Tomato Adventure English Translation – AlphaDream’s Lost GBA RPG, Mario & Luigi Precursor | GBA

Tomato Adventure English Translation – The Japan-Only AlphaDream RPG That Preceded Mario & Luigi
Before Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, AlphaDream made Tomato Adventure — a Japan-only GBA RPG released in 2002 that has never received an official English localisation despite being a direct creative precursor to one of the GBA’s most beloved series. Developed by the same studio with staff who had previously worked on Super Mario RPG, the game established the playful, action-inflected RPG style that AlphaDream would refine the following year into the Mario & Luigi formula. This cartridge carries the complete fan translation by Unknown W. Brackets, making the full game accessible in English on physical hardware for the first time.
The story follows DeMille through the Ketchup Kingdom on a mission to rescue his girlfriend Patharan and the Kingdom itself from the tyrannical King Abira, with the objective of recovering parts of a robot that grants access to the Gimmick Palace — a tower crowned with a tomato. The game’s personality is as distinctive as its premise. Enemies appear visibly on screen rather than triggering random encounters; you enter battle by walking into them, keeping the pacing lively throughout.
The translation covers every corner of the game: a variable-width font has been implemented throughout, character name limits expanded from four to seven characters, all menus and dialogue translated, Japanese graphics replaced with localised equivalents, and menus adjusted to accommodate English text spacing. It’s a thorough, high-quality translation of a game that deserved one far sooner.
For fans of Mario & Luigi, Super Mario RPG, or anyone interested in the lesser-known corners of Nintendo’s GBA library, Tomato Adventure is essential — the missing link between two landmark RPGs, finally playable in English.
Translation credits: Unknown W. Brackets · Developer: AlphaDream (2002)
🎮 Compatible with: Game Boy Advance · GBA SP · DS · DS Lite
✅ Available in 6 shell colors: Clear Green, Gray, Red, Clear Blue, Green, Clear Red