Tomato Adventure
Encyclopedia
is an RPG developed by AlphaDream
and published by Nintendo
for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance on January 25, 2002 only in Japan
. It was directed by Chihiro Fujioka
.
Player must put his/her Gimmick Cards at a higher color rank than his/her opponent's; however, green beats blue. If both players have their Gimmick Cards on the same color rank, the player who has more attack points in his/her Gimmick Card will attack the opponent. If both Gimmick Cards' attack points are equal, it becomes a draw. If the player's opponent is at a higher rank, the player must either make his/her Gimmick Card's attack points the same (or nearly the same) as the opponent's in order to receive a small amount of damage, or move their Gimmick Cards up to the same color rank as the opponent's Gimmick Cards.
. and - King Abīra's minions. They appear to block DeMille's way, but every single thing this duo does seems to backfire on them. They are two purple creatures with zippers on them. Their favorite machine is the flying disc aircraft called the Carona No. 2. - The main antagonist of this title. King Abīra is a tomato kid who loves tomatoes. As the leader of the Super Kids, this boy with a genius brain is the King of the Ketchup Kingdom. His IQ is over 500, and he always wears big sunglasses to hide his face. He sent Brikky and Grikky to capture Patharan, in order to obtain her entire Heart Energy, which is a combination of five different energies: Laugh Energy, Sad Energy, Anger Energy, Excitement Energy, and Love Energy. His goal is to insert Patharan's Heart Energy to his Super Cara-Cooker so he can turn everyone and everything into toys.
developed and released their very first video game title, Koto Battle: Tengai no Moribito
for the Nintendo Game Boy Color only in Japan, it got good ratings while Nintendo
wanted AlphaDream's permission to develop an entirely new RPG with them, titled . They got the name from an idea of a game structure that utilizes gimmicky, toy-like controls that make it an RPG with action elements. They also hired Graphic Research as their co-developer. It was finished and almost ready to be released for the Game Boy Color in Japan, until Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance to make the Game Boy Color obsolete. After noticing that, Nintendo requested AlphaDream to redevelop and rename Gimmick Land as "Tomato Adventure" for the Game Boy Advance. Nintendo also requested AlphaDream to add some easily recognizable characters in which reflects the new title, so that the game would have a more marketable image. Those were Nintendo's biggest requests. Other changes are the quality of the graphics and audio being enhanced. Only two screenshots of Gimmick Land were released to the public by the developers. On the release date of Tomato Adventure, Nintendo and AlphaDream announced a contest where twenty lucky winners won themselves 1 kg of famously sweet tomatoes from the Kochi Virtue Valley area. The contest ended on February 28, 2002.
Other
AlphaDream
is a Japanese video game development company founded in 2000 by Tetsuo Mizuno in: Tokyo, Japan. It was formerly known as Alpha Star. In partnership with Nintendo, it has produced software for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS...
and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance on January 25, 2002 only in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It was directed by Chihiro Fujioka
Chihiro Fujioka
is a video game director at the Nintendo second-party developer AlphaDream. He was previously a composer of several video games, making contributions to the Burai and Final Fantasy Legend series. His directing work includes Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Koto Battle: Tengai no...
.
Gameplay
The type of RPG this defines is an action-command RPG. Player controls DeMille through the Ketchup Kingdom while talking to people, entering places and collecting items. The object of the game is to save DeMille's girlfriend, Patharan and the Ketchup Kingdom from King Abira, by going through every village to obtain the missing parts of a robot that can give anyone access into the Gimmick Palace, a tower-like structure with a tomato on it. Instead of wandering endlessly inside places or entering battles randomly, Tomato Adventure displays enemies moving around on the screen while entering battles by bumping DeMille into them.Battle system
During battles against enemies, the player must fight using toy-like weapons called "Gimmicks", which require the player to play a mini game correctly in order to land direct-hits at the enemies, depending on which Gimmick the player uses. While using Gimmicks correctly, the player will earn stars for the extreme attacks, but if the player increases the difficulty of the Gimmicks, the player will increase the attack points of the Gimmicks and earn more stars, while the mini games would be more difficult than before. When one or two gears light up above the Gimmick meter, the player now has the choice to use one of two extreme attacks, if the player has a partner joined in. If the player fails in any mini game, the Gimmick meter will drop down to zero, and the player will have to start it all over. There are four different types of Gimmicks.- There are four types of Gimmicks:
- Time - This type makes you finish a mini game that requires timing, like pressing a button whenever something comes to a certain part.
- Speed - This type makes you finish a mini game that requires you to finish a task correctly before time runs out.
- Excite (or Doki-Doki) - This type makes you finish miscellaneous mini games.
- Input - This type makes you finish a mini game that either requires you to repeatedly hit the proper button(s) or to insert the information in a certain order or amount of times.
Gimica
Gimica is a special card game that can only be available when the player talks to a card-like character name Gimicamania at the stadium in Ois Town after the player defeats the third Super Kid. However, there are also some other characters that the player can either duel with or receive a new Gimica Card from. The object of this card game is to make the opponent have less HP than the player's HP, or drop it to zero. There are two kinds of cards:- Gimmick Cards - These cards are based on the real Gimmicks. They are used for both players to attack each other with them.
- Character Cards - These cards do certain things depending on who is on the card. The earliest character cards are two cards that would increase or decrease your Gimmick Cards' attack points, two cards that would move your Gimmick Card up or down one color rank, two cards that would increase or decrease the attack points of your opponent's Gimmick Cards, and one card that would increase your HP by 25.
Player must put his/her Gimmick Cards at a higher color rank than his/her opponent's; however, green beats blue. If both players have their Gimmick Cards on the same color rank, the player who has more attack points in his/her Gimmick Card will attack the opponent. If both Gimmick Cards' attack points are equal, it becomes a draw. If the player's opponent is at a higher rank, the player must either make his/her Gimmick Card's attack points the same (or nearly the same) as the opponent's in order to receive a small amount of damage, or move their Gimmick Cards up to the same color rank as the opponent's Gimmick Cards.
Plot
The story takes place in a land ruled by and intended for young characters, the Ketchup Kingdom, which is also filled with devices like Jack-in-the-Boxes. The protagonist is a hare-like boy in blue clothing name DeMille, who lives in a school bus with no wheels in a village on the outskirts of the Ketchup Kingdom called Cobore Village. DeMille is an outcast because he dislikes tomatoes. As a result, DeMille and other kids in Kobora who dislike tomatoes are referred to by people who like tomatoes as "Droppers", which are people who are banned and left locked up in Cobore Village until they like tomatoes. When he was watching television, he saw that the main antagonist, King Abīra, was celebrating a holiday called Tomato Day, while showing his project he created called the Super Cara-Cooker, a laser-like gun that transforms people, places, and things into dolls, toys, and playgrounds. Then, DeMille's television became severely damaged, while he went to his neighbor and friend, Seremo, and asked him if he would fix his television set. Then Seremo said he will, while he gave DeMille his first Gimmick, called the Gear Yo-Yo. After Seremo taught DeMille how to use it, DeMille's girlfriend in the pink clothing, Patharan, came to tell him that she wanted him and her to venture into the dangerous Toy Ruins to look for her Fantastic Toy, the Gimmick Robo, but then it wasn't there when they arrived. Then, two purple creatures with zippers on them, Brikky and Grikky, captured Patharan with a hook, DeMille grabbed on to her while being pulled up to the airship, called the Carorna No.2, piloted by Brikky and Grikky. As soon as DeMille and Patharan came aboard the airship, Brikky and Grikky received a call from King Abīra, who told them to bring Patharan to the palace and drop DeMille out of the airship. After DeMille fought Brikky and Grikky, they dropped DeMille from the airship into the Tomato Pond, then he walked and noticed that he was standing near King Abīra's home, the Gimmick Palace, a tall, red, tower with a tomato-shaped top. When he decided to enter and save Patharan, he encountered a wall that he cannot pass through. Then, a mole named Rereku told him that in order to pass through the wall, DeMille had to defeat the six Super Kids and obtain the six key items called Toy Parts. While DeMille went on his adventure, he encountered some people who joined forces with him to defeat King Abira, and save Patharan and the entire Ketchup Kingdom. His partners in order of joining him are Aretha, Sofubi, and Rereku.Characters
- The protagonist who players play as. He is a hare-like boy wearing blue clothing. As an outcast, he dislikes tomatoes. He and the other kids who dislike tomatoes known as the "Droppers" are locked up in the remote village of Cobore until they like tomatoes. He doesn't take serious things too seriously; he's an easygoing optimist who goes a bit too far with his goofy mannerisms. What's more, he's easily flattered. - She lives in Cobore Village along with DeMille. Being a female "Dropper," she also hates tomatoes. She's DeMille's girlfriend and a perky, cheerful heroine, but she was captured by Brikky and Grikky, who took her to King Abīra. DeMille and his friends work their way to save her and the entire Ketchup Kingdom. She is a rabbit wearing pink clothing. - DeMille's friend and next-door neighbor who loves Gimmicks. He admires the Gimmick-inventing Hanzo Brothers and apsires to create his own Gimmicks. He loves teaching people about Gimmicks and battle skills. - DeMille's first partner. She loves creating and playing anything mechanical. She also used to work for King Abīra. She is a rabbit wearing orange clothing. She enjoys tomatoes, but not peppers. - DeMille's second partner. When DeMille and his partners first encountered him, he was stuck in a snake-like tunnel in Ois Town. He is a chubby, rotund frog kid who designs clothes. However, his personal appearance his impeccable. He looks like a well-dressed, fashionable fellow, but personality-wise he's very calm and composed. He joins DeMille's party on their adventure because he wants to lose weight. - DeMille's third and final partner. He is a ninja-like mole and a very chatty cynic who occasionally crosses paths with DeMille's party and tells them secrets about the Super Kids. He also gives them spy data, which are usually video disc recordings of King Abīra, Brikky and Grikky taking Patharan's Heart Energy near the top of the Gimmick Palace. Part of the Ketchup Kingdom's secret service. Everyone in the game likens him to a cranky old man. His agent nr is 007, a reference to James BondJames Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
. and - King Abīra's minions. They appear to block DeMille's way, but every single thing this duo does seems to backfire on them. They are two purple creatures with zippers on them. Their favorite machine is the flying disc aircraft called the Carona No. 2. - The main antagonist of this title. King Abīra is a tomato kid who loves tomatoes. As the leader of the Super Kids, this boy with a genius brain is the King of the Ketchup Kingdom. His IQ is over 500, and he always wears big sunglasses to hide his face. He sent Brikky and Grikky to capture Patharan, in order to obtain her entire Heart Energy, which is a combination of five different energies: Laugh Energy, Sad Energy, Anger Energy, Excitement Energy, and Love Energy. His goal is to insert Patharan's Heart Energy to his Super Cara-Cooker so he can turn everyone and everything into toys.
Development
After AlphaDreamAlphaDream
is a Japanese video game development company founded in 2000 by Tetsuo Mizuno in: Tokyo, Japan. It was formerly known as Alpha Star. In partnership with Nintendo, it has produced software for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS...
developed and released their very first video game title, Koto Battle: Tengai no Moribito
Koto Battle: Tengai no Moribito
is the debut video game developed by Nintendo's second-party developer, AlphaDream. It was released in Japan on March 9 2001 for the Nintendo Game Boy Color.-Gameplay:...
for the Nintendo Game Boy Color only in Japan, it got good ratings while Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
wanted AlphaDream's permission to develop an entirely new RPG with them, titled . They got the name from an idea of a game structure that utilizes gimmicky, toy-like controls that make it an RPG with action elements. They also hired Graphic Research as their co-developer. It was finished and almost ready to be released for the Game Boy Color in Japan, until Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance to make the Game Boy Color obsolete. After noticing that, Nintendo requested AlphaDream to redevelop and rename Gimmick Land as "Tomato Adventure" for the Game Boy Advance. Nintendo also requested AlphaDream to add some easily recognizable characters in which reflects the new title, so that the game would have a more marketable image. Those were Nintendo's biggest requests. Other changes are the quality of the graphics and audio being enhanced. Only two screenshots of Gimmick Land were released to the public by the developers. On the release date of Tomato Adventure, Nintendo and AlphaDream announced a contest where twenty lucky winners won themselves 1 kg of famously sweet tomatoes from the Kochi Virtue Valley area. The contest ended on February 28, 2002.
External links
Official websites- Official Nintendo website (Japanese) (Translated using Excite.Co.Jp)
- Official AlphaDream website (Japanese) (Translated using Excite.Co.Jp)
- Official SpaceWorld 2001 website (Japanese) (Translated using Excite.Co.Jp)
- Official Nintendo Online Magazine website for Tomato Adventure and Magical VacationMagical Vacationis a role-playing game developed by Brownie Brown and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance only in Japan on December 7, 2001, and was later re-released in the same region in 2006...
(Japanese) (Translated using Excite.Co.Jp)
Other