Tobal No. 1 features some
unique, yet very odd character designs... which isn't a big surprise
coming from Dragonball's Akira Toriyama; although, I actually expected better
from him in this case. Simply put, Tobal's character designs never held my interest very much at
all.
Alas, I didn't have much incentive to play
this game. Also worth mentioning, all characters
have the same ending. Boooooo.
For what it's worth, Tobal
was a decent console 3D fighting game for the time. At the time of its release and thereafter,
there were much better fighting games out there to be putting time
into. The hardcore fighting game players were likely at the arcades racking up win streaks in
Tekken 2, VF2/VF3,
Street Fighter Alpha 2, Samurai Shodown 4 and X-men VS Street
Fighter... who
was really sitting at home playing Tobal No. 1?
If you were, props to you I guess. lol. ~TFG
Webmaster
STORY:
Tobal No. 1 takes place in the
year 2027 on a fictional planet called Tobal, which has large deposits of
Molmoran, an ore that can be used an energy source. The planet's 98th tournament
is held to determine who has the rights to the ore. A number of humans and
aliens compete for the title.
Dragonball Z art
style!
REVIEW:
Tobal No. 1 was
Dream Factory's first attempt
at a 3D fighting game, yet all of the characters for the game were designed
solely by Akira
Toriyama (of Dragonball Z fame). Tobal was a console-only fighting game, which is
one of the main reasons why it never gained much popularity, especially since arcade fighting games were still going strong at the
time and were retaining the interest of most of the hardcore fighting game
players. However,
Tobal No. 1 offered one of the best 3D fighting game experiences you could get
for a console fighting game at the time. The
game was also packed with a sampler disc featuring a pre-release demo of Final Fantasy
VII, which
naturally assisted it's sales tremendously...
Tobal No. 1 features a traditional arcade mode, VS mode, practice mode,
and a unique Quest Mode, which utilizes the game's fighting engine
and combines it with a 3D dungeon crawler. The game runs at a smooth 60 frames per
second, but compromises on textured polygons and graphical polish. Graphically, Tekken
2 (the big Playstation 3D fighter of the time) looked a lot better and not
to mention the later powerhouse Virtua Fighter 3, graphically
putting both of them to shame... but of course, let's compare apples to apples. Tobal
wasn't terrible-looking for a console game in 1996, though the
character models actually didn't have any textures at all.
Those PS1 polygons....
lolz.
Tobal's gameplay engine features free movement around the 3D ring AKA sidestepping, something that
very few 3D fighting games had at the time. Characters can perform high, mid,
and low attacks (much like Tekken 2), as well as counters and also
some pretty cool looking throws as well. In all honesty, Tobal struck me as
somewhat of a "Tekken rip-off" in terms of animation. It seems like some of the same movements
and especially "hit" animations were ripped straight from Tekken and Virtua Fighter... however, Tobal had it's own
"flow" of animation and also seemed much
much slower (and more clunky) than the likes of Tekken 2 and
VF2.
The Quest Mode was
definitely something unique to fighting games at the time, but was rather
simple, short, and had clunky controls. The graphics in this mode are also rather
bland to
say the very least, but at least it still held onto a steady 60 frames... not that it
matters all that much since this mode isn't exactly what I'd call
"fun". With only 1 life (if you die you completely start over)...you and your blocky character try to advance through 3D maps (if you dare
call them that) filled with annoying traps, a few cool useable items, and engage in fights
against all of the main characters in the game. Though it's not nearly perfect,
Quest Mode is a
nice break from the 1-on-1 fighting system and was innovative for the time.
), SCE
(
) 
)
Alas, I didn't have much incentive to play
this game. Also worth mentioning, all characters
have the same ending. 
Boooooo.
If you were, props to you I guess. lol. 
