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Tomato Adventure
Tomato Adventure
from Wikipedia
Tomato Adventure
Japanese box art
DeveloperAlphaDream
PublisherNintendo
DirectorsYoshihiko Maekawa
Chihiro Fujioka[1]
Jin Ito
ProducersShinji Hatano
Tetsuo Mizuno
Hirofumi Yokota
Yasushi Mizutani
DesignersYuji Abe
Takahiko Kodaira
Takahiro Murakami
ProgrammersMasami Sato
Atsushi Iwase
ArtistsShuji Kamohara
Yoshitaka Nishikawa
Aya Takano
WriterHiroyuki Kubota
ComposerYoko Sakai
PlatformGame Boy Advance
Release
  • JP: January 25, 2002
GenreRole-playing
ModesSingle-player, multiplayer

Tomato Adventure[a] is a role-playing video game developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance on January 25, 2002, exclusively in Japan.

Gameplay

[edit]

Players control DeMille through the Ketchup Kingdom while talking to people, entering places and collecting items. The objective 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. In lieu of random encounters, Tomato Adventure displays enemies moving around on the overworld, with battles being initiated when DeMille makes contact with them.

Plot

[edit]

The story takes place in a land ruled by 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 named 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, he and other kids in Kobora who dislike tomatoes are looked down upon as "Droppers", banished for heresy, and locked up in Cobore Village until they change their attitudes towards tomatoes. While watching television, DeMille sees that the main antagonist, King Abīra, is 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. After DeMille's television set gets severely damaged, he visits his neighbor and friend Seremo and asks him if he could fix his television set. Seremo says he will and gives DeMille his first Gimmick, called the Gear Yo-Yo.

After Seremo teaches DeMille how to use it, DeMille's girlfriend Patharan comes 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 by the time they arrive, it is absent. Then, two purple creatures with zippers on them, Brikky and Grikky, capture Patharan with a hook. DeMille grabs on to her while being pulled up to the airship, the Carorna No.2, piloted by Brikky and Grikky. As soon as DeMille and Patharan come aboard the airship, Brikky and Grikky receive a call from King Abīra to bring Patharan to the palace and drop DeMille out of the airship. After DeMille fights Brikky and Grikky, they drop DeMille from the airship into the Tomato Pond, only for him to notice that he is standing near King Abīra's home, the Gimmick Palace, a tall, red, tower with a tomato-shaped top. When he decides to enter and save Patharan, he encounters a wall that he cannot pass through. Then, a mole named Rereku tells him that in order to pass through the wall, DeMille has to defeat the six Super Kids and obtain the six key items called Toy Parts. While DeMille goes on his adventure, he befriends some people for them to join forces with him to defeat King Abira and save Patharan and the entire Ketchup Kingdom. His partners in order of joining him are Arisa, Sofubi, and Rereku.

Development and release

[edit]

After AlphaDream developed and released their first video game title, Koto Battle: Tengai no Moribito, Nintendo wanted AlphaDream's permission to develop an entirely new role-playing video game with them, titled Gimmick Land (ギミックランド, Gimikku Rando).[1] 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.[1] 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.[1] Those were Nintendo's largest requests. Other changes are the quality of the graphics and audio being enhanced.[1] Only two screenshots of Gimmick Land were released to the public by the developers. A mainly complete prototype of Gimmick Land had surfaced online from the 2020 Nintendo data leak. On the release date of Tomato Adventure, Nintendo and AlphaDream announced a contest where twenty winners won themselves 1 kg of sweet tomatoes from the Kochi Virtue Valley area.[2] The contest ended on February 28, 2002.[2]

Tomato Adventure was not officially released in English due to the targeted age group being considered too low;[3] problems with the battle system and the game not being received well at the time of release were other contributing factors.[3] An unofficial English fan translation was eventually released in July 2021.[4]

Although the game never made it outside of Japan, Tomato Adventure was planned to be released in China for the iQue Game Boy Advance under the title Fānqié Jiàng Wángguó dà Màoxiǎn (番茄酱王国大冒险), but was soon cancelled due to the huge piracy scene in China.[5]

Reception

[edit]

On release, Weekly Famitsu scored the game a 29 out of 40.[6]

1UP.com scored the game "A".[7]

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
Tomato Adventure is a developed by and published by for the Game Boy Advance, released exclusively in on January 25, 2002. The game's story unfolds in the Ketchup Kingdom, a whimsical realm populated entirely by children where tomatoes are a cultural cornerstone, celebrated annually during the Tomatoversary festival. The protagonist, DeMille, is a young outcast in this tomato-obsessed society due to his aversion to the fruit, leading him to live in exile. When his girlfriend Pasaran is kidnapped by the tyrannical King Abira, who schemes to transform the kingdom's inhabitants into toys using a powerful weapon, DeMille sets out on a quest to defeat Abira's five Super Kid henchmen and rescue her, ultimately saving the realm. Gameplay in Tomato Adventure combines exploration of a colorful with puzzle-solving, mini-games, and turn-based combat against visible enemies. Battles emphasize timing-based inputs via the A and B buttons alongside the , utilizing equippable "Gimmicks"—special tools like the Mag-Mitt for magnetic pulls or Gear-yo for mechanical strikes—that players enhance with items such as Cell upgrades and currency known as Pacifiers. Parties can include up to four members, with successful executions earning "" points to unleash devastating group attacks, and the game offers adjustable difficulty levels for . AlphaDream's second title and first RPG following the 2001 action game Koto Battle: Tengai no Moribito, Tomato Adventure foreshadowed the developer's later work on the series with its rhythmic, action-oriented RPG mechanics. Despite critical praise in for its innovative systems and vibrant, childlike art style and music composed by Yoko Sakai, it received no official international release due to localization challenges. A fan-made English patch, completed in July 2021 after earlier efforts, has since introduced the game to global audiences via emulation.

Gameplay

Core Mechanics

Tomato Adventure employs a top-down 2D overworld for exploration, allowing players to guide the protagonist, DeMille, through diverse environments including villages, forests like Chichikaba Forest, and ancient ruins such as the Toy Ruins. Enemies appear visibly on the map, initiating encounters when the player makes contact, which seamlessly integrates navigation with progression opportunities. Progression centers on leveling up DeMille's stats through experience points accumulated from battles and quest completions. Key attributes include strength, which bolsters capabilities, and , which enhances magical proficiency; these stats increase upon gaining sufficient experience, enabling deeper engagement with the game's challenges. For instance, higher unlocks more effective item usage and ability enhancements tied to the narrative's vegetable-themed world. Resource management revolves around gathering vegetables and specialized items such as Pacifiers, which players use to craft tools, restore , or upgrade abilities. These elements emphasize strategic planning and return visits to key locations. The game's controls are straightforward, utilizing the for movement and exploration, A to confirm actions or interact with objects, and B to cancel or access . The interface features a central screen for oversight, where collected items are organized and equipped; adjacent tabs handle and stat viewing. The menu allows players to equip and view their gimmicks, providing a layered approach to customization without overwhelming complexity.

Combat System

The combat system in Tomato Adventure is a turn-based RPG mechanic where battles are initiated by the player intentionally colliding with visible on the overworld map, allowing for strategic avoidance or engagement based on observed enemy behaviors and weaknesses. Once combat begins, the active party—consisting of protagonist and one selected ally—takes turns selecting actions from a of equipped , which function as the primary weapons and abilities. Enemies respond in their turns with attacks, , or status-inflicting moves, often patterned after their overworld animations for predictability, such as charging or ranged assaults from vegetable-inspired foes like constructs. Players can also use items for or buffs and attempt to flee, though success depends on the battle's progression. Central to the system is the gimmick ability framework, where each character equips up to four unique gimmicks that replace traditional attack or magic commands with interactive minigames to execute moves. These gimmicks draw from a collectible pool of 50 toys, many incorporating vegetable motifs tied to the game's Ketchup Kingdom setting, such as the Tomato Robo series for explosive physical strikes or RabiShoes for agility-boosting melee enhancements mimicking carrot vitality. Gimmick types include Timing (precise button presses to align indicators), Renda (rapid mashing for combo damage), Dokidoki (memorization or selection-based excitement meters), and Speed (quick cursor navigation puzzles), with successful executions filling an AWE! gauge for powerful special attacks. Unlike standard MP systems, gimmicks operate on a battery mechanic with limited uses per battle (varying by gimmick, e.g., 45–50), recharging fully once depleted or after victory; no cooldowns apply between turns, but failure in minigames reduces damage output and drains the AWE! gauge. Examples include Gear Yoyo, a Timing gimmick where players press A to stop a spinning indicator in a red zone for 21 base attack power, or Angry Volcano, a Dokidoki move requiring selection of erupting zones for up to 40 damage with potential burn effects. The party system supports recruitment of three allies—Alesa, Sofubi, and Relek—each with specialized gimmick sets emphasizing complementary roles, such as Alesa's supportive healing-focused toys or Sofubi's tank-like defensive options, allowing players to swap the active companion outside battle for tactical adaptation. Inactive allies still earn partial experience from fights, promoting balanced progression, but only two characters fight simultaneously to maintain focused strategy. While no permanent fusion exists, the AWE! gauge enables temporary super moves that combine party efforts for area-wide vegetable-themed assaults, like multi-target tomato blasts. Gimmicks can be acquired through story progression at Hanzo Labs, traded with NPCs using collectibles, or upgraded via items to increase power levels across seven difficulty tiers, enhancing damage scaling and minigame tolerance. Combat difficulty escalates through boss encounters with multi-phase structures, where foes like the henchmen of King Abira shift forms—such as from detached limbs to core bodies—unveiling new attack patterns and requiring swaps mid-fight. Status effects add layers of , including from enemy vegetable minions that drains HP over turns, to skip actions, or to randomize inputs, all curable via items like ; these effects are inflicted by both player gimmicks (e.g., Honey Vulcan's multi-hit) and enemies, emphasizing preparation with antidotes. Overall, the system rewards observation of enemy vegetable variants for exploiting weaknesses, such as fire-vulnerable bots, blending whimsy with tactical depth.

Story

Plot Summary

In the whimsical world of the Ketchup Kingdom, a society of children obsessed with tomatoes and ruled by the tomato-adoring King Abīra, the story centers on a young outcast who despises the kingdom's staple crop and lives in exile. The central premise revolves around this protagonist's unexpected quest, triggered by the abduction of his girlfriend Pasaran during the period allowed out for the annual Tomatoversary, forcing him to venture beyond his isolated village to challenge the kingdom's authoritarian regime. The main narrative arc unfolds as a journey across diverse, toy-inspired regions, where the assembles a ragtag group of allies to gather essential "Toy Parts" from powerful child guardians known as the Super Kids. Key events include navigating quirky locales like mechanical forests and puzzle-filled mountains, uncovering the king's sinister scheme involving a device called the Super Caracooker designed to enforce through transformation, all while evading henchmen and solving environmental riddles tied to the kingdom's produce-centric culture. This progression highlights a conspiracy rooted in control and conformity, blending discovery with escalating confrontations that build toward infiltrating the royal Gimmick Palace. Thematically, Tomato Adventure intertwines fantasy adventure with subtle critiques of blind tradition and oppressive leadership, emphasizing personal growth through , the harmony of diverse personalities, and the literal and figurative "harvest" of alliances against a homogenized society. The resolution structure features a climactic showdown that echoes the protagonist's origins in , reinforcing messages of individuality and communal balance.

Characters and Setting

The protagonist of Tomato Adventure is DeMille, an 8-year-old boy who serves as the primary playable character throughout the game. Banished to the remote Cobore Village due to his aversion to tomatoes, DeMille is depicted as an optimistic and resourceful child who wields a as his signature weapon, reflecting the game's emphasis on inventive gadgets in a child-dominated world. His background highlights themes of exclusion and determination, as he navigates the kingdom's prejudices against "Droppers"—those who dislike the culturally revered tomato. DeMille's girlfriend, Pasaran, is a 7-year-old who shares his dislike for tomatoes and lives with him in . Cheerful and supportive, she is kidnapped early in the story by King Abīra's henchmen to power his machine with her Heart Energy, motivating DeMille's quest. DeMille is joined by a supporting of young allies, each bringing unique traits and abilities that expand the party's dynamics. Alesa, a 7-year-old with a passion for mechanics, operates the Tomatorobo and specializes in status-effect maneuvers, joining DeMille early in his journey to seek the kingdom's ruler. Sofubi, a 10-year-old plump known for his calm demeanor, contributes by designing protective suits and joins after being rescued, often providing through his weight-loss aspirations. Relek, a 9-year-old mole serving as a spy for the Mole Newspaper, offers reconnaissance and intel, rounding out the core team with his analytical skills. Additional supporting figures include Selemo, DeMille's 8-year-old inventor friend from Cobore Village who crafts essential devices like the Television, and the Hanzo Brothers, a group of six eccentric creators who specialize in colorful gimmick laboratories. The antagonists are led by King Abira, an infant-like ruler of the Ketchup Kingdom with an extraordinarily high IQ exceeding 5,000, who schemes to transform the populace into toys using his invention, the Super Caracooker. His bumbling henchmen, Brikky and Grikky, serve as recurring foes, piloting vehicles like the Shining Disk Carona No. 2 while extracting "Heart Energy" from captives to fuel the king's ambitions. The Super Kids, a group of six powerful children including Ūpusu (a 9-year-old with a ) and (a 7-year-old aspiring rock star), act as elite guardians holding key artifacts known as Toy Parts, each embodying exaggerated childlike quirks that challenge the protagonists in boss encounters. The game's setting unfolds in the whimsical Ketchup Kingdom, a fantastical governed entirely by children and centered on the of tomatoes, culminating in the annual Tomatoversary holiday where the king bestows gifts upon loyal subjects. Those who express dislike for tomatoes face banishment to outlying areas like the quarry-like Cobore Village, establishing a lore of social division and cultural around the . The kingdom spans diverse biomes, including the urban , the subterranean , the aquatic Oystown, and the fortified Gimmick Palace, all populated by child inhabitants who utilize inventive "Gimmick Robos" and harness "Heart Energy" as a mystical resource. This tomato-obsessed world is filled with playful contraptions such as Jack-in-the-Boxes and other mechanical wonders, underscoring a lore of youthful ingenuity intertwined with authoritarian whimsy under King Abira's rule.

Development

Conception and Design

Tomato Adventure originated as an internal project at AlphaDream, the studio founded in January 2000 by Tetsuo Mizuno, initially conceived under the working title Gimmick Land for the Game Boy Color as the company's debut RPG effort. This prototype emphasized toy-like "gimmick" weapons that players activated through mini-games, blending role-playing progression with interactive puzzles to create an accessible experience for younger players. The project, showcased for Game Boy Color at Nintendo Space World 2000, was pivoted to the Game Boy Advance in early 2001 at Nintendo's suggestion, around the release of AlphaDream's first published title, Koto Battle: Tengai no Moribito in March 2001—a Pokémon-inspired creature-collecting game—renaming it Tomato Adventure to enhance marketability with a fresh vegetable-themed cast and expanded world-building around the Ketchup Kingdom. This shift aimed to leverage the GBA's improved hardware for more vibrant visuals and deeper gameplay layers while maintaining a light-hearted tone suitable for children. The game's design was led by director , a veteran from Square's RPG division who had previously contributed to Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, , and , bringing expertise in blending action-RPG elements with whimsical narratives. Producer Yoshihiko Maekawa, also from AlphaDream's core team, oversaw the conceptual refinement, emphasizing a niche appeal to a young audience through simple mechanics and humorous storytelling centered on DeMille, an outcast boy who overcomes his aversion to tomatoes in a pun-filled vegetable realm. Early prototypes tested the core loop of resource gathering and gimmick-based combat, ensuring compatibility with GBA limitations like battery save constraints and sprite scaling, while co-development with Graphic Research handled additional art and event scripting. Design pillars focused on merging RPG exploration with casual mini-games to broaden accessibility, drawing structural influences from Pokémon-style turn-based battles and card-collecting systems for without overwhelming complexity. The whimsical humor and anthropomorphic food motifs were crafted to evoke a sense of playful , with Maekawa later noting in a 2019 interview that the project targeted a "bit too low and a bit too small" age group, prioritizing fun over rigorous challenge to foster repeat play among elementary-school children. This approach was solidified in mid-2001 sessions, where the team iterated on vegetable puns and kingdom lore to differentiate from AlphaDream's prior work, ultimately shaping a prototype that evolved into the final game's quirky progression system.

Production Process

Development of Tomato Adventure began in 2000 at AlphaDream, initially targeting the Game Boy Color under the working title Gimmick Land, with a planned release that winter following its showcase at Nintendo Space World 2000. The project was co-developed with Graphic Research, involving a core team of approximately 25 staff members across roles such as programming, artwork, battle data design, and sound effects. Key contributors included director Chihiro Fujioka, who emphasized a quirky tone blending dark humor with cute visuals, and composer Yoko Sakai, responsible for the game's soundtrack. A major shift occurred when Nintendo requested porting the game to the newly launched , prompting to nearly complete a GBA version by early 2002 after finalizing the GBC prototype. This transition addressed hardware constraints by enhancing 2D graphics and animations, such as replacing generic signboards with themed Tomagreen elements, while simplifying certain mechanics like the Gimica , where cards were sourced from battles rather than the to fit GBA capabilities. Playtesting during the porting phase helped balance the turn-based RPG engine with mini-game elements, ensuring depth without overwhelming the portable format. Finalization involved Nintendo's directive to rename the title to Tomato Adventure for better market appeal and to introduce the Tomatrio characters, which were absent in the GBC build, adding layers to the veggie-themed exploration. Budget limitations restricted audio to music and basic sound effects, with no full implemented, focusing instead on random events and optimizing sprites for the GBA's 16-bit color palette. The game wrapped production in late , culminating in its Japanese launch on January 25, 2002. A near-complete of the Game Boy Color version, under the title Gimmick Land, was leaked in September 2020 as part of the Nintendo Gigaleak and received a fan-made English patch in August 2022.

Release

Japanese Launch

Tomato Adventure was released exclusively in on January 25, 2002, for the Game Boy Advance handheld console, developed by and published by . The game launched at a standard retail price of 4,800 yen (tax excluded), with no special bundles or extras included in the initial packaging. It was later re-released digitally via the in on August 26, 2015. Nintendo's efforts focused on appealing to younger audiences, featuring advertisements in children's media that emphasized the game's whimsical vegetable-themed characters and RPG elements. Limited television commercials aired to promote in the Ketchup Kingdom, showcasing the turn-based combat and story-driven . The title achieved modest commercial performance, selling approximately 48,944 copies in its first year according to sales data. This result reflected its niche appeal as a lighthearted RPG, released amid a crowded market saturated with high-profile titles like , which drew significant attention from the genre's core audience.

Localization and Fan Efforts

Tomato Adventure received no official localization outside , remaining exclusive to the region since its 2002 release on the Game Boy Advance. Nintendo opted against a Western release due to the game's extensive use of vegetable-themed puns and cultural references that posed significant challenges, alongside low projected based on its mediocre in . Fan efforts have since enabled global access through unofficial translations. In July 2021, translator DeMille released an English patch on Romhacking.net, developed with contributions from hackers and Unknown W. Brackets, covering the complete script, menus, dialogues, and graphics—including a variable-width font, extended character name limits to seven characters, and menu adjustments for English text. The patch applies via IPS format to the original Japanese ROM (SHA-1: 80F7968343E49E4D8A22AFC2771EF26564506F17), making it playable on Game Boy Advance emulators or flash cartridges. Updates in 2022 further refined text accuracy and compatibility. The fan community has supported broader engagement with tools like emulator save states for easier progression and speedrunning resources, such as category setups on speedrun.com that leverage the translated version. Preservation initiatives include public ROM dumps for patching, ensuring availability despite the growing scarcity of original GBA hardware and cartridges by the mid-2020s.

Reception

Critical Reviews

Upon its release in on January 25, 2002, Tomato Adventure received mixed-to-positive s from critics, with Weekly awarding it a score of 29 out of 40 based on individual ratings of 8, 7, 7, and 7. The game sold around 48,944 units in during 2002, per sales data. Reviewers praised the game's charming style and whimsical humor, noting the unique tomato-themed world and gag-filled dialogue that created an engaging atmosphere for players. However, some critiques highlighted the repetitive nature of the gimmick-based battles, where mini-game mechanics could feel drawn out over time despite their initial novelty. User scores on Japanese retail sites averaged around 8/10, reflecting appreciation for the accessible RPG elements tailored to the Game Boy Advance's portability, though some noted the story's simplicity as a drawback. Independent reviews echoed these sentiments, commending the cute character designs and enjoyable soundtrack while pointing to the limited post-game content. Following the release of an unofficial English translation in , international fan critiques from 2022 to 2025 have been overwhelmingly positive, often scoring the game 8 to 9 out of 10 in video analyses and podcasts for its nostalgic appeal and innovative blend of comedic storytelling with action-command RPG mechanics. Enthusiasts lauded the whimsical centered on a protagonist battling a tyranny, emphasizing how the GBA's handheld format enhanced its lighthearted, portable play sessions. Common praises included the game's for newcomers to the , with save-anywhere features and adjustable mini-game difficulties making it approachable. Criticisms in these later reviews focused on the title's brevity, typically clocking in at 15 to 20 hours, and the absence of broader difficulty scaling beyond basic adjustments, which rendered much of the content too easy for experienced players. Aggregate fan polls, such as those on , indicate strong positive reception, with user ratings classifying it as "Great" based on 36 reviews as of 2025, underscoring its enduring charm among retro gaming communities despite the lack of an official Western release or aggregation.

Legacy and Community Impact

Tomato Adventure served as a foundational project for , influencing the studio's subsequent work on the series. The game's timing-based battle mechanics, featuring mini-games with weapons known as "gimmicks," and its lighthearted, humor centered around vegetable-themed characters prefigured elements in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003), where active timing inputs and comedic tone became hallmarks of the franchise. This RPG was AlphaDream's second and final original title before pivoting to Nintendo's IP, demonstrating the studio's innovative approach to RPG combat that carried forward despite their and closure in 2019. The released in 2021 has revitalized interest, fostering an active community on platforms like , where discussions, fan art, and playthroughs continue as of 2025. has emerged as a niche pursuit, with world records on sites like Speedrun.com clocking in under five hours, highlighting the game's replayability through optimized routes and exploitation. While no widespread mods for difficulty adjustments are documented, the translation patch has enabled broader accessibility, encouraging ongoing engagement among retro gaming enthusiasts. Culturally, Tomato Adventure is often retrospective as an underrated gem, praised for its quirky charm and RPG innovation in outlets covering retro titles. Its legacy gained renewed attention in 2024-2025 amid the release of Mario & Luigi: Brothership, the first entry without AlphaDream's direct involvement, prompting reflections on the studio's early contributions. Preservation efforts rely heavily on emulation, with high playthrough counts facilitated by the fan patch, though physical cartridges remain sought after by collectors, with complete-in-box copies valued around $59 USD on secondary markets.

References

  1. https://backloggd.com/u/[Valencia](/page/Valencia)/review/2426705/
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