

Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom was truly one of the most overlooked gems on the Nintendo Entertainment System. While Shadowgate drew all the audience for PC style adventure games on the NES, Princess Tomato was just simply better. Challenging without being frustrating, silly without being nonsensical, Princess Tomato was just too... static to be accepted by the Contra-fueled hoards of NES buyers.

The story line is very simplistic. Minister Pumpkin is controlling an army of bad guys, called ''Farmies'' (the human famers) against the good people of the Salad Kingdom. You are Sir Cucumber, set to wage battle with the evil minister Pumpkin and save Princess Tomato. Yes, this is as silly as it sounds.

Princess Tomato's gameplay can most closely be compared to Shadowgate. There are some commands on the side, you click on them, then click on an object onscreen. Pretty simple stuff. You rarely have to guess which objects in a room might be significant, although you need an open mind a couple of times to solve puzzles. One major problem with most adventure games is the King's Quest derived impossible puzzle (you know, picking a flower and putting it on a cat will drop the meteor which will etc, etc...). This game rarely suffers from such puzzles. You even get to do a bit of 3-d dungeon scouring, but please, make a map. Nothing is more frustrating than getting lost in that broccoli forest or cave stage.

You actually battle bad guys manually when you encounter them. Conflict in the Salad Kingdom is decided by a duel of Rock Paper Scissors with each direction on the gamepad controlling a move. It's pretty easy to master. It seems the battles are put in the game for variety, not any particular challenge.

The graphics are charming and funny. Seeing a bunch of vegetables interact seems easy enough to make appealing, and PTSK does not disappoint. The characters are wacky and colorful and everyone is appealing in one way or another. The music is simple, but fairly well composed.

With the weird battle system and colorful storyline, Princess Tomato is one of my favorite games for the NES, and certainly deserves a revival on the GBA or GBC. The classic Kemco-Seika adventure games were redone on the GBC (Deja Vu 1 and 2, and Shadowgate), so PTSK could be as well. There are few other NES games (but that includes Kemco's brilliant Uninvited) I would rather see ported more badly than this one.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/02, Updated 06/12/03