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Tama: Adventurous Ball in Giddy Labyrinth

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Tama: Adventurous Ball in Giddy Labyrinth
Original Saturn cover art
Developer(s)Time Warner Interactive
Publisher(s)Time Warner Interactive
Designer(s)Jun Amanai
Mizuho Yoshioka
Programmer(s)Osamu Yamamoto
Artist(s)Kenichi Nemoto
Michio Okano
Satomi Yokose
Composer(s)Kenji Yokoyama
Platform(s)PlayStation
Sega Saturn
ReleaseSaturn
PlayStation
Genre(s)Platform, racing
Mode(s)Single-player

Tama: Adventurous Ball in Giddy Labyrinth[a] is a video game developed and published under Tengen's new name: Time Warner Interactive for the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation in 1994. Tama was also a launch title for both consoles.

Gameplay

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Tama is a game in which the player rolls a ball through a maze by moving the terrain.[3]

Development and release

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Tama was produced by former employees of Japanese company Tengen, which became part of the newly-formed Time Warner Interactive in mid-1994.[4][5] The project was directed by Jun Amanai, who had previously designed PC releases for SoftBank and the arcade game World Stadium for Namco.[6][7] At Tengen he worked as a lead on the Game Gear title Popils, the TurboGrafx-16 port of Klax, and the Japanese Mega Drive port of Marble Madness.[8][9][10] He wrote the instructions manuals for a number of these titles as well.[11] Co-planner Mizuho Yoshioka revealed that the game's original director left partway into development. After the shock of this wore off, he pulled himself together and rallied the remaining staff to complete their work.[12] Tama was a Japanese launch game for both the Sega Saturn on November 22, 1994 and the PlayStation on December 3, 1994.[13][14]

Reception

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Tama received consistently average reviews from both Japanese magazines and foreign publications that imported the game. Next Generation reviewed both versions of the game separately. It rated the Saturn edition two stars out of five and stated, "Unlikely to star big in Saturn's US line-up. And this is probably a Good Thing."[3] It rated the PlayStation edition a higher three stars out of five, summarizing, "On one hand it's encouraging to see the Saturn handling the demands of this game as nicely as it does, but in the end its power would be better applied elsewhere."[19]

Notes

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  1. ^ Also known as TAMA (Japanese: たま, Hepburn: Tama) in Japan.

References

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  1. ^ "SEGA SATURN Soft > 1994-1995" (in Japanese). GAME Data Room. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  2. ^ "PlayStation Soft > 1994-1995" (in Japanese). GAME Data Room. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  3. ^ a b c Next Generation staff (April 1995). "Finals". Next Generation. No. 4. Imagine Media. pp. 87–88. ISSN 1078-9693.
  4. ^ Beep! staff (November 1994). "Tama". Beep! MegaDrive (in Japanese). SB Creative. p. 68.
  5. ^ Electronic Games staff (June 1994). "The Merger: Time Warner, Tengen, Atari". Electronic Games. Decker Publications. p. 16. ISSN 0730-6687.
  6. ^ "天内潤" [Amanai Jun]. Oh! FM-7 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  7. ^ Yamamura Tomomi (July 13, 2020). "エムツー堀井氏、コンポーザー並木学氏が語る"ワシらが愛する赤いロゴ ナムコ"【ゲームの思い出談話室・第2夜】" [M2's Horii and composer Manabu Namiki talk about "The Namco Red Logo We Love" [Game Memories Chat Room, Night 2]]. Famitsu (in Japanese). Kadokawa Game Linkage. Archived from the original on October 1, 2024. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  8. ^ Amanai Jun (July 12, 1991). Magical Puzzle Popils Instruction Manual (in Japanese). Tengen. p. 29. T-48017.
  9. ^ Amanai Jun (August 10, 1990). Klax Instruction Manual (in Japanese). Tengen. p. 29. TG90001.
  10. ^ Amanai Jun (August 13, 1993). Marble Madness Instruction Manual (in Japanese). Tengen. pp. 16–7. T-48113.
  11. ^ Beep staff (March 11, 2015). "【出張買取】テンゲングッズ「ガントウォレット」を埼玉県鴻巣市のお客様より買い取りさせて頂きました" [[On-site purchase] We purchased the Tengen product "Gaunt Wallet" from a customer in Konosu City, Saitama Prefecture.]. Beep (in Japanese). March Rabbit Forest Co., Ltd. Archived from the original on November 5, 2024. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  12. ^ Amanai Jun (November 22, 1994). Tama: Adventurous Ball in Giddy Labyrinth Instruction Manual (PDF) (in Japanese). Time Warner Interactive. T-4801G.
  13. ^ Thorpe, Nick (October 2014). "20 Years of Sega Saturn". Retro Gamer. No. 134. Imagine Publishing. p. 23. ISSN 1742-3155.
  14. ^ Van der Velde, Issy; O'Connor, Quinton (January 20, 2024). "The First 15 Games Released On The PS1". TheGamer. Valnet. Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  15. ^ CVG staff (February 1995). "Review: Tama" (PDF). Computer and Video Games. No. 159. Future plc. p. 34. ISSN 0261-3697.
  16. ^ Famitsu staff (December 2, 1994). "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 311. ASCII Corporation. p. 38. OCLC 852442485.
  17. ^ Famitsu staff (December 16, 1994). "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 313. ASCII Corporation. p. 40. OCLC 852442485.
  18. ^ Merrett, Steve; Swan, Gus (February 1995). "Saturn Review: Tama". Mean Machines Sega. No. 28. EMAP. pp. 64–6. ISSN 0967-9014.
  19. ^ a b Next Generation staff (August 1995). "Finals". Next Generation. No. 8. Imagine Media. p. 70. ISSN 1078-9693.
  20. ^ Elvira (January 1995). "Saturn Review: Tama". Consoles + (in French). No. 39. M.E.R.7. p. 136. ISSN 1162-8669.
  21. ^ Prezeau, Olivier (February 1995). "PlayStation Import: Tama". Joypad (in French). No. 39. fr:M.E.R.7:Yellow Media. p. 51. ISSN 1163-586X.
  22. ^ a b Bannert, Robert (March 1995). "Overseas Import: Tama". MAN!AC (in German). No. 17. Cybermedia. p. 32. ISSN 2191-012X.
  23. ^ Chouzetsu Daigirin (April 15, 1998). Super Technique Book ’98 Spring Edition (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. pp. 748, 995. ASIN B00J16900U.
  24. ^ Sega Power staff (March 1995). "Saturn: Tama" (PDF). Sega Power. No. 64. Future plc. pp. 44–5. | issn=0961-2718}}
  25. ^ Saturn Fan staff (February 1995). "Ranking Street". Saturn Fan (in Japanese). No. 2. Tokuma Shoten. p. 32.
  26. ^ Ultimate Future Games staff (February 1995). "Ultimate Review Sector: Tama". Ultimate Future Games. No. 3. Future plc. p. 102. ISSN 1355-7289.
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