Ty the Tasmanian Tiger

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger

North American PlayStation 2 Cover Art
Developer(s) Krome Studios
Publisher(s) Electronic Arts (Console) Krome Studios (Microsoft Windows)
Director(s) John Passfield (development)
Steve Stamatiadis (creative)
Producer(s) Andy Green
Designer(s) John Passfield
Steve Stamatiadis
Programmer(s) Steve Williams, Enam Faroni
Composer(s) George Stamatiadis
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)

PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube

  • NA: September 10, 2002
  • PAL: November 22, 2002

Microsoft Windows

  • WW: March 21, 2016
Genre(s) Platform
Mode(s) Single-player

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is a platform video game for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube developed by Krome Studios and published by Electronic Arts. It was released in North America on September 10, 2002 and later released in PAL regions on November 22, 2002.

The first installment in the Ty the Tasmanian Tiger series, the game is set on a fictional Australian island and follows the titular character, the last of the thylacines, as he searches for "thunder eggs" to power a machine he then uses to locate the five scattered talismans and free his family, who are trapped in the Dreamtime by the series antagonist Boss Cass, a cassowary plotting world domination. Development of Ty the Tasmanian Tiger began in 2000 with five developers from Krome Studios. The development team was later expanded to 45 people. For the levels in the game, the developers drew inspiration from the Australian landscapes.

The game was first revealed in 2002 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo convention in Los Angeles, California.[1] Ty the Tasmanian Tiger received positive reviews from critics, most of whom praised the gameplay and graphics and drew favorable comparisons to the Spyro series. The game sold over one million copies worldwide. Three sequels were produced, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan and Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4.

The game was rereleased on March 21, 2016 for PC on Steam's Early Access platform.[2]

Gameplay

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is a platform game in which the player controls Ty, a Tasmanian tiger, who must gather 17 Fire Thunder Eggs, 17 Ice Thunder Eggs, and 17 Electric Thunder Eggs, in order to power the Talisman Machine, a teleportation device that will locate all five talismans,[3] which will in turn have the power to free his family from the Dreamtime,[4] The game takes place in "Rainbow Cliffs", which is in turn divided into a series of "zones", each of which act as the hub areas of the game. Each zone contains three portals, each of which lead to a level.[5] The goal of each level is to obtain a select amount of thunder eggs, which can be retrieved by either performing a certain task, completing a "Time Attack" challenge that can be unlocked upon said level's completion, freeing five bilbies,[3] a group of animals who raised Ty after his parents were imprisoned, or by being found alongside the level's set path.[3] A level is cleared either by collecting a select amount of thunder eggs and reaching the end of the path, or beating certain mini-games, each will return Ty to Rainbow Cliffs hub world.[3] Retrieving a thunder egg in a level will cause it to appear on the game's pause menu.[6] When at least seventeen thunder eggs in a zone are obtained, the player must navigate their way to the talisman machine; after the machine manages to locate a talisman, it opens another portal leading to their original locations; inside these portals, the player must fight and defeat a boss character before gaining access to a new zone.[5]

The player is given a certain amount of lives, which are lost when Ty is attacked by an enemy or falls from a great distance. If all lives are lost at any point in the game, the "Game Over" screen will appear, in which the player can continue from the last level played by selecting "yes". Ty has the ability to jump into the air and uses both biting and throwing boomerangs as his primary means of defense.[7][8] The boomerangs return after throwing. The player begins the game with a generic boomerang, but can gradually increase their collection by finding secret areas, or collecting fifteen "Golden Cogs" scattered throughout each level and trading them into scientist koala character Julius, who in turn creates a new "techno-rang" for the player to use; another method of retrieving a new boomerang is to complete a boss level, after which Julius will harness the excess energy of the talisman machine in order to create a new "elemental 'rang", each of which possess elemental powers that can be used to gain access to a new zone.[8] Like elemental 'rangs, each techno-rang possesses a unique ability, and can alternatively be used to defeat enemies or retrieve golden cogs or thunder eggs more efficiently.[8] In early levels of the game, Ty can swim in water via dog paddle; however, following the third level, "Ship Rex", the player gains the abilities to swim faster and more efficiently and to dive and swim underwater from lifeguard platypus character Rex;[9] in addition, Rex gives the player an "Aquarang", a boomerang exclusively used for attacking underwater.[8]

Plot

Characters

The titular protagonist and player character is Ty, a heroic Tasmanian tiger, adopted by a family of bilbies, who must save his family from the Dreamtime. The main antagonist is Boss Cass, a cassowary who plots to become a dictator by using the five talismans. Ty's love interest is Shazza, a female dingo. Helping Ty on his journey is Maurie, a sulphur-crested cockatoo who acts as Ty's mentor figure; Julius, a koala scientist who helps Ty find the talismans; Ken, a Tasmanian devil and park ranger interested in nature; and Dennis, a cowardly green tree frog. The boss characters include Bull, a razorback who later becomes Ty's companion; Crikey, a cybernetic tiger shark; Sly, another Tasmanian tiger and Ty's blood brother; Fluffy, a thorny devil who controls her large Yeti robot; and Shadow, a ghost bat.

Story

The evil cassowary Boss Cass enters the Outback to activate the Dreamtime by stealing five mystical talismans so he can become the ruler of Australia.[10] However, he is confronted by a family of thylacines and they fight for control of the talismans. Boss Cass uses the last talisman and opens a portal to the Dreamtime to attract the tigers in. However, his plan proves to be a failure when one of the tigers family members throws his Doomarang to dislodge the talismans. The portal is destroyed and the talismans become scattered.[4] Following his family's disappearance, Ty becomes the last of his kind, and a family of bilbies adopt him. Ty thinks that the other Tasmanian tigers are dead during his time with the bilbies.[4] Years later, Ty falls into a cave by accident while playing with the bilbies. While there, he encounters the Bunyip elder Nandu Gilli, who informs him about his heritage and Cass' intentions to seek out the talismans again.[4][11] Ty resolves to retrieve the talismans and save his family, and is rescued by Maurie, his sulphur-crested cockatoo friend.

At Bli-Bli Station, Ty is introduced to a scientist named Julius, a koala who has invented a device that will find the Talismans.[12] Because Thunder Eggs are required to power the device, Ty must find the Thunder Eggs by visiting portals to other worlds.[13] Maurie informs Ty that he must find another boomerang.[14] From there, Ty makes his way through a billabong and finds his second boomerang with the help of Maurie,[15] At a rainforest, he helps save his dingo girlfriend Shazza and helps Ranger Ken by clearing the bats out of a cave,[16] and learns to swim from the lifeguard Rex and find a wrecked ship on a tropical island.[17] When Julius finds the first talisman, Ty encounters Bull, a boar. He tames Bull by luring him into the rocks and rescues the first talisman.[18] At Julius' laboratory, Ty learns that Julius has developed elemental boomerangs by diverting the excess energy from the Fire Thunder Eggs through his Hyper Techno Boomerang Maker.[19]

Ty makes his way through Pippy Beach by using his Flamerangs.[20] He uses Bull to travel around the outback and help Shazza and Ken once more.[21] Ty also befriends Dennis, a cowardly green tree frog. He helps Dennis get to his home by lighting up the paths,[22] and also rescues a group of koala children, who are lost in the snow.[23] As Julius finds the second talisman, Cass stations another one of his henchmen, Crikey.[24] Ty jumps across a group of platforms and, after using the oxygen tanks, defeats Crikey.[24] Ty puts out a group of bushfires and enters Lake Burril, a small lake.[25] However, having discovered that Ty is the one collecting the talismans and Thunder Eggs, Cass deploys Sly, another one of his high-ranking henchmen and Ty's rival. As Ty makes his way through another rainforest (while being misguided by a lyrebird named Lenny), he is confronted by Sly inside the rainforest's factory.[20] Ty easily defeats Sly, but he runs off.[20] He later saves the koala children again and puts out bushfires on a snowy mountain,[26] and crosses a group of tropical islands.[27] When the third talisman is located, Ty finds and battles Fluffy, another of Cass' henchmen. Despite attacking with her giant mechanical Yeti, Ty defeats her[26] and crosses a group of tropical islands.[28]

After gathering enough golden cogs and Thunder Eggs and noticing that the last two talismans are at Cass' Lair, Ty enters a rainforest leading to Cass' lair while avoiding booby traps and Cass' minions.[29] Inside the lair, Ty sees Shazza. Cass has another of his henchmen, Shadow, capture Shazza.[30] Ty uses the ventilation shafts to defeat Shadow and save Shazza and the fourth talisman.[30] While he continues to searching for Cass, he confronts Sly again and easily overpowers him.[30] Just as Sly is saved from falling into the lava pit, he runs off and vows vengeance on Ty.[31] Ty finds Cass' massive robot, where he is confronted by the cassowary.[32] Ty damages the robot before Sly arrives and betrays Cass. He gives Ty the Doomarang, which Ty uses to destroy the robot and send Cass falling out of the sky. After giving the Bunyip elder the last talisman, his mother and father arrive from the Dreamtime.[33] If Ty collects every opal, Golden Cog and Thunder Egg in the game, a robotic Tasmanian tiger awakens.

Development

Development of Ty the Tasmanian Tiger began in December 2000, originally consisting of five developers at Krome Studios. The development team was later expanded to 40 people and also included a quality assurance team of 15 members.[34] In designing the 16 large levels, the team drew inspiration from the Australian landscapes.[34] According to designer John Passfield, he said that his favorite boomerang in the game was the Kaboomerang. The team also implemented real time lighting effects, and Passfield cited that it "affects Ty [throughout the game] and changes the direction of his shadow, plus the world reflects in ice cubes and shiny surfaces" and he also loved the animation system used in the game. He also cited that he was proud of the "Emergent Game Play" system used throughout the game, and said that "during focus testing [of the game] it was great when players had 'stumbled across' a new way to solve a problem".[34]

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger was first announced by Electronic Arts on May 10, 2002,[35] and the game was later unveiled at the 2002 Electronic Entertainment Expo convention to positive response.[1] On July 17, 2002, Electronic Arts announced that the game would also be developed for the Xbox.[36]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings(GC) 70.33%[37]
(PS2) 69.16%[38]
(Xbox) 68.64%[39]
Metacritic(PS2) 70/100[40]
(GC) 69/100[41]
(Xbox) 68/100[42]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Eurogamer(PS2) 5/10[43]
GamePro(PS2) 3.5/5[44]
GameSpot7.5/10[45]
IGN(PS2) 7.9/10[46]
(Xbox) 7.8/10[47]
(GC) 6.8/10[48]

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger received positive reviews from critics upon its release. Matthew Gallant of GameSpot concluded that the game is "great for younger players and can provide a satisfying experience for teens and adults as long as they don't mind their replay value coming from finding every last collectible in the game."[45] In reviewing the PlayStation 2 version of the game, Jeremy Dunham and Kaiser Hwang of IGN concluded that the game is "a Crash Bandicoot clone through and through" and also said that "Krome Studios own attempt at platforming is still enough to warrant a purchase from diehard genre fans."[46] In a review of the Xbox version, Hwang said that it "makes no effort in hiding its influences" and that the game "is a Mario clone through and through, just done really well."[47]

The gameplay received mixed to positive responses. Kaiser Hwang commented that the game "borrows heavily from the Mario series." However he complained that one of the "irritating things about the game is that every time you start your game and begin a level, the game insists on showing you the same cutscene and voiceover." He also said that the game has "clever puzzles, and the levels have a good variety to them."[47] Kilo Watt of GamePro said that controlling Ty is "a bit cumbersome with jumping being particularly tough to get a handle on." He also cited the camera angles as problematic, as well as detecting collisions in the game.[44]

The game sold over one million copies worldwide.[49][50] The PlayStation 2 version of the game was re-released for the Greatest Hits budget lineup in 2003.[51]

Sequels

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger was followed by three sequels, TY the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue and Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan, for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox and Game Boy Advance and developed by Krome Studios. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4 was originally released on Xbox Games for Windows 8 PC/tablets titled simply, "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger" in 2013 then ported to steam for Microsoft Windows as Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4 in 2015. In May 2005, Activision and Krome Studios signed a co-publishing agreement for the third installment of the series: Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan. It was released in October the next year. On July 27, 2012, Krome announced plans for a new Ty The Tasmanian Tiger game to be developed for the iOS to coincide with the series's 10th anniversary, this game was revealed to be Ty the Tasmanian Tiger: Boomerang Blast, released late 2012.[52] On March 11, 2013, Krome Studios announced a 2D Ty title to be released on July 24, 2013 on Xbox Games for Windows 8 PC and/or Tablet. [53] The game received the title Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4 after it was announced for Steam. It was released on September 17, 2015.

Notes

References

  1. 1 2 Dunham, Jeremy (25 May 2002). "E3 2002: Ty the Tasmanian Tiger: Hands-on". IGN. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  2. ↑ Krome Studios (2016-02-09), TY the Tasmanian Tiger FOUND!, retrieved 2016-02-14
  3. 1 2 3 4 Krome, p. 11
  4. 1 2 3 4 Krome, which an evil character named Boss Cass opened to seal all mammals. p. 5
  5. 1 2 Krome, p. 17
  6. ↑ Krome, p. 15
  7. ↑ Krome, p. 6
  8. 1 2 3 4 Krome, p. 22
  9. ↑ Krome, p. 7
  10. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Opening sequence. Boss Cass: My dinosaur ancestors came first, you furry mammal opportunists!
  11. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Opening sequence. Nandu Gilli: What grows is that Boss Cass is seeking out the Talismans again. He must be stopped at all costs.
  12. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Bli Bli Station. Julius: This contraption is the key to finding the Talismans. Why is this so? It's quite simple really. It uses an oscillatory micro-feeder to scan for trace energy signals that match the unique power matrix of the Talismans.
  13. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Bli Bli Station. Maurie: So how is Ty here going to find all of these Thunder Eggs? / Ty: Yeah, I was just wondering that myself. / Julius: A reasonable question! I've created these portals to lead Ty to areas rich with them.
  14. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Bli Bli Station. Julius: If you're resourceful as they say, Ty, I'm sure you'll think of something. / Maurie: Righto Ty, there's no point in mucking about. You've got to find a second boomerang. I'll see you in Two Up.
  15. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Two Up.
  16. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Walk in the Park.
  17. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Ship Rex.
  18. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Bull's Pen.
  19. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Rainbow Cliffs. Julius: I've made a most amazing discovery! The Talisman machine is brimming with excess energy from the Fire Thunder Eggs. By diverting that energy through my special Hyper Techno Boomerang Maker I can make special Elemental Rangs.
  20. 1 2 3 Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Lyre, Lyre, Pants on Fire.
  21. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Outback Safari.
  22. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Bridge on the River Ty.
  23. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Snow Worries.
  24. 1 2 Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Crikey's Cove.
  25. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Lake Burril.
  26. 1 2 Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Beyond the Black Stump.
  27. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Rex Marks the Spot.
  28. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Fluffy's Fjord.
  29. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Cass' Pass.
  30. 1 2 3 Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Cass' Crest.
  31. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Cass' Crest. Sly: (Ty saves him) What? What are you doing? / Ty: Giving you a hand mate. / Sly: Let go of me. (he is pulled up by Ty) I... You... You're going to regret this. (runs off)
  32. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Final Battle. Cass: At last, we come face to face. So, you're the troublemaker I keep hearing about! Well, this is the end of the line for you, you meddling rat!
  33. ↑ Krome Studios (10 September 2002). Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube. Electronic Arts. Level/area: Final Battle.
  34. 1 2 3 IGN Staff (11 July 2002). "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger Interview". IGN. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  35. ↑ IGN Staff (10 May 2002). "Tasmanian Tiger Announced". IGN. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  36. ↑ Torres, Ricardo (17 July 2002). "Electronics Arts announces Ty the Tasmanian Tiger for Xbox". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  37. ↑ "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger for GameCube". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  38. ↑ "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  39. ↑ "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger for Xbox". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  40. ↑ "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger for PlayStation 2". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  41. ↑ "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger for GameCube". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  42. ↑ "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger for Xbox". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  43. ↑ Reed, Kristen (28 December 2002). "Ty The Tasmanian Tiger Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  44. 1 2 Watt, Kilo. "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger review". GamePro. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  45. 1 2 Gallant, Matthew (22 October 2002). "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  46. 1 2 Dunham, Jeremy; Hwang, Kaiser (16 October 2002). "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger". IGN. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  47. 1 2 3 Hwang, Kaiser (16 October 2002). "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger Review". IGN. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  48. ↑ Lewis, Cory D. (23 October 2002). "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger Review". IGN. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  49. ↑ "Krome Studios Switches to Maya to Power New Game Pipeline" (Press release). Brisbane, Australia: Autodesk. 15 October 2004. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  50. ↑ "TY the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue - PS2 - Preview". GameZone. 13 May 2004. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  51. ↑ "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger Related Games". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. 9 September 2012.
  52. ↑ Matulef, Jeffrey (27 July 2012). "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger returns". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  53. ↑ "TY the Tasmanian Tiger (2013)". 2013-03-11. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
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