Tobal 2

1997 · Fighting · PlayStation

About Tobal 2

Tobal 2 (1997) is DreamFactory's Japan-only PlayStation fighter with Akira Toriyama designs, a dungeon-crawling Quest Mode and a record 200 playable characters.

Tobal 2 in Depth

The fighting system is unchanged from Tobal No. 1. Players move freely around 3D arenas as long as they face their opponent, with buttons for high, medium and low attacks and a grappling and blocking system offering many offensive and defensive options; each character also gains an unblockable fireball. The character models are higher resolution and Gouraud shaded, yet the game still runs at 60 frames per second, and it launched on the same day as Sony's Dual Analog Controller in Japan as the first game to support it.

The Quest Mode is greatly expanded, with six dungeons, from a Practice Dungeon to a Pyramid, a Desert Spaceship, the Molmoran Mine, a Castle and a Final Dungeon, plus a town where players can eat, sleep and shop and save at the church. Defeated monsters drop food, stones, potions, money or weapons, and characters gain experience separately for each arm, each leg, throws and guard, raising the damage they deal or reducing what they take; potions and stones can raise or lower these levels, and eating with a near-full stamina bar builds guard experience. Throwing a purple stone at a nearly beaten monster captures it for versus mode, bringing the roster to 200, among them a chocobo, though many are palette swaps. Quest characters can also be used in arcade and versus modes.

Making Tobal 2

DreamFactory developed it and Square released it in Japan in 1997 as the sequel to Tobal No. 1. It would have been the last title in Square's publishing deal with Sony Computer Entertainment America, but the companies chose Einhänder instead; Square also said it lacked the time and resources to translate such a text-heavy game while localising Final Fantasy VII and Bushido Blade, and its deal with Sony barred outside translators. It sold over 318,000 copies in Japan in 1997, the year's 31st best-seller. Reviewing the import, GameSpot gave it 8.1 out of 10, finding it better than the first game but unlikely to compete with Tekken and Mortal Kombat. It was re-released under Square Enix's Legendary Hits label in 2007.

Tobal 2 Trivia

Akira Toriyama designed the characters, as in the first game.
As of 2010 it held the record for the largest fighting game roster, with 200 characters.
A North American release planned for 7 March 1998 was cancelled in favour of Einhänder.
Square cited Tobal No. 1's weak sales, which it believed were driven by its Final Fantasy VII demo.
Famitsu readers ranked it 50th among the best PlayStation games in 2000.