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| Toki | |
|---|---|
 North American arcade flyer | |
| Developer | TAD Corporation
|
| Publishers | |
| Designer | Haruki Kitahara |
| Programmer | Akira Sakuma |
| Artists | Hiro Kakiuchi Jun Fujisaku Jun Matsubara |
| Composer | Yukihiko Kitahara |
| Platform | |
| Release | 8 December 1989 |
| Genre | Platform |
| Modes | |
Toki[a] is arun and gunplatform game released in arcades in Japan in 1989 by TAD Corporation. It was published inNorth America by Fabtek. Designed byAkira Sakuma, the game hastongue-in-cheek humor mixed with the action. The player controls anenchantedape who must battle hordes of jungle monsters with energy balls from his mouth. The ultimate goal is to destroy the evilwizard who cast a spell on the title protagonist; thereby transforming him from an ape back into a human, and rescuing the kidnapped princess. The game was ported to severalvideo game consoles andhome computers.
The player must traverse several levels with aminiboss at the end. Despite his apparent handicap, his slowness as an ape, and the fact that almost any attack can kill him, Toki is able to spit powerful shots that will help him in defeating enemies and obstacles that try to slow him down in his mission.[5] There is a timer for each stage.
Toki can make use of items such as power-ups for his spit; lucky rabbit feet which can give Toki bursts of superhuman agility and jumping skill; clocks which add extra time to the countdown; fruit which can add to Toki's bonus points; keys which unlock bonus areas; a special helmet that protects him from upwards attacks (the helmet rather comically resembles anAmerican football helmet); extra lives; and magic coins (food in the Genesis version) which when collected in abundance can obtain Toki an extra life.
Theprotagonist of the game is a muscular,loincloth-wearing,Tarzanesquetribesman named Toki (known in Japan and in some ports as JuJu), who up until recently lived a primitive yet contented life in the jungles of a vast and wild island in theSouth Seas.
This all ends tragically when the beautiful Miho, princess of Toki's tribe of jungle men, and a potential suitor to Toki, is kidnapped by the treacherouswitch doctor Vookimedlo. Miho is taken to a vast golden palace at the summit of the island, which Vookimedlo has conjured up for himself to reside in. The wickedshaman then casts a spell to transform all the human inhabitants of the island into various animals and beasts, before they can defend themselves against the evil magic.
Toki himself is transformed into a Geeshergam, one of the ape-like minions of Vookimedlo, although in hisprimate form, Toki more resembles agorilla. Fortunately, the great warrior discovers that he is still in control of his own faculties and as an unexpected side effect of the spell cast on him, he can breathe fire and shoot forth various projectiles from his mouth.
Toki then sets off on a quest to pursue and defeat Vookimedlo, rescue princess Miho, and undo the curse which has befallen the island. However, to reach Vookimedlo's golden palace, Toki will have to travel through murky lakes, steep canyons, over frozen ice-capped mountain ranges andlava-spewingvolcanoes alike. To progress in his quest and be ultimately victorious, Toki will have to battle all manner of dangerous wild animals and various mutants of Vookimedlo's creation; not to mention Vookimedlo's own abominable guardians who act aslevel bosses.
Within the next two years ports were released for home systems.Ocean Software published versions for theAmiga,Atari ST, andCommodore 64, They advertised versions for theZX Spectrum andAmstrad CPC and the Spectrum version was previewed in issue 90 ofCRASH, but neither port materialized.Taito published ports for theLynx and theNES. The latter version was slightly altered and has a health bar so that Toki doesn't die after one hit.
Sega developed an exclusive version for theMega Drive/Genesis:Toki: Going Ape Spit. This version lacks the non-spit power-ups, but it has additional levels and more detailed graphics compared to the NES version.
In some ports, Toki is named "JuJu", Miho is named "Wanda" and Vookimedlo is named "Dr. Stark". Also, in some ports it is not Vookimedlo who kidnaps princess Miho, but his chiefhenchman, the half-invisible giant known as Bashtar. In some ports Bashtar is the final boss of the game, and not Vookimedlo.
In Japan,Game Machine listedToki on their March 15, 1990 issue as being the sixteenth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.[6]
Toki won aGolden Joystick Award in 1992.
The One gave the Amiga version ofToki an overall score of 88%, calling its gameplay "standard stuff", but praises the variety of gameplay that's outside of the norm, posing such examples as Toki's ability to swim, climb, and ridetrolleys, stating that these "all help to make it stand out from the current crop of arcade conversions."The One praisesToki's gameplay, stating that "the gameplay is so well balanced, becoming gradually harder as you get into it", furthermore stating that this is "exactly the way it should be."The One also praisesToki's music and graphics, expressing that "it complements the action perfectly" and "[adds] greatly to the game's appeal", furthermore stating thatToki's animations add "instant appeal", and callsToki "An enjoyable conversion that's as playable as it is pretty".[7]
Destructoid praises the game for thenostalgia it gave to the reviewer. Despite this, they still didn't see it as a great game at all, and stated that it "isn't a perfect game".[8]
An platform game with similarly-looking simian characters was in development by Ocean Software for theJaguar under the working titleApeshit. It was renamed toToki Goes Apespit at one point during development.[9][10][11][12] It was planned to be published in Winter 1994,[13][14][15][16] but it was never released.[17][18]
The original game, ported by Magic Team, was released foriOS on September 7, 2009 in the United States.
A remake was published byMicroids in 2018 forNintendo Switch,[19] followed by versions forWindows,PlayStation 4,Xbox One, andLuna.[20][21]
