It was big news when Squaresoft announced the switch from Nintendo’s camp to Sony’s. Everyone expected the next Final Fantasy game to be released for the Nintendo 64, but due to the low storage capacity of cartridges they instead announced the seventh installment for the PlayStation. Final Fantasy VII became quite a big deal as screenshots were released showing detailed FMV cinematics and a more mature art style and story. It wasn’t however Square’s first release for the new platform. Much to everyone’s surprise they announced and released a fighting game for the system. Tobal No. 1 was released to rave reviews as one of the best early fighting games of the generation.
It also didn’t hurt that it was packaged with a demo disc for Final Fantasy VII of course. While it has been mostly forgotten over the years (due in part to the franchise being discontinued and no release on PSN) some hardcore circles still cite this as one of the best of its genre. I initially passed on it and only just now got a chance to play it. The fans were right; Tobal No. 1 is absolutely fantastic.
So first of all I really like this game’s story and scenario. It’s a little stupid, but that’s perfectly okay because other developers try too hard for a dark and daunting atmosphere. The plot is simple; in the future (2027 to be exact) space exploration is not new by any means. Planets have been explored and mapped, and one of these in particular (called Tobal) is rich in deposits of a valuable mineral. Who is given the exclusive rights to mine this is determined by a fighting tournament. This isn’t a story of revenge, murder, or anything like that; each of the characters is simply vying to get their hands on the ore so that they can become filthy rich.
Like I said it’s more than a little silly but that’s actually kind of refreshing if you ask me. Either way, it’s time to move on. Tobal No. 1 is a 3D fighting game that at first appears to be typical of the era but it’s actually far from it. Despite the nonsensical story and setting the developers took a more realistic approach to gameplay design and I really like what they did. You face opponents in a series of 1-on-1 matches in various three dimensional arenas. You have three basic attack buttons; one attacks low, another medium, and the third high. Various inputs on the directional pad while performing these attacks garner different results making experimentation key.
Now, what really sets this game apart from the rest is the fact that you can move in all directions freely. Your character will always be facing the opponent, but down moves toward the camera and up away. This alleviates the need for a specific sidestep button, but also causes some problems with jumping (this is now done with the L1 button) which isn’t exactly intuitive in my opinion.
The fighting engine is surprisingly solid. There’s a lot of depth here and mastering the combo system is quite a daunting task indeed. There’s an in depth grappling system with reversals and even hours into the game I’m just now starting to get the hang of it. I can barely make heads or tails of the countering system, but bit by bit I started getting better at the game and had an outstanding time learning the ins and outs of each separate mechanic. The only real downside to this game is the character roster in my opinion. You only have eight different fighters which is disappointing. What’s more is they all have that Akira Toriyama ‘funk’ to them. This means they basically all have the same face.
Given the de-emphasis on special moves (diagonal inputs on the directional pad simply aren’t used here due to the free movement mechanic) their fighting styles, range, and speed are the major elements that separate them from one another. For example, some characters strike higher or lower, and others can hit in more rapid succession but with less power. I wish there were more differences in the roster, but what’s there is more than acceptable in my opinion. You even have a few unlockable fighters, but I’ll get to that in a bit. The learning curve is a bit lower than that of Virtua Fighter, but it’s definitely higher than Tekken and Dead or Alive. In other words it’s just right.
There are a few different game modes to keep things fresh here. You have the typical arcade mode where you face off against each character in succession as you complete the story. Next up we have the ever useful practice mode which serves to teach you the ins and outs of how to play, and then there’s a typical Vs. mode where you and another human player can Square off against each other. The most interesting of all of these is the Quest Mode. Squaresoft added this in no doubt to appease their primarily RPG playing fanbase. In this you view the action from behind your character as you guide them through a dungeon consisting of different floors. Their life is measured in hit points, and as you wander about you can trigger traps and enemies that will damage you.
To aid you in this quest you can pick up items including food and potions to restore your health. The gameplay here is quite a bit different from the main game and seems to run off an entirely different engine. It definitely doesn’t feel like the 1-on-1 fights from arcade mode which is a bit of a bummer. It feels kind of like a clunky action platformer to be honest. Thankfully when you encounter a boss character the fighting is identical to how it is in the main game. Quest Mode was obviously an afterthought. It’s kind of a fun diversion and a neat idea if you ask me. Unfortunately you’ll need to play through it in order to unlock one of the hidden characters so hopefully you like this mode.
The first thing I noticed about Tobal No. 1 is that it has a very unusual graphics engine. Most early 3D PS1 games looked weird and uneven, but this takes things to a whole new level. The developer’s goal was to maintain sixty frames per second at all times. That’s a tall order for a fully 3D fighter on such limited hardware, and so they had to make some sacrifices. The first thing to get axed was the texture work. Every surface is one solid color in this game. There is absolutely no texture work whatsoever.
The next issue is with the character models themselves. They aren’t up to par with those from other similar fighting games of this time and look very clunky and uneven. From mere screenshots this almost looks like something that would be more at home on the 32X. When the action starts however it’s a whole different story. This is one of the smoothest running fighting games of its era. Characters move with surprisingly fluidity; every punch, kick, jump and even step is quite the sight to behold. The sacrifices are well worth it in my opinion. Unfortunately I’m not usually a big fan of Akira Toriyama’s character designs, and he was chosen to draw the characters here. The characters are ugly and look a bit like Dragon Ball misfits. On another note the soundtrack is pretty boring in my opinion. It seems like the composer’s heart just wasn’t in it.
