Bill's Tomato Game Explained

Bill's Tomato Game
Developer:Psygnosis
Publisher:Psygnosis
Designer:Bill Pullan
Composer:Mike Clarke
Programmer:Bill Pullan
Released:1992
Genre:Puzzle
Modes:Single-player
Platforms:Amiga

Bill's Tomato Game is a puzzle game for the Amiga, designed by Bill Pullan and published by Psygnosis in 1992. The artwork is by Lee Carus-Westcott and the music by Mike Clarke. The concept of the game is very similar to Sierra's The Incredible Machine.

A planned Sega Mega Drive port was cancelled, but a prototype cart exists and was released online in 2014.[1]

Gameplay

The game is fully mouse controlled. It requires the player to guide Terry the tomato up the vine of Sammy Squirrel and rescue his girlfriend Tracey from the squirrel's villainous clutches. The vine consists of 10 worlds of 10 levels each. Each level is represented as a non-scrolling screen in which the main objective is to create correct path for Terry's one and only jump from one side of the screen to the other. Level completion will occur only when Terry makes a successful jump and without touching the ground reaches the destination. The player can modify the jump's distance, height or angle with the use of various items (e.g. electric fans or trampolines) in order to overcome numerous obstacles. The player has a limited number of these items to use as well as a limited number of Terry's jumps that can be used during the trial and error experiments. There is also time limit for each level.

Development

According to the May 1991 issue of The One, Bill's Tomato Game was originally titled Tomato Game.[2]

Reception

Computer Gaming World liked the game's graphics and puzzles, and called it "one of Psygnosis' best Amiga offerings of late ... the most entertaining and addictive Amiga title I have played in a long time".[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Buchanan. Adam. Unreleased Sega Mega Drive Port Of 'Bill's Tomato Game' ROM Released. RetroCollect. October 14, 2014. 2020-12-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20141017055635/http://www.retrocollect.com/News/unreleased-sega-mega-drive-port-of-bills-tomato-game-rom-released.html. 2014-10-17. live.
  2. Attack of the Splatter Tomato. March 1992. The One. emap Images. 42. 18.
  3. Psygnosis Takes Up Gardening with Bill's Tomato Game . Computer Gaming World . May 1993 . 7 July 2014 . Miller, Chuck . 30.