Tomba has migrated from the sprite-and-3D world of the first game to the almost wholly polygonal world of the second, Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return, and he benefits from it. He may not look quite as cute any more -- of course, that could be because he's grown up from the first one -- but the world itself seems like a much more contiguous space. Movement between the various gorgeously detailed levels is accomplished by pressing a direction when floating arrows appear above your head -- easy. The various character models are great, in a cartoony style. Now you can see Tomba hump pigs in 3D. Heh. The loading screen is kind of dinky, and I preferred the wacky dancing pigs of the first Tomba!, but it services. The sound in the game is excellent, with proper music and sound effects. There's voice acting, but it generally takes so long to trigger with a text box that I never listen to it. The acting isn't bad, but it's not the best either. It does what it needs to do.

Mmm. Tomba! was the best 2.5D platformer when it came out, blowing the Pandemonium! games out of the water, and competing only with the just-as-quirky Klonoa. This game even one-ups the original. You're Tomba, a pink haired boy who's trying to find a childhood friend. Through a series of adventures and mishaps, you get caught up in stopping the Evil Pigs yet again, and saving the world (or at least the island), yadda yadda. You know how it goes. The amazing thing is that Tomba! 2 keeps you interested in the rather inane plot from start to finish. This is partially accomplished by the various events that you learn about and get points for completing. Some of them are vital for the plot, and others are ancillary. And there are tons -- well more than a hundred of the buggers. They don't have the encapulated descriptions that they did in the first game, but that's a minor gripe. Some of them are trivial, and some of them are damned hard to figure out. It really makes the game fun.

One of the improvements of Tomba! 2 is the tightness of the world. Some of the areas in the first Tomba! seemed rather one-shot, thrown in for the hell of it. You're going to spend a ton of time in each area in Tomba! 2, and it really helps that they feel like environments instead of levels in a video game. Sure, they're all a little contrived, but nonetheless, it helps for that intangible emmersiveness.

Tomba controls like a dream, once you get the hang of it. He can jump, Animal Dash, attack with various weapons, and 'manipulate.' You attack most enemies by jumping on them and, err... throwing them, I suppose. I guess it's a bite, but it looks a little more... bizarre to me. Of course, part of Tomba's charm is the wacky character design, and it shows in things like this.

Much like the first game, Tomba! 2's difficulty comes mainly from not having the A-HA! that is necessary to find the next Evil Pig, or get past a particular puzzle. Most of them are painless, but some are quite difficult. The game itself isn't all that hard, though, and is quite enjoyable.

Controls are a dream in T2, although I found myself using Analog a lot less than I did in the first game. Digital just seemed a little tighter, especially since the jumps tended to be a lot trickier than in the first one. The menu systems are easy to navigate, and using items and such couldn't be easier. Tomba! 2 is a very quirky little game, but it's also a very fun one. I highly recommend it to any fan of the genre, and anyone looking for something a little... different.