Last time in Tomba!, I tried getting past the spiked wall in the back area of the Mushroom Forest, because I was sure the monster I needed to defeat was there. After half an hour of jumping and reloading, I finally made some progress.
How to get Past the Wall of Spikes in the Mushroom Forest in Tomba!?
You can’t – that’s the progress I made. The wall of spikes is an invisible wall and there isn’t a chance in hell of jumping over it. It took me half an hour, I nearly died several times and because of that, had to reload several times, but it just wouldn’t work. Finally, I got an epiphany and equipped the Jewel of Fire because I know it improves my jumping, but all that got me was to realize there’s an invisible wall above the spikes.
I definitely jumped high enough, several times and I’d just hit the invisible wall above and fall onto the spikes.
Funga?
Since I got nowhere, I next went to the windy part of the Phoenix Mountain, hoping it find the next Evil Pig there. I didn’t. Instead, I found a door I could reach, with a guy standing in front of it. He just kept saying “Funga“, so I tried giving him one of my mushrooms, or at least using them it front of him, but none of them did anything. After a few minutes, I realized I have the Funga Drum in my inventory, which I got at the Deep Jungle. I used that, he moved and he allowed me to enter the door, where I got some molasses.
I’m not sure if there’s anything more about the Funga Drum. For now, it’s gone.
I say some like I had any idea what molasses is. I don’t. I’m not even sure if I’m using the world correctly right now. Wikipedia says it’s some sort of sugar byproduct which looks like some sort of syrup, but I still have no idea.
In any case, I got that and then spent the next 20 or so minutes trying to get to a serious of swings and a chest in the upper part of the mountain. This involves the following:
- Jump across three of those hanging pumpkin-like fruit and then jump to a wall from the third fruit.
- Jump across one of those plants that swallow you and spit you out, but it’s an extremely tight jump.
- Deal with some pigs on the platform above.
- Jump across several branches to get to a chest.
I’m not the type to swear, but I nearly lost it at this jump. It’s incredibly tight.
The problem is, each of those jumps is hard to target and hard to manage. What helped me was to, again, equip the Jewel of Fire. With that, steps #1 and #2 were easier to do. The pigs were easy to begin with and I used a trick with the final step. Instead of swinging across branches, I used my grapple to get to the first chest. From that platform, I was able to jump further across and get to the last chest and to a part with a lot of those small white plant thingies that bite you on the ass. I fell from that and just gave up.
How Many Leaf Butterflies do I need in Tomba!?
Next, I went to the Deep Jungle and caught a few more butterflies. It took me a few minutes, but once I knew I was above 30 in total, including those I already turned in, I decided to give it a try to see if I have enough – I did!
Physics!
The cage the butterflies were in floated up and I ended up in the Hidden Village. This is where Yan, the guy I was playing Hide and go Seek with lived. He wasn’t home, but his dad was and he told me all about it. The butterflies that got me here opened up a giant egg and a Golden Butterfly came out of it. I picked it up, but I have no idea what I’ll use it for. Based on the description, I think it will be important for the Evil Pigs. Also, the game outright told me at the start that the Evil Pigs need gold for something, which I’m just realizing as I’m writing this.
Duh! The Evil Pigs steal gold!
I got a few “quests” from the village and then used a ladder to drop to the Lava Caves, via an alternative entrance. On my way down, I got the Thief’s Lost Treasure, but I have no idea where the thief is right now. I even tried looking for him at the prison and at the lookout point, but with no luck.
The egg cracks moments later.
In any case, that’s about all I did this time. It was a lengthy train ride, so I made more progress than usual, but it still isn’t much and it’s been a week since I played the game after this.
New Schedule
By the way, I decided writing this blog started to suck way too much time out of this. I have no intentions of stopping, but I do intend to reduce the frequency of articles and try and improve their quality. I think there’s no point in just “paraphrasing” the story of the game I’m playing. Instead, while I do intend to document the events, I’ll focus more on my thoughts about the game. For instance…
Yan’s dad asked me to bring Yan his lunch.
What to do Next in Tomba!?
Next, I have a confession to make. I couldn’t remember what I got from the chests at Phoenix Mountain, so I googled a bit to remind myself and stumbled onto a YouTube video. It spoiled me, big time.
Thanks to the video, I learned the pump rocks are actually those brown “harmonica” platforms with grass on top of them which I’ve been seeing since the game started, not the rocks like the one next to the lookout. I also found out there’s a new pair of pants waiting for me at the second windy area on Phoenix Mountain.
I got the thief’s treasure, but I have no idea where the thief is.
Lastly, I did find out what the chest contained – two 1 UPs. This was an amazing find for me, because it finally brought me to a decent number of lives left, but it also meant I got way less careful and later on lost one of those in the Lava Caves.
Other than the chest there, there was also an AP gem, as well as one next to the Thief’s Lost Treasure in the Lava Caves, but I haven’t seen an AP Box in ages and I’m not even sure there are any left.
Next up, I’ll go get those pants, then I’ll stomp an all of those pump rucks… Seriously, I get the “pump” part, but how are those things rocks? After that, I’ll try to figure out the monster in Mushroom Forest. At this point, I’m thinking I either need to somehow kill those two floating jellyfish, or I need to somehow get to the “ghosty” floating creatures at the front side of the Mushroom Forest.
Overall, I’m still liking Tomba! very much. I just wish my spellchecker wouldn’t constantly underline the name of the game. It’s not my fault it contains something other than letters and numbers!
