My Video Game Library: Tonga

    Even by my standards, Tonga was weird

    I would never have ever gotten Tonga if I had never played it on a demo disc. It was just that weird-looking, but it was innovative in ways that were beyond many platformers. You played as a pink-haired guy who ended up on a tropical island being invaded by evil, magic pigs.  Years before Angry Birds. Along the way, you defeat the pigs by learning new skills and unlocking special weapons. The game also had sections rendered in a "3-D" effect, allowing you to go 'into' the background as it were at times. While the game was basically a platformer, it had many RPG elements as well.  Achievement missions and side quests that you had to perform to beat the game. I never did get all of them completed. Some of the side quests were just a little too hard for me. One of the missions was to return a lunch box to a character. Unfortunately, lunch boxes were also power-ups used to restore health that you kept until needed. I accidentally used the wrong box, and I couldn't reset the game back to before I used it. I didn't complete the mission correctly, but I still got the credit when I finally met up with him.

    There is reason why I am being a little vague about Tonga. I started playing the game at a time when my grandmother was in the hospital for rehabilitation. My mom would spend the evenings with her, while I stayed at home. As such, I played a lot of games later a night, so the memories of some of the levels are slightly surreal. It didn't help that some of the levels were already weird. One section involved saving a village from the pigs and restoring their water supply. Once done, the water returned to a fountain being filled by streams of water coming from the mid-sections of male statues. You can guess where exactly on your own. 

    The original game was highly rated, and successful enough to garner a sequel. Tonga had a longer game, but only faces five evil pig bosses, instead of the seven in the original game. There was just enough new material added that the sequel didn't feel like a straight rehash of the original, but not enough to warrant keeping the game line running. Like the first game, while I beat it, I didn't get every achievement. 

    I really liked both games, but it is has been so long  since I played them that I can't remember more details. I don't think I replayed them much. I just had to replay certain levels multiple times just to move on to beat the game, although I feel that I had a slightly easier time with the second game. 

    I just wish that I had played it a bit more.