A Love Letter to Tiny Tank

A tank-blasting, robot-smashing, sassy PS1 game that you probably haven't heard of.

Tiny Tank came out in 1999, just when I was getting into gaming proper. The combination of modular guns and sassy protagonist won me over immediately, filling my head with visions of exploding robots. This was my first 3D game, with all of the wonder that goes along with moving in the 3rd dimension for the first time. Sure, the controls were clunky, this game was certainly a product of its time. Deep down, however, I feel like it has a charm that makes it worth remembering.

If you can get past the low polygon count, the clunky controls, the ancient menus, and draw distance limitations, there is something special underneath. Our main protagonist, Tiny, is constantly quiping about the world around him in ways that were (and are) pretty entertaining for the time. Combine that with some genuinely greatly written radio interludes and cutscenes and you can build a picture of the game’s world that is both incredibly funny and unnerving.

I think about Tiny Tank fairly often. It's a game I would love to build a remake of, but I doubt I could do it justice. If you can get your hands on a copy, I highly recommend  giving it a try. You might just find you like it as much as I do.