Tomba!

Tomba!
Also known as: Tombi! (EU), Ore! Tomba (JP) Developer: Whoopee Camp Publishers: SCEA (US), SCEE (EU), Whoopee Camp (JP) Platform: PlayStation Released in JP: December 25, 1997 Released in US: July 1, 1998 Released in EU: September 1998 This game has unused areas. This game has unused code. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused cinematics. This game has unused items. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden level select. This game has regional differences. This game has a prototype article This game has a notes page

Tomba! tells the tale of a pink-haired feral kid who loses his grandpa's bracelet to some evil pigs. In a bid to retrieve it, Tomba soon learns more about the history of the Koma pigs, and just what he's up against.

Not only is it a very rare and expensive game to find physically, it's also littered with unused stuff and regional changes.

To do: A few more unused item descriptions from the Japanese game. Loads more unused graphics. Unused text. The new Special Edition release should be examined for any changes made as well as if any of the stuff listed below still exists in that version.

Sub-Pages

Prototype Info

Notes

Regional Differences A lot of finishing touches were made.

Unused Events Tomba would have had a lot more things to do.

Debug Stage Select

Applying the below code then pressing L3 while in a stage will enable this screen. You will need a second controller plugged in to operate the menu.

USA code:

Press L3 For Stage Select Menu 
D009C9D8 0002
801FD84C 0000
8001AD8E 2400

Or set 0x1F8001BC to 0x1 and select New Game from the main menu.

(Source: Punk7890, SolidSnake11, TombaClub)

Build Date

Seen at 0xxxDC98.

USA	Europe	Japan
98/3/22 21:11		97/12/2 10:25

Unused Video

This cutscene shows the Iron Castle area being freed from the Evil Pigs, yet this area is never accessible in the game nor is there a pig to break the spell for it. This hints that the Iron Castle might have been a far bigger area than it is in the final version.

Unused Items

To do: Add the original Japanese strings and improve translations of those not present in the US game.

There are quite a few unused items in the game's code. Most of them have a placeholder description.

Icon	Item Name	Description
	Map	A handy world map.
	Rain Essence	A miracle item that calls a rain cloud and makes it rain*
	Torn Map 1	Half of a large map with world drawing*
	Torn Map 2	Half of a large map with world drawing*
	Rubber Gloves	Gloves which are fine even for holding dangerous things*
	Iron	An iron lump that can be made into a strong tool*
	Iron Wheel	A strong cogwheel.
	Number Ball 11*	...???
	Number Ball 12*	...???
	Number Ball 13*	...???
	Number Ball 14*	...???
	Number Ball 15*	...???
	Number Ball 16*	...???
	Number Ball 17*	...???
	Number Ball 18*	...???
	Number Ball 19*	...???
	Number Ball 20*	...???
	Letter	Mysterious contents in a letter addressed to three sisters*
	Wood	A perfect wood for making a raft*
	Shovel	A tool very suitable for digging the soil*
	10,000 Year Old Man's Letter*	An unusual flower that blooms from the Biting Plant.
	Electric Eel	Shocking! Source of electricity?
	Black Water	...???
	Red Candy	...???
	Blue Candy	Try to eat it, and you should understand*
	Green Candy	...???
	Black Candy	...???
	Silver Candy	...???
	Forbidden Mushroom	Tastes too good to be true.
	Coconuts	Empty the coconut and fill it with something else for an exciting event.
	Funga Leather	Raw drum material. It gives beats of pleasant old days*
	Funga Tree	Raw drum material. It produces pleasant hard sound*
	Funga Sap	Raw drum material. It can stick wood and leather*
	Grandpa's Bracelet	Finally found it! Grandpa's bracelet!
	Unusual Key	A key... Where's the lock?
	Chuckling Mushroom	...???
	Weeping Mushroom	...???
	Map of the Underground Labyrinth*	...???
	Chick	...???
	Chick	...???
	Golden Bowl	...???
	Flower Tears	Tears that fell from the Flower Faces.
	Small Drum*	...???
	Coal*	Seems burnable stones exist in this world too
	Chief's Spear*	A fine, well-sharpened spear

*Translations from Japanese release.

Another placeholder icon () also exists, and is used for items that don't exist.

Interestingly enough, the unused variant of Biting Plant Flower looks like a flower that bloomed. Forbidden Mushroom's icon looks like the mushroom you get from the event "Red+Blue=?"; using it has no apparent effect. Grandpa's Bracelet is an item you collect only at the end, so you can't see it in your inventory, suggesting that originally you could continue playing even after finishing the main quest.

One of the NPCs mentions seeking a way to make it "rain" inside the Lava Caves. In fact, this matches up with the Rain Essence item more than you'd expect—because you can use the item in there.

Unfortunately, whilst the game is programmed to let you use that item at that specific location, it doesn't actually do anything.

Village of All Beginnings

Early Yan

An early sprite of Yan which resembles his appearance in the PrePre demo is loaded in the VRAM for the Village of All Beginnings. It's loaded in the same area as it is in the prototype, but the palette no longer works due to Yan's updated graphics and palettes. The palette used here comes from the prototype.

Baccus Pier

Old Valve Event

There is an older variant of the "Pipe" (wrongly translated from "Valve") item in the VRAM of Baccus Pier (though it does get spawned in, just outside of the map).

This item can also be seen in an old VHS trailer for the game, appearing around 4:26 on the left side of the map. If one looks closely at the containers located in Baccus Pier, it looks like one of them is missing a valve; this would indicate that the player was supposed to put the valve back on top of the container, instead of installing it as a pipe.

Dwarf Forest

Leaf Butterflies

A small variant of the Leaf Butterflies; it is never seen in-game and only consists of one sprite.

An idle animation for a Leaf Butterfly; in-game they're always flying, so this goes unused.

Deep Jungle

Old Tree Hill

Unused Masakari Village

There's a small village that can be seen on the main map, just past the Tree of Knowledge. Unfortunately, you never go to this location, nor is there a name for it.

However, if the camera is forced to move whilst visiting the Tree of Knowledge, an unused area, presumably the village, can be found. This includes a shield above the entry door (which has no collision and is not seen elsewhere in the game), some Funga drums, torches, and a large pedestal. Graphics for a tribe chief and a Funga drum are both loaded into VRAM, but not used.

With the discovery of the unused Funga items, it's likely there was going to be another quest in this area, which would see Tomba gathering the materials.

(Source: Tomba Club)

Unused NPC

Among the sprites for this area is an unused character; he looks like the chief of the Masakari tribe, and unused dialogue points at him playing a big part in the story. He would have given the player a few quests to find his spear and to create a Funga drum.

Village of Civilization

Lumberjack Factory

Background

The full background for the Lumberjack Factory shows a large boulder in front of the iron door. In the final, the door is already open (having appeared to have been hit by an explosion) and the boulder is nowhere to be found. The actual opening to the area is overlaid on this background, so it's never seen by the player.

In-game, Tomba and the NPC stand in front of the small house, yet there is an overlay for the house, indicating that Tomba and the NPC were supposed to appear "inside" the house (just like with the Dwarf Elder's Hut.)

A mockup of how it would look if the mask were to be applied.

Unused Animations

In the Japanese version of the game, the guy who gives you the Monster Hunter event doesn't move at all, but despite this, he has graphics for talking to Tomba. They were fixed up in the international release, so these particular sprites go completely unused. He also has an unused walking animation.

Both NPCs in this area have unused animations relating to building things; one uses a hammer and the other uses a Ryoba.

Unused text implies that the player was able to craft certain items.

Trick Village

To do: Upload the other unused enemy.

Unused Enemies

Trick Village has two unused enemies:

Pufferfish

A pufferfish-type enemy, with swimming and turning animations; it also has a hurt sprite.

Stone Tablets

Scattered throughout the game are strange stone murals/tablets in the walls. Although you cannot interact with them in the final game, a demo allowed you to do so. It's unknown what they were going to be used for, and some cannot be seen during regular gameplay. The one below can be found in the VRAM for Masakari Jungle, but only in the Japanese version. The international release replaces it with more flowers.

Some unused text points towards there being a total of six slabs:

''I've heard that there area total of six Doodle Rocks.If you solve the puzzle on the rocks, 
you'll be rewarded with lots of treasure.It seems pretty hard to solve...1 is...by 5...to the 20th power...or something...I don't know.''

Five of the supposed six 'Doodle' Rocks

Unused Areas

There are names for every area in the game. Some of these areas, however, will crash the game upon entry.

• Stonestown
• Lumberjack Town (1 area)
• Village of Civilization (1 area)
• Clock Tower (1 area)
• Iron Castle (6 areas)

As seen in a video above, Iron Castle was originally going to be a much larger, playable area in the game. Along with the video are unused graphics, suggesting that it was cut late in development.

The Japanese version of the game also has five empty folders, titled AREA20, AREA 21, AREA 22, AREA 23, and AREA24.

Another thing to note is that the internal name for the Flower Tower level is Outer Walls of Pig Island, with the area being called Pig Island. In the Japanese version of the game, Pig Island can be seen on the map, suggesting another late removal.

The only playable full area that goes completely unused can be accessed on a US copy of the game by changing the values at 009E811C and 009E811E to 15 and 02 (or 03) respectively. The levels are pure black, but have some collision. No level name is given, but it shows on the map as being somewhere in the Village of All Beginnings.

Body Types

Exclusive to the Japanese version, there are three "body types" for Tomba found with the rest of the status icons. The international versions only include the regular size body in the VRAM. It's unknown how this would have affected gameplay, though since they appear right next to the facial icons, it may have worked in a similar manner to the Cry/Laugh status types (with Tomba only being able to complete certain missions with a certain type).

Even though the American version does not have these sprites, it does have these two strings of text, Fat and Thin.

Unused Text

In both the Japanese and US versions, there's a dwarf who guards the Dwarf Elder. The dwarf beneath blocks Tomba from interacting with him, and only moves after the Dwarf Language has been obtained. Despite this, garbled "Dwarf-speak" still exists for the upper dwarf, but it can only be heard if Tomba is hacked over there. The dwarf at the very top speaks normally, regardless of whether or not you have the language.

Japan	International

Oddities

• In the Dwarf Elder's area, there's a slot machine that never works. An early prototype has a quest entitled "AP Slot Machine", suggesting that this was part of an older mechanic.
• In the VRAM for The Strange Small Room, a sprite for the boss from The Haunted Mansion loads among the other characters, suggesting that either he was one of the friends at one stage, or that it would have required eight friends instead.