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There are many music scores in this game, and most of them are very good - this is just a choice selection.

realaudio music:

Level 1 music (313K).
Level 5 music (284K).
Hiscore music (176K).
Legend of hero TONMA Logo

Legend of Hero Tonma, running on the Irem M72 boardset (the same hardware that powers the legendary game R-Type), is what is known in the trade as a seriously cool game. Keep your Mortal Yawnbat and Street Fighter MCMLXX, Legend of Hero Tonma beats them on interest level, graphics, sound and gameplay. LOHT, from Irem, is a three-board set based on an NEC V30 (enhanced Intel 8086 clone) and an NEC 780-1 (Zilog Z-80A clone), with some fairly complex graphics ASICs fron Nanao. The game is a 4-way swords'n'sorcery "rescue the legendary princess" scrolling platformer with two- or three-level parallax scrolling, lovely Japanese graphics and soft, tinkly music, plus some of the coolest demonic level bosses you will ever see.

Level 2 boss is my favorite so far; it's a huge evil tree. Twisting, deadly roots hang from the ceiling, and acorns materialize overhead and fall in dangerous clusters. Periodically, little tree-demons come out of the big tree's mouth. Shoot one, and it splits into three tiny treelets which you then have to kill QUICKLY! You need a weapon with a wide arc of fire to kill the monster, as you can't jump because of the roots dangling from the ceiling, and you therefore can't get a clear shot at the mouth, the only vulnerable part of the beast.

Level 1 Screenshot
The very start of level 1. Unfortunately in this static screenshot you can't see the delightful parallax scrolling.

Level 2 Screenshot
A scene from level 2. This level is all twisty trees and strange beasts with long tongues that burst up out of the ground.


A shot from level 6. The blue guy riding the cloud at the bottom of the screen is nasty; he shoots out rings of skulls.

Legend of Hero Tonma uses a horizontal low-res monitor, one or two 4-switch joysticks with two buttons, and it has a standard JAMMA pinout. The board does not require a -5V rail. DIP switch settings are as below:

DIP Switch Bank 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Lives 3 0 0
4 1 0
5 0 1
2 1 1
Attract mode sound No 0
Yes 1
Not used x
Coin mode 1 (switch 3 of bank 2 OFF) 1 coin 1 play 0 0 0 0
2 coins 1 play 1 0 0 0
3 coins 1 play 0 1 0 0
4 coins 1 play 1 1 0 0
5 coins 1 play 0 0 1 0
6 coins 1 play 1 0 1 0
1 coin 2 plays 0 1 1 0
1 coin 3 plays 1 1 1 0
1 coin 4 plays 0 0 0 1
1 coin 5 plays 1 0 0 1
1 coin 6 plays 0 1 0 1
2 coins 3 plays 1 1 0 1
3 coins 2 plays 0 0 1 1
5 coins 3 plays 1 0 1 1
8 coins 3 plays 0 1 1 1
Free play 1 1 1 1
Coin mode 2 (switch 3 of bank 2 ON) Selector A 1 coin 1 play 0 0
Selector A 2 coins 1 play 1 0
Selector A 3 coins 1 play 0 1
Selector A 5 coins 1 play 1 1
Selector B 1 coin 2 plays 0 0
Selector B 1 coin 3 plays 1 0
Selector B 1 coin 5 plays 0 1
Selector B 1 coin 6 plays 1 1

DIP Switch Bank 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Invert Picture No 0
Yes 1
Cabinet Type Cocktail 0
Upright 1
Coin Mode Mode 1 0
Mode 2 1
Difficulty Normal 0 0
Hard 1 0
Very Hard 0 1
Easy 1 1
Freeze Picture No 0
Yes 1
No Death Mode No 0
Yes 1
Diagnostic Test No 0
Yes 1

larwe.com and all original content herein is © Copyright 2001 by Lewin A.R.W. Edwards. "larwe.com" is a trademark protected under U.S. and international law. Infringement or attempted dilution of the intellectual property rights held by Lewin A.R.W. Edwards will be prosecuted to the fullest possible extent.