Irem is not a name that I think of when it comes to side scrolling platformers. The few times they dabbled in the genre were actually brilliant. Metal Storm is one of the best NES titles you’ve probably never heard of. For some god forsaken reason even though it is balls hard I still like Holy Diver. Then there are the titles that are instantly forgettable. The Legend of Hero Tonma is a game that I only bothered pumping a quarter in once or twice and then promptly forgot existed. The only reason it came back on my radar is due to its Turbo Grafx-16 port. Being the owner of a failing system is pretty sad and leads you to taking chances on everything. While it isn’t outright bad it isn’t all that memorable either
The Legend of Hero Tonma was released in Japan in 1991, still a bit early in the system’s life. However, it did not come to the US until 1993. Unfortunately, that year saw many classic titles that redefined the side scrolling action game. Titles like Shinobi III, Rocket Knight Adventures, and Mega Man X are still spoken of to this day. An old arcade game that, while serviceable, wasn’t that great to begin with looks unimpressive against that competition. The Turbo Grafx might have had a dearth of titles in the genre but you can still do better than this.
Tonma is a pretty simple game at heart. Tommy throws fireballs as his primary means of offense. You can jump on enemy heads but that merely stuns them. The default attack is not strong but there are number of spells that boost its strength. As a bonus nearly all of them stack. You’ll need fully upgraded magic to survive longer than a few seconds since Tommy dies in a single hit. This is a relentless monster of a game but despite its frequent action it isn’t terribly interesting.
Ultimately what makes the Legend of Hero Tonma so forgettable is its boring level design. The game is incredibly straightforward and suffers for it. Some levels scroll vertically however cheap enemy placement leads to quick deaths. The few times you need to find a key to open doors might lead you to think it is going to break out of its shell. Then you realize the key is usually a few feet away, rendering it pointless. I would have loved to have seen larger levels with creative layouts that made it an effort to progress. Sadly the levels here are very short and to the point. This game really needed something to help it stand out.
Despite its simple appearance the Legend of Hero Tonma puts up a fight. Tonma comes from the school of Ghouls n Ghosts in terms of its pacing and enemy placement. This is the type of game where every action must be considered. You never know when an enemy will appear from on screen in a flash. While the controls aren’t as rigid as Capcom’s title the added dexterity does not help much. This version lacks the time limit from the arcade but that actually turns into a detriment. Because you can dawdle you are more likely to die from the infinitely respawning enemies. That being said with infinite continues you can brute force your way through it eventually. It will just take a while.
There are many excellent arcade conversions on the Turbo Grafx and the Legend of Hero Tonma is one of its best. The game runs at nearly the same resolution as the arcade and it shows. The sprites are large and well animated and play to the system’s strengths. The only area it loses out compared to the arcade is in detail. To make up for it the home version is more colorful, with a redesigned main sprite to boot. At this point I’m struggling to find some way to say something nice about the game. This truly is a forgettable title.
In Closing
The Turbo Grafx-16 needed more side scrolling action platformers in the US. But not like this. The Legend of Hero Tonma is an excellent arcade port. But as a game it lacks the thrills necessary to hold your attention. You are better off importing Cross Wiber or Ninja Gaiden instead.
