Tobal No. 1

"Awesome, only beaten by it's own sequel."

Way back in the day, back when a lot of us were waiting for Final Fantasy 7, this game was Square's first US release for the US Playstation. Now, most of us didn't have any idea what this game would be like. No, the real reason a lot of us bought it was the Final Fantasy 7 demo that was included with it. (C'mon, you know you did.)

I got it for my 16th birthday and I naturally stuck the Demo disc in first. After messing around with that, I finally decided to play this game. I was pleasantly surprised and I grew to like it even more as I played on. Even though it isn't massively populated with characters or special moves, it has a fighting style that is pretty deep as there are many different ways of fighting that you can discover. From counters, to reversals, even to different ways of throwing the opponent, this game has a lot that others at the time did not. Here's the breakdown on it:

Graphics:

Tobal's graphics are a very aesthetic mix. Forgoing the textures for a gourad shading style, these models move at a liquid 60FPS pace. Now you might think that no textures would hurt, but it doesn't. There is clever use of colors, shading, and there are a few textures put in for certain details, like eyes or symbols.

However, the lack of textures makes for a few plain looking levels. Mary's is the one that comes to mind at the moment but the most glaring example is the quest mode; it's downright ugly with same color walls and very little to see. This shouldn't hurt too much since I never saw much point in playing the Quest mode. (I thought it sucked)

Sound:

Great music and sound effects to match. The music is very well done, again sans the Quest mode music which is an annoying little tune that replays and replays until you turn the TV down. As for the rest of the game, everything sounds great, some music I definitely love and it's catchy while you're beating somebody up. Sound effects are good and there is a bone crunching sound for your connected hits and the usual grunts and groans of the characters. By the way, if you like the music, pop this game disc into your CD player and listen to it all you want. The game practically doubles as a soundtrack.

Control:

Sharp, very responsive. This is important as you must have impeccable timing to pull off the various attacks and you have to manuever as well. This game actually plays withing a 3D field, so it's possible to move all around the arena and different angles determine different attacks that you might use on the enemy. In quest mode, the controls don't feel right since it uses the same setup as the fighting mode. This doesn't work well as the quest mode is an adventure game and it makes obstacles difficult to avoid. On the whole, or rather for the fighting game, the control is top notch.

Difficulty:

It's adjustable. Putting it on easy makes a bunch of wimps and putting it higher makes for a more challenging game. When you master a character (practice!) you will have no trouble beating this game on the hardest setting. The quest mode is just infuriating at times and I'd suggest you forget that it's even there. ~_^

Plot:

I won't dwell on this. It's a tournament like most games of it's type and each character has his/her own agenda. Nothing special and you'll care not for it anyway. It doesn't what character you select, the ending is always the same.

Bad Points:

Well a few rants. I've played this game a lot and now I'm unbeatable, but to get there, I learned a lot from playing the CPU and other people:

1.Illgoga is damn cheap. Watch out.
2.Watch out for cheapsters who'll try and toss you out the ring for an easy win. (slap them in real life)
3.Nork is so big it's hard to fight him and not fall out the ring.
4.Illgoga is damn ch...errr...Yeah well you know.

Overall:

A solid fighting game. Hard to find now if you don't have it, but if you see it, don't hesitate. It's worth it and you'll have tons of fun. Plus, the FF7 demo is a piece of history and you can even play that. Believe it or not, the demo doesn't look or sound as good as the full game!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/21/01, Updated 04/07/02