Limited Run Games' port of the cult classic Tomba! (or Tombi! in Europe) is out — in fact, it's been out a while now, having launched on 1st August — and if you've been looking forward to this one you're probably wondering where our review of this Special Edition release has gotten to.
We've seen reports online of issues with the 1997 PlayStation platformer ranging from major to minor across all platforms, and the devs have stated that there's a patch in the works to address known issues. The thing is, we've run into a serious issue that renders Tomba essentially unplayable on Nintendo's console — or one of us has.
The game has been repeatedly crashing on reviewer Mitch Vogel's Switch, requiring a hold-down-the-Power-button hard reset every time. These hard locks occur as frequently as 30 seconds into the game, although he managed to play for 15 minutes once. A significant impediment to forming a worthwhile impression, we're sure you'd agree. However, our video team has also been playing it and hasn't run into this issue at all so far. No hard locks, no problems whatsoever. Both are running the latest available version of the game (version 1.0.0).
We've contacted Limited Run to find out more and get an update on when a patch might roll out (remember, Limited Run is taking pre-orders right now for a physical edition shipping later this year) but haven't heard back yet. As things stand, though, we've got one person who's been having a good time with it and another who's been unable to play anything, besides the extra interview and gallery content. Which is pleasant, but it ain't the game.
While it's clear that you should not buy the Switch version of Tomba at the time of writing — unless you enjoy the thrill of dropping $20 on a game and not knowing if it'll be playable or not, that is — we wanted to get a better sense of how widespread this issue with the Switch version is. Let us know in the poll below if you've encountered any problems.
Have you encountered any issues playing Tomba! Special Edition on Switch? (874 votes)
- Nope, it's running well for me!
- A few hiccups, maybe, but no crashes
- It's crashed a couple of times
- Yes, it's endlessly hard-locking my Switch and is basically unplayable
- I haven't played Tomba on Switch, but I love me a poll
We'll have our review of Tomba with you..., well, as soon as we're able to play the thing for more than a few minutes at a time. Zion's enjoyed what he's played so far; for Mitch, chance would be a fine thing. Let us know how you've been getting on.
Comments 30
Already 100%'d it on Switch and never encountered a single crash.
Yes, I completed much of the game, and it crashes when I enter a cave.
I perhaps fooishly saved while entering the cave,
so now unless they patch it that file cannot be salvaged.
Haven't got it yet and at this point I'll wait until I hear that this issue has been fixed - so weird that it has affected only Mitch's Switch among those of Nintendo Life playing it though!
I completed it. Crashed once, when I was going between two areas, but it otherwise ran fine for me. Maybe it's an issue with certain settings? Seems to struggle a bit with the new soundtrack, particularly if you use the rewind feature a lot.
It tried it in another console, and it seems to me this game really needs a patch.
I really want to get it, but when it's polished...
Could be an issue with the version of the switch os?
Not picked it up yet since got a new gaming PC recently and been focusing my purchases on that. Hopefully they polish it up before I do get it, game I've always had a lot of fondness for.
I don't know why, but I find that pretty funny.
😓
When i keep hearing serious issue from Switch version of 3rd party games, it really made me think to consider the PS5 version as possible.
I honestly didn't experience any problems while playing the switch version.
Has Mitch tried "checking for corrupted data". Seems overkill to say not to buy it because it's not working for one person... I haven't heard anyone else with this issue
Has the reviewer downloaded the game onto the internal memory or the micro sd card? Is their Switch modded? Are they playing on V1 Switch rather than an OLED? These are questions I seen asked by Pokemon Scarlet/Violet enthusiasts to explain why others have been encountering similar crashes. It's your faulty system, not the game. (I jest)
I want to get to Tomba! I haven’t heard anything about crashes though.
Kinda unprofessional, releasing a game that isn't ready.... and I'm sure that the demand for tomba wasn't so high as to create pressure to release the game prematurely
Already beat it, it's nothing special. I didn't encounter any crash on the Switch OLED version. The Steam port did freeze on me once but I think that had more to do with the Steam Deck OLED decking me around like it always did and not the issue of the game.
I need someone to teach me the thrill of buying a game and not knowing if it'll crash or not.
I ordered the physical version from limited run so I probably won't have it for a bit
@dustinprewitt
That's modern gaming for ya. I'm sure devs want to release games when they're nearly glitchless, which is a little difficult these days. It's usually the publishers the one demanding the games to be released as is.
Apparently they haven't learned anything from Driv3r.
@Uncle_Franklin I think I know wich cave you're talking about. It's the one behind the waterfall? It always crashes there for me as well.
Fortunately it's just a shortcut for another location so it will not hinder progress. But still annoying.
@Scapetti True. Have they confirmed it isn't other issues with their system, such as the SD card?
@Porky This was my first question when reading the article.
I’ve got an OLED switch and very very rarely have issues with games. Games that other people complain about like Pokémon s/v and such. I’m truly wondering if having it installed on SD/System plus the more efficient processor makes a difference.
I’ve got access to a V1 Launch Switch, so I’ll have to do some testing….
I've already pre-ordered the physical edition. Hope they get it fixed before it ships.
@whitespy12 Here's a Crash for you! Whoa!
I can't even find it in the eShop, is it only in America?
@garfreek if you’re on the European eShop, search for “Tombi!” rather than “Tomba!” It had a different name in Europe (no idea why) and it seems they’ve continued with it in this re-release.
Is this Modern Vintage Gamer's engine? If so, hope he takes critisism as well as he dishes it out lol.
A couple of things...
1) Why is "I haven't played Tomba on Switch, but I love me a poll" in the lead, cause I sure chose it 😄
2) I wonder if it has to do with which Switch (Switch OG, new Switch OG, Lite, OLED) it's put in?
3) I knew hard locking was a thing. When I tried to play Assassin's Creed III on Wii U, I swear, it didn't matter how many copies I tried, I could not get that game to run in my Wii U for nothing. And it was updated to the nines, so I don't know what the issue was. Apparently it wasn't a widespread issue cause I saw nothing complaining about it.
@GravyThief It was because "tomba" in Italian means "tomb" - so it would be like calling the game "Mortuary" or something. Doesn't really give off the right vibe
A soulless company that perpetuates scalping can’t even get a ROM to run on it’s attempt at game dev.
Not exactly shocking.
@GravyThief It's all coming back to me now, you're right! My friends had this game, so I saw snippets of it. But it looked so much fun, really hoping the bugs will be fixed soon!
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