Article by Toby Jones, illustration by Madeline Queripel

Footnotes in Platformer History looks at my favorite genre's dusty, mostly-forgotten relics. The focus, for now, is on the countless platformers that were released in the wake of to Super Mario 64 during the 32/64 bit era.

What in the world happened to Tonic Trouble? Appearing in early previews to be a promising cure for the post-Mario 64 blues, the game soon completely disappeared from sight. When it re-emerged and was released some time later after many delays, it was met with tepid reviews and an uninterested public. A look at some of the original screen shots shows a game that appears to be imaginative and fun.


However, when the game was finally released in August 1999 (well over a year after its original release date) it looked more like this.



Clearly, either the console was not able to do what was needed or the developers failed to live up to expectations. Either way, the final product is so unimaginably sloppy that its amount of time spent in development boggles the mind. When I put the cartridge in I was imagining I'd play a mediocre but well-produced 3D platformer: explore environments, collect doohickeys, maybe fight a boss or two. This is indeed what Tonic Trouble aspires to be, but it's so filled with technical problems that it borders on unplayable at times.

What seems at first to be standard 3D platfoming mechanics are soon revealed to have an almost game-breaking flaw: Ed (your character) has a very hard time grabbing onto ledges. Half the time I was able to grab a ledge normally, but just as often I found myself glitching an having to jump desperately for safety. It's pretty surprising that they weren't able to get this right- the game was only released three years after Mario 64, which did it flawlessly. The camera is also pretty horrible, creaking and sputtering constantly and never appearing natural.

From time to time the hopping and bopping is broken up by sections where Ed uses a vehicle or a weapon. These should be welcome changes of pace, but unfortunately the gameplay in these areas is just as busted as everywhere else. After the second level Ed is given the ability to fly, a mechanic so sloppy that I may have spent more time on the tutorial than any actual level. The worst part is when you have to shoot and fly simultaneously, because the janky controls and blurry graphics make it impossible to do accurately.

You see, the graphics in Tonic Trouble are quite ugly. The final game really fails to live up to the distinctively bright and cartoony appearance of the original shots- the general idea is there, but everything looks so bland, messy, and lurid. Not only that, but it's blurry even by the standards of the Nintendo 64. Adding insult to injury, Conker's Bad Fur Day came out that same year and did everything this game failed to do visually, from dynamic facial expressions to lively cartoon worlds.

Further study reveals that the N64 release of Tonic Trouble is actually a port of a PC version. A look at screen shots and videos shows that Tonic Trouble for PC boasts much more detailed graphics and lacks the blurriness problem of its N64 counterpart. Interestingly, there is also voice acting and a far superior opening cinematic. I wasn't able to find out if the PC version plays any better, but I did notice in a video that Ed still struggles with ledges.

Tonic Trouble PC gameplay

Why a game that was originally touted as being native to the N64 ended up being primarily developed for the PC is beyond me, but I think Tonic Trouble is worse for the wear. Platformers weren't nearly as popular on the PC as they were on the N64, so the game remembered and played by people ended up being a shoddy port. If Tonic Trouble's developers had kept their focus on the 64, perhaps they could have played to the strengths of the console and created something at least up to the standards of the time.

Next time: Tail Concerto.

Images courtesy of http://www.unseen64.net/ and http://www.Retromags.com.