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SCENE
GENRE
GRAPHICS
SOUND
PLAYABILITY
VALUE
OPINION



REVIEW INDEX

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TOBAL No.1

Developer

Squaresoft

Options

Distributer

1-2 Player

Game Type

Beat-em-up

Mem. Card

Review Date

July 1996

Setting the Scene

Now that Tobal N01 is here SquareSoft will be able to concentrate on Chronotrigger 2, another great game I hope. Anyway, Tobal is a fighting game like Tekken 2 and people will compare these two for sure. In the beginning I almost regretted my buy (as I do with several PlayStation games) but quickly it became real fun.

Genre

Beat-em-up

Graphics

The backgrounds are empty, the characters are blocky (Tekken is Lego, Tobal is Duplo) and the "ring" (like VirtuaFighter 1 & 2) is really ugly. Nevertheless, it doesn't bother at all. Although I expected more from SquareSoft. The animation is fast, smooth and I haven't seen any glitches or bugs yet (unlike the Tekkenserie). I almost forgot : The characters were designed by Akira Toriyama (DragonBall creator)

Sounds and Effects

Nothing special here, everything is correct. Most of the times the fighters give comments after combat or make weird sounds (when they have won, that is). The Music is O.K.

Playability

Being used to Tekken I had a short hard time with the controls (one of the reasons is that there is a special block button) but they are more than just good. Only 8 characters!? Yes, but with three bosses! Tekken 2 has 25 of them! True, but here every character has different moves, unlike Tekken 2 where P-Jack, Jack-2 and Kuma have almost identical moves (and that's just one example). You can finish the game in the first hour you got it but it's great when playing with 2 players. There is a practice mode like in... (Oh, you know what I mean) and something strange called Quest mode. You see your back like in Fade To Black and using your fighting techniques you must pass dungeons. Not very interesting, even if original. All together this game isn't as good as ... VirtuaFighter 2 (I didn't write the other one!) but fighting game-freaks will be interested.

Value for Money

The backgrounds and fighters are poor compared to Tekken2. Every character has different moves. Practice mode helps you learn the moves. Only 8 Characters and 3 bosses. Graphics are mediocre, animation really good, the sounds and music O.K. and the Gameplay is very good. If you liked Tekken, you'll like this one.

Opinion

THOMAS

GRAPHICS:

Good

You will be advised to stick with the master fighting game Tekken 2

SOUND:

Average

PLAYABILITY:

Average

VALUE:

Average

OVERALL
7/10

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