Toki (1989). Play online

Summary

I love how Toki turns a typical run‑and‑gun platformer into a quirky jungle brawl. Designed by Akira Sakuma and launched in Japanese arcades in 1989, the Fabtek North American release lets you play as a spitting ape who fires energy balls from his mouth. The game’s tongue‑in‑cheek humor shows up in the goofy power‑ups: rabbit feet grant extra jump agility, clocks add stage time, a football‑style helmet blocks upward attacks, and fruit, keys and magic coins boost points or grant extra lives. Each of the six stages imposes a timer and ends with a miniboss, encouraging fast movement despite the ape’s natural slowness. Despite the tough learning curve, the powerful spit makes for satisfying monster sweeps. Toki was a modest hit in Japan, ranking sixteenth on Game Machine’s March 1990 table‑arcade chart, and even nabbed a Golden Joystick Award in 1992.

Storyline

The platformer Toki follows a muscular, loincloth‑clad tribesman who lives a simple life in the jungles of a South‑Sea island. His name is Toki, known in Japan and some ports as JuJu. Everything changes when Vookimedlo, a treacherous witch doctor, kidnaps Miho, the beautiful princess of Toki’s tribe.

Vookimedlo drags Miho to a golden palace atop the island and casts a spell that turns every human into beasts. Toki is transformed into a gorilla‑like Geeshergam, yet he keeps his mind and gains the ability to breathe fire and shoot projectiles from his mouth.

Determined, Toki embarks on a quest across murky lakes, steep canyons, icy peaks and lava‑spitting volcanoes. He battles wild animals, mutant creations and Vookimedlo’s guardian bosses, hoping to defeat the shaman, rescue Miho and break the curse.