Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom
System: NES
Release Date: February 1991
Developer: Hudson Soft
Publisher: Hudson Soft
Genre: Adventure
You’re the freshest cucumber in town and you need to rescue Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom! This isn’t the first graphical adventure we’ve seen, but though it is similar to Deja Vu, it is quite different. Minister Pumpkin has usurped control of the Salad Kingdom by way of kidnapping Princess Tomato and planning to marry her to his son. But you, the brave Sir Cucumber have just returned from abroad and have been destined to save her from Pumpkin and his dreaded Farmies.
This is a world where most everyone is a fruit, vegetable, or legume. Except the princess’s sister and the Farmies, who are human, I guess. I hope you’re ready for a bunch of puns because they never really end. You even get into a giant mech called a Dice-O-Matic before things are all said and done. The fountain is filled with orange juice. Sgt. Pepper becomes red when he’s mad. Everyone hating Ron the Radish. Being called a pervert for checking a lady orange in the shower. This game’s got it all.
You first come to a baby persimmon who is suffering from thirst. I knew I would have to find him some water and quickly did. Speaking to him, he becomes Sir Cucumber’s lackey for the rest of the game. You’ll learn to love to be annoyed by Percy, but he’s necessary through the game and has his own command. The sides of the scene have all of the actions you can take. I settled into the pattern of looking as I entered a new screen, then checking everything that I could. Sometimes you need to check an option multiple times in order to get something to happen. Of course, you need to pay attention to the things that are said, or you’re going to have a tough time later in the chapters. Checking with Percy can also give you a hint on what to do or sometimes is what you need to do to trigger the next step.
There are often many things that can be taken and I don’t think there’s anything that will get you in trouble if you grab it. There are things that if you don’t have it right when you need it, you’ll have to remember where you saw it and backtrack. Talking to characters in scenes might bear fruit immediately, but may require you to use or give an item. If all else fails, Sir Cucumber has the ability to haul off and hit a character or other items on screen. You can also praise someone on screen, but off the top of my head I don’t remember it ever being necessary to do…
There are a few chapters that revolve around mazes. These are easy because there are no random battles that make your life more difficult. Instead, you just walk around, sometimes find items, and reach the end. While there are no random battles, there are battles that you have to fight. I hope your hands are nimble, because you have to be the best at Finger Wars! This is a mixture of rock, paper, scissors, and look away. Up or down throws rock, left throws scissors, and right throws paper. If you beat your opponent in the first round, you also have to point in the direction they will look. Most of the enemies have a pattern that you can learn and follow to defeat them. But the final boss doesn’t even fall when you beat him. Hopefully you picked up the item that does automatically!
Graphics: 2.5
Each scene is nicely done, but there’s little in the way of animation.
Sound: 3.0
There are some real ear worms here. I can’t get the music from the first level out of my head. I keep transforming it into a song from Ocarina of Time.
Gameplay: 2.0
Pick an option. Pick a target. Keep going until you find the next trigger.
Difficulty: 3.0
You can’t die or anything, but you can get yourself in a spot where you have no clue what to do next. Luckily, you can brute force your way through everything.
Fun Factor: 2.0
The amount of fun you get out of this is dependent on how fun you find clicking options over and over again and the dopamine hit when you find the right combination.
Overall Rating: 2.5
Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom earns a B-. I rented this game many times as a kid without beating it. I got to Minister Pumpkin something like 15 years ago, but finally beating him this time felt good.