Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return Special Edition (v2025.12.31)

A wild-haired hero, a vanished friend, and a fresh outbreak of Evil Pigs drive this colorful action-platforming adventure. Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return Special Edition revisits the 1999 sequel with its playful cartoon world intact, mixing cheerful villages, strange forests, mechanical ruins, and pig-infested territory into one eccentric rescue mission. The tone stays light and mischievous even when the path turns dangerous, with expressive characters and offbeat humor giving the journey a personality far removed from more straightforward mascot platformers. Tabby’s disappearance gives Tomba a clear goal, but the surrounding world constantly distracts him with odd jobs, secrets, and bizarre problems worth solving.

Platforming forms the backbone of the adventure as Tomba runs, jumps, climbs, grabs ledges, and battles enemies with his trademark bite and an assortment of useful gear. Levels are more than linear obstacle courses: players talk to locals, collect key items, complete event-style quests, unlock routes, and return to earlier locations when new abilities or equipment open possibilities. Costume-like transformations and specialized tools change how Tomba moves through the world, adding light puzzle-solving to the action. The Special Edition makes the old-school challenge much less punishing through save-anywhere support and a rewind function, letting players immediately correct missed jumps, bad landings, or combat mistakes without repeating long stretches.

What stands out is its willingness to be weird. Rather than chasing the precision-only format of Crash Bandicoot or the speed of Sonic, it combines 3D platforming with adventure-game objectives, character interactions, and a world that feels deliberately unpredictable. The updated release also includes a substantial museum of artwork, manuals, promotional material, packaging, merchandise, and development documents, making it valuable beyond the campaign itself. It suits nostalgic PlayStation-era fans especially well, while newcomers who enjoy quirky collectibles, forgiving modern quality-of-life features, and unconventional platformer design should find plenty to enjoy.