Sep 212016
Eclectic, uplifting tunes from two nearly forgotten PS1 fighting games. The first fizzled despite a cool quest mode and FFVII demo, while the second never made it stateside – so now’s your chance to hear their exceptional soundtracks!
SHOW NOTES
00:00 – Intro Cutscene (Tobal No 1)
10:18 – Cloud City (Tobal No 1)
13:32 – Poltano (Tobal No 1)
16:52 – Aqua and Trees (Tobal No 1)
25:19 – Checkered Career (Tobal 2)
28:09 – Original No 5 (Tobal 2)
32:12 – The Grody Boy (Tobal 2)
37:38 – Knock My Door (Tobal 2)
40:54 – Beating Hard (Tobal 2)
44:02 – H.N. (Tobal 2)
55:10 – Electric Indian (Tobal No 1)
Just try dictating Tobal to Siri. It’s exciting fun!
I had a buddy that imported the game because he did that kind of thing, and he couldn’t wait to see FF7(Tobal no. 1 wasn’t assured of a US release initially). Things I remember:
The 3D environment was closer to Soul Calibur than Power Stone. The thing about Tobal no. 1’s graphics is, not only did they have more polygons as a result of not using textures, but it ran at 60fps at 640×480. That’s why it looks so incredibly sharp and better than any console fighting game before it(other than Saturn Virtua Fighter 2, but that’s a subjective argument).
I like Hon(sp?); he is really funny. His at-rest animation is “doing the robot.”
The Tobal no. 2 tracks were definitely more gamey-feeling than 1, but it felt like every track was the replay music for Sega Rally. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing…..but that second batch of no. 2 tracks sounded like they were all variations on the same track. A little too samey for my tastes.
I believe no. 2 added character textures but still ran in hi-res at 60 fps with lighting, which was why it looked so amazing. Incidentally, every Tekken game ran at 60fps with lighting. Tekken 3 finally made the jump to 640×480, and used the Virtua Fighter 2-style fake 3D backgrounds to make it appear like you were in a fully 3D environment.
You don’t get much more 90s than Tobal.
PlayStation + Squaresoft + Akira Toriyama
Man O man, what have I been missing? I still have this game from ’96 for the FF7 demo and I never gave Tobal a shot. This music is so freaking good, I’m going to plug that bad boy in and giver ‘er a whirl
Surprisingly good soundtrack! BRING ON ROCKTOBER!!!!!!!!
Fun and upbeat. It does sound like a lot of other Japanese games of the era. Not surprising given the vast repertoire of the composers involved. It’s that same odd house/jazz fusion that shows up in Ridge Racer and other arcade style games. Tobal’s tracks are not terribly distinct in my opinion, but I love the overall sound. 🙂
I actually think Tobal’s graphics have held up better than most PS1 games due to it’s lack of textures and a high frame rate. The animations look smooth and crisp in 60 fps and the flat coloring manages to avoid the murkiness that came with PS1 textures. The colorful simplicity is same reason why Mario 64 now looks better than pretty much any other N64 game. Akira Toriyama’s character design is very charming as well. Nice illustrations!
Tobal was a fun episode choice, can’t see what’s next!
Ahh I never commented on this!
1. The music’s great
2. Yoko Shimomura is the most OP game composer of all time
3. I was surprised to learn that so many 90s Square regulars like Ryuji Sasai (FF Mystic Quest), Kenji Ito (Romancing SaGa) and Yasunori Mitsuda were on this soundtrack!
4. The Poltano track totally reminds me of The Bouncer’s soundtrack
5. I ended up spending $28 on a pristine used copy of this game on eBay, complete with FF7 demo disc. THANKS DAVE
The piano grove on Knock my Door is amazing!