12/19/2021 (2 of 2 found this helpful)

The Race to the Middle

Tobe’s Vertical Adventure (TVA) is a retro, 16-bit, 2D platformer, developed by Secret Base. It was released in 2011, capitalizing on the nostalgia of thirty-year-olds. Playing it ten years later, still evokes fond memories of the SNES, however the market for retro sprites and game mechanics has become saturated with so many indie studios doing the exact same thing. Rising to the top is quite the challenge, and TVA doesn’t present a strong argument for being excellent. Honestly, if it were not for the yearly Backlog Absolutions, I wouldn’t have picked it off my list to play. And the experience of playing it was just okay, worthy of a “C.”

Story
2 out of 5
The story of TVA is about Tobe, a typical gamer, who is forced by his love-interest, Nana, to adv...

Rating of
3/5 

12/13/2013 (2 of 2 found this helpful)

Falling Can’t Happen Horizontally

“Tobe’s Vertical Adventure” (“TVA”) is a retro-styled Indie platformer made by Singapore-based developer, Secret Base. “TVA” is one of the few Xbox Live Indie Games releases that was considered of high enough quality that it managed to transcend its lowly birth and move onto other platforms, like Steam and Android. Indeed, “TVA” has apparently sold enough copies that it has spawned its own franchise. Since I’m always on the lookout for a good 2D game to balm my eyes after playing a modern 3D game with a horrible camera, I decided to pick up “TVA” as an impulse buy when it was deeply discounted during a Steam Sale.

Presentation
“TVA” is apparently supposed to look like a Sega Genesis game, based on the physical mock-up displayed prominently on Secret ...

Rating of
2.5/5