SALADA NO KUNI NO TOMATO HIME
( Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom )
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サラダの国のトマト姫
©1988 Hudson Soft
Release: 1988-05-27 (¥5900)
Cartdridge HFC-RT
Adventure game
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Released in America as
PRINCESS TOMATO IN THE SALAD KINGDOM
( NES-RT-USA )
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Salada no Kuni no Tomato Hime (aka Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom) is
a graphic/adventure game by Hudson Soft. The game takes place in the
Salad Kingdom, a peaceful place where fruits and vegetables live in harmony with
each other. It is ruled by the respected King Onion (aka King Broccoli), whose wisdom protects the
kingdom from evil and unwelcome intruders. Unfortunately, a clan led by the malevolent
Kabocha Daiō (aka Minister Pumpkin) decides otherwise - from his castle, he establishes a new social
order and sends his army in waves in an attempt to conquer the Kingdom. King Onion
and his daughter Princess Tomato decide to assemble an armed resistance, but she soon
gets captured and imprisoned in Pumpkin's castle, destined to marry Minister Pumpkin's
son against her will. The noble Kyūri Senshi (aka Sir Cucumber) and his young persimmon Kakippachi
(aka Percy) seem to
be the kingdom's last hope, and they embark on a long journey to rescue the princess and save the
day. The game displays the surrounding scene and various commands (such as move, talk,
check, use and so forth) allow the player to interact with it. Sir Cucumber
can look for items, talk to other people or gather information and hints. Our hero also faces rare enemies
throughout his journey - battles use an unusual system based on traditional Japanese 'Jan-Ken-Pon'
(aka 'finger wars' battles), and this dual challenge follows a blood pumping two rounds
rock-paper-scissors formula where each direction on the controller translates as a form
(Up/Down. for Stone, Left for Scissors and Right for Paper),
followed by a phase where the player must guess which direction the enemy's head will face.
Interestingly, the player never loses a battle and is given a chance to fight again in the case of
a shameful defeat.
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Salada no Kuni no Tomato Hime was first released for the PC-6001mkII Japanese
computer in 1984. It was then ported to the PC-8001mkII (picture on the right), Sharp X1,
FM-77 and finally for the MSX (which is the only monochrome version of the game as far as I know).
The original game didn't use menus but an English text parser instead, which is rather odd as
the rest of the game is entirely in Japanese. Interestingly, this was also the case for
other early Hudson Soft graphic adventure games, such as Dezeni Land (1983) and
Dezeni World (1986). The Famicom port of Salada no Kuni no Tomato Hime
(version tested here) followed much later, in 1988. Although the story closely resembles that
of the original, all of the graphics were redrawn and several new features were introduced.
The most noticeable are the new maze sections, the 'Jan-Ken-Pon' (aka 'finger wars')
battles and, of course, the menu-driven interface. The text and graphics were also toned down for a
children audience - the original version featured more 'mature' graphics, such as a crucified tomato
inside a church early in the game, or some rather scary fire-breathing bananas. The Famicom
game was later included in Hudson Best Collection Vol. 4: Nazotoki Collection for the
Game Boy Advance (2005), along with Binary Land and Nuts & Milk. Interestingly,
Hudson Soft released an i-appli remake of Salada no Kuni no Tomato Hime for
Japanese cell phones in 2004.
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The American release of the game was slightly censored and edited to remove references
(among other things) to smoking. For instance, in the Japanese version, it is possible to buy tabacco
in a store in Saladoria - this was replaced by coffee in the American version.
Some of the character names have also been slightly changed - King Onion became King Broccoli,
and Persimmon was renamed Percy. Finally, the Japanese version
had the name of the game displayed above the playing window, and this detail was removed
from the American version.
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Teaser text from the American version:
You've got a problem. You're a Cucumber.
But you're also a Knight of the Realm, which
helps make up for the fact that you go through
life long, green, and with seeds.
And now to make matters worse, your
beloved princess Tomato has been kidnapped
by the wicked Minister Pumpkin, who then
boots King Broccoli off the throne and proceeds
to abolish all truth, justice, sweetness
and light from the Salad Kingdom.
So why are you just laying around waiting
to ripen ? As Sir Cucumber, you've got to
rescue your princess and save her domain
from the power-mad Pumpkin.
Otherwise, the entire Salad Kingdom will
be tossed into a frenzy--or even into a bowl
with a dash of oil and vinegar.
Sir Cucumber, your princess awaits!
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Game Staff (Copied from the end credits) :
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STAFF
Story Writer
Megupyon
Chief Programmer
Yoshiyuki.K
Assistant Programmer
Okkun
Oichan
Ryouichi Nakaya
Assistant Cordinater
Billiard Ga Daisuki Syounen
Fumiya Nagata Deshita
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Chief Designer
Tetsuka.A
Sprite Designer
Negi Jiisan Tottemo Kawaii
Commando Sasaki
Juanken Kozou Character
Background Designer
Yasue Oikawa
Special Background Designer
Gary Fujimoto
Special Character Designer
Yasai Wa Mou Korigori
Koara Takaoka
Background Designer
Hideyuki Ogura
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Music Composer
Tomotsune Maeno
Sound Programmer
Katsunori Takahashi
Total Adviser
Nontama And Ura San
Special Thanks
Hiroyuki Sakai
All Rights Reserved
Hudson Soft
See You Again
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G
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Japanese Guidebook
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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Japanese Passwords:
1) えふとしうたみつひくうおみ
2) あたしみきえとにぬとぬのけ
3) ねさせそしあちつつぬつかせひほ
4) たさえきえあちつつてとかせひにはぬ
5) へきけこえにさせせそたあはてつおほみ
6) なぬにはふさはほほまみちこういなせく
7) にひねせまそほいいうえおほきかのこそく
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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Salada no Kuni no Tomato Hime is a really unique and unusual game.
The coarse graphics may turn you off at first, but a few minutes in and you'll
find that there's a neat game lurking underneath them, that oozes with humor
and charm. The adventure has an interesting aspect to it, and Sir Cucumber
must use his brain and common sense, rather than his sword and strenght which gives
the game a nice breath of fresh air. Well, on another hand, the game heavily relies
on regular item-fetching, where you have to retrieve the correct objects for specific
persons or situations. However, some events and characters only appear at specific
time-points and places, and for this reason things become increasingly complex
as the game progresses. Although you never really get stuck, you often end up
looking for something... that you've already missed, but you simply don't know
about it. All in all, Salada no Kuni no Tomato Hime is a sweet and colorful
graphic adventure game, and it is definitively one of the best of its genre for the
system. You will need a good knowledge of Japanese to really appreciate it
though, or you can try to hunt down the American version instead
(which seems to have jumped in price recently).
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