Proto:Tomba!/Preview Prototype

This is a sub-page of Proto:Tomba!.

In the February 2020 Hidden Palace Community Group Buy, a localization prototype of Tomba! was dumped. It features various changes to dialogue and text, and a few changes to gameplay.

Sub-Pages

Dialogue Changes As a localization prototype, this makes up the bulk of changes.

Event Changes Further changes to the text.

Title & General

• A build date and time are shown on boot.

For comparison, the final US release has a built date of 98/3/22 21:11.

• The sound effects are not present in any of the cutscenes.

Prototype	Final

• Title screen has no TM symbol and the date is missing from the copyright. New Game is New Start, and Options is displayed as Option. The screen resembles the final, but with a different font and no color applied.

Prototype	Final

• The Option screen (which did carry the title over to the final) has no Adjust Screen option. The position of the confirmation buttons were moved, and OPTION was changed to CHANGE OPTION.

Prototype	Final

• The save screen has different text, and a blank box when no memory card has been found.

Prototype	Final

• Text boxes are usually slightly larger or wider, depending on the level.

Prototype	Final

• Quite a few text boxes have different text placements, but are otherwise the same.
• Text is slower (even on Fast) in this prototype.
• When obtaining an item, a period is used instead of an exclamation mark.
• Music restarts when you leave certain areas.

Prototype	Final

• Some buttons have been swapped.

Prototype	Final

• The map uses the final one from the final game, but the text is different. It uses a black font, making it much harder to see against the darkness of the map.
  • Several locations are missing a space (or two). For example, "Village of All Beginnings" is listed as "Village ofAll Beginnings".
  • The finger points just offscreen.

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• Several pieces of text either go over the screen or across the overlay.

Prototype	Final

• The arrow used in the final is a blank square in the prototype.
• The Events page doesn't display the total number of events found and cleared.
• Text for equipping an item reads as "Put on the x" instead of "Equipped the x".
• Although not a full level select, all locations have been opened for the Charity Wings item.
• Infinite lives is enabled.

• A glitch can cause the game to soft lock. If Baron is placed too close to certain areas, such as the door leading to Trick Village, Tomba won't be able to get on his back, and will be trapped in his run cycle forever. The final fixed this by allowing Tomba to clip through walls in these situations.
• Although the Old Men of Time do heal Tomba when he speaks to them, there's no accompanying text for it.
• Larger numbers are written with no comma (for example, 300000 AP instead of 300,000 AP).
• There's different text for when you use the Mighty Fish Food:

Prototype	Final
Experience MAX!	Fire experience MAX!
Potencial MAX!	Water experience MAX!
Potencial MAX!	Wind experience MAX!

Also, the EXP bar doesn't show up at the same time to confirm.

Item Changes

Name Changes

Prototype	Final
Grandpa's Keepsake	Grandpa's Bracelet
Invisible Mirror	Dirty Mirror
Cheese Balls	Cheese
The Mysterious Mushroom	Mysterious Mushroom
Healing Mushrooms	Healing Mushroom
Banana	Bananas
Fruit from the Tree of Knowledge	Knowledge Fruit
Key to Ol' Lake	Key to Ol' Pond
Almighty Fish Food	Mighty Fish Food
Flowers of the Biting Plant	Biting Plant Flower
Energy Bar	Fuel Bar
100, 000, 000 Year Old Key	Million Year Old Key
Crystal	Three Crystal Balls
Grapplejack	GrappleJack
torch	Torch
Broken Pot	Broken Vase
Bucket With Water	Bucket of Water
Baked Yamm	Baked Yam
Treasured Fish	Sacred Fish
Boss's Jewel	Boss' Jewel

Description Changes

The vast majority of the descriptions are lacking a period in the prototype. This list only includes descriptions with other changes.

Item	Prototype	Final
Healing Mushroom	A mushroom that cures laughing or crying spells	A mushroom that cures laughing or crying fits.
Baron	There's the great power hidden in his big ears, that you anywhere you have been to once in a flash....	Use Baron and his big ears to fly you to any location you have previously visited.
Jumping Pants	Pants that make you move at lightning speed	Lighter pants that allow you to move faster.
Dashing Pants	Dazzling dash! The pants that make you run even faster.	Pants that make you run even faster.
Jewel of Fire	Put it on while the item screen and the power of the fire reveals, Use Attack button to use the power. Once it's exhausted, cannot be used until the meter is refilled.	A jewel with the power of fire. Maybe I should equip this?
Jewel of Water	Put it on while the item screen and the power of the water reveals, Use Attack button to use the power. Once it's exhausted, cannot be used until the meter is refilled.	A jewel with the power of water. Maybe I should equip this?
Jewel of Wind	Put it on while the item screen and the power of the wind reveals, Use Attack button to use the power. Press Jump button while you're in the air to use. It enables you to fly up high and attack normally while in motion but your defense power goes down.	A jewel with the power of wind. Maybe I should equip this?
Flash Pants	Pants that help you move faster	Pants that let you move really fast.
Grapple	The weapon you always carry to attack your enemies	The weapon you always carry with you.
100 Year Old Key	The key to the 100 year old treasure box	The key to the 100 year old treasure chests.
1,000 Year Old Key	The key to the 1,000 year old treasure box	The key to the 1,000 year old treasure chests.
10,000 Year Old Key	The key to the 10,000 year old treasure box	The key to the 10,000 year old treasure chests.
Million Year Old Key	The key to the 10,000,000 year old treasure box	The key to the Million year old treasure chests.
Chick	A newly hatched chirping chick	A newly hatched, chirping chick.
Baby Pig	A Komabuta that became small from the Peach Flower Gas	A Koma Pig that shrank from the Peach Flower Gas.
Knowledge Fruit	Once you eat this fruit, you'll never forget its taste.	A fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.
Bucket	A bucket that doesn't leak - great for carrying liquids.	A bucket that doesn't leak, great for carrying liquids.
What the Thief Forgot	Forgot all about the important item.	The bag the thief left behind.
Grandpa's Keepsake	Finally found it! Grandpa's keepsake bracelet!	Finally found it! Grandpa's bracelet!
Iron Wheel	Strong cogwheel	A strong cogwheel.
Mighty Fish	It may go well with blooming your potential power?	It may go well with expanding your experience.
Miner's Hat	Someone's hat given by Charles	Someone's hat given to you by Charles.
Pipe	A pump that doesn't leak	A pipe that doesn't leak.
Banana	A banana the cure for a hungry stomach	Bananas, the cure for a hungry stomach.
Treasured Fish	A special fish from ancient times. Eating it might give you extraordinary powers?	A special fish from ancient times. Eating it might give you extraordinary powers.
Silver Powder	Your basic powder when mixing items.	A basic mixing powder.
Strong Wire	Made of strong metal.	Wire made of strong metal.
Flower Bottle	A small bottle filled with flower tears.	A small bottle filled with Flower Tears.
Torch	A torch that that brightens dark places	A torch that lights dark places.
BrokenVase	A precious jar that is broken and has very sharp edges	A precious vase that is broken and has very sharp edges.
Bomb	A powerful item that can blow anything away	A powerful item that can blow away anything.
Baked Yam	Piping hot baked potato	Piping hot baked yam.
Raft	Ride the current with this. Not strong enough for the sea, but perfect for the river!	Ride the rapids with this. Not strong enough for the sea, but perfect for a river!
Mighty Fish Food	The Mighty Fish, nothing is ordinary about this fish. It even has special food.	The Almighty Fish, nothing is ordinary about this fish. It even has special food.
Dirty Mirror	A mirror that doesn't reflect	A mirror that doesn't reflect?
Telescope	Helps to see things far away	Helps to view things far away.
Safe Mushroom	Cures laughing or crying spells and lasts forever no matter how many times you eat it.	Cures laughing or crying fits and never runs out.
Navy Pig Bag	The dark blue bag that seals the powers of the Dark Blue Evil Pig	The navy blue bag that seals the powers of the Navy Blue Evil Pig.
Three Crystal Balls	The crystal that the witch left behind.	Thee Crystal Balls that look like they belong to a witch.
Wine	Wine - the smell alone can make you drunk	Wine, the smell of a great vintage year.
Fuel Bar	Recovers all power	Fuel for the GoGoCar.
Weed Killer	The Fruits of Death cannot be crushed without this.	The Fruit of Death cannot be crushed without this.
Bunk Flower	An unusual flower - also the Giant Bird's favorite snack	The Phoenix's favorite snack.

Location Name Changes

Prototype	Final
Ol' Lake	Ol' Pond
Old Man's Hut	100 Year Old Man's Hut
Giant Bird Mountain	Phoenix's Mountain
Windy Valley	Stormy Mountain
1000Year Room	1,000 Year Old Man's Room
Masakari Colo-ny's Jungle	Masakari Jungle
Country of Civilization	Village of Civilization
Mermaid's Sea	Mermaid's Landing

Village of All Beginnings

• The ground has been moved up one pixel in the final.
• Tomba still doesn't display any animations upon seeing the man at the start.
• The Peach Gas is much brighter.
• Frogs say 'Ribit' instead of 'Ribbit' when returned to the lake.
• Some fruits regenerate in place of the 1-Ups.
• You keep the Furious Tornado.
• Different text for the GoGoCar losing fuel:

Prototype	Final
Life Gauge down	Fuel Gauge empty

• The furthest candle to the right in the 100 Year Old Man's house do not flicker (but the light does).
• Tomba doesn't grow impatient with the Old Man.
• The cutscene has no vocals, but subtitles. It matches almost perfectly with the final voice, save for this one line:

Prototype Text	Final Voice-over
I bet your Grandpa's bracelet that was stolen by the KOMABUTA was made out of gold, too.	I bet your Grandpa's bracelet that was stolen by the Koma Pigs was made out of gold, too.

Buta is the Japanese word for Pig, meaning it's likely a translation oversight (which appears more than once for the duration of this prototype).

Dwarf Forest

• You can still talk to the first dwarf when you catch up to him.
• Text reads as Dwarf Language Skill x, but in the final it's Dwarf Language Level x. There's an exclamation mark at the end.
• The Leaf Butterflies event is obtained upon leaping onto one. In the final, you need to put one in your inventory first.
• Text for saving dwarves is "x dwarfs rescued!". In the final, it's "x dwarves remaining!"
• Text for grabbing the Crystal Ball is Crystal 1/3 Acquired instead of One Crystal Ball Acquired in the final.
• Obtaining the Wood Boomerang has a strangely placed exclamation mark after the item, followed by the usual Acquired text.
• Some changes to Baron's text.

Prototype	Final
Rescued the puppy!	Helped the puppy
The puppy ran away...	The puppy escaped

• Tomba doesn't catch on fire when he gets caught by the fire.
• The dwarf lady doesn't fart like she does in the final.
• You're never told when you've rescued all the dwarves, which is confusing since the prototype characters constantly talk about how only one dwarf is missing.

• The dwarf at the top of the Elder's hut has a speech bubble that goes into the air.
• Tomba isn't shocked when the lights dim in the prison.

Prototype	Final

• The whirlpool in Wobbly Wharf cannot be entered in the final until it's been blocked, but in the prototype, it's possible to swim through it. The pipe warp, however, will not activate until the barrel has been placed on top.
• The cherry blossoms that cover the Million Year Old Treasure Chest in Charity Square do not hide Tomba.
• No sparkles on Charity Square statues.
• Different text for acquiring water:

Prototype	Final
Water 2/3 Acquired.	Bucket 2/3 full Acquired!

• The Leaf Butterflies can get stuck at the edge of the cage.

Prototype	Final

• There's a graphical glitch in the saved Dwarf Village. The overlay doesn't work at all.

Prototype	Final

• Tomba moves over the sinkhole in the final, but in the prototype, he only approaches it.
• If Tomba interrupts the Pig Island movie from the Telescope, the music will stop playing, and won't regenerate until a mission is cleared.
• There's no sparkles when the final door opens.
• Million Year Old Man's staff is the less detailed one from the Japanese release.
• Finding Tomba's friends yields different text:

Prototype	Final
One friend gathered	One friend found!

Mushroom Forest

• Tomba can get bored when listening to the actor dwarf.
• Sign has different text:

Prototype	Final
Danger! Do not enter!	NO TRESPASSING Danger!
Monsters live in this forest. The Baccus Forest Nature Management	There are monsters living in this forest. Do not enter
	Baccus Forest Nature Management

• Using Baron in the Mushroom Forest results in placeholder graphics being displayed.
• Different text for destroying the Fruits of Death:

Prototype	Final
1 Fruit of Death crushed!	Four Fruits of Death remaining!

Stormy Mountain

Prototype	Final

• The digger has a minor palette error.

Prototype	Final

• In the Lava Caves, the camera is a pixel lower in the prototype.

Baccus Village

• Tomba's idle animations don't work.
• "Found the lost baby mouse!" is written as "Find the lost baby mouse!".

Haunted Mansion

• The room where you obtain the Large Key Panel 1 has no Kokka bird outside it.
• Similarly, there are no Kokka birds outside the straw room (where the 1,000 Year Old Man is trapped).
• When trying to obtain the Fire Jewel, the text reads differently if you need more exp:

Prototype	Final
Not enough Potencials	Not enough Experience!

Prototype	Final

• There's another palette glitch with the Digger in the Haunted Mansion.

Masakari Jungle

• Yan doesn't wait for the player to finish his last sentence.

Village of Civilization

Final (Japan)	Preview Prototype	Final (US)

• The color has changed from the Japanese version, but there are no clouds like in the final version.
• Tomba walks straight into the Clock Tower, instead of stopping halfway.
• Although the characters refer to it as the Watch Tower, the signs mention it as the Clock Tower.
• Tomba doesn't appear shocked at hearing the explosion. He doesn't bother to return immediately after, either, and the player must guide him back there.
• The guy at the Clock Tower stops talking after saying "You've probably already noticed that". In the final, he stops after requesting a favor.

Trick Village

• The 10th Math Bead is in the same place as the Japanese game.

Evil Pigs

• There's no shining effect when you capture an Evil Pig.

• Tomba can grow bored waiting for their text to finish.
• After defeating the final / Real Evil Pig, the game soft locks, so you're never able to see the ending.