Tail of the Sun, known in Japan as Taiyō no Shippo: Wild, Pure, Simple Life , is an action role-playing video game developed by Artdink for the PlayStation. It was released in Japan in 1996 by Artdink and North America in 1997 by Sony Computer Entertainment.

The Story Behind Tail of the Sun

It was released in Japan in 1996 by Artdink and North America in 1997 by Sony Computer Entertainment. The player's ultimate objective is to build a tower of mammoth tusks that reaches the sun. Iida designed the game with a "counter-intuitive approach" at times, citing how the player-character would intermittently fall asleep during the action.

However, he felt that a character like Mario, it's "impossible to imagine a game without a happy end," wanting to make a game without a happy ending. Iida was wowed by Super Mario 64, as the exploration of a 3D space was what they were aiming for with this, and using the same methods. Tail of the Sun, known in Japan as , is an action role-playing video game developed by Artdink for the PlayStation.

How Tail of the Sun Plays

On December 15, 2025, the game was re-released globally on Steam in Japanese and the Nintendo Switch exclusively for the region of Japan under the title ARTDINK GAME LOG: Tail of the Sun. The player's ultimate objective is to build a tower of mammoth tusks that reaches the sun. To this end, a large map full of various creatures and oddities must be traversed in an effort to locate and gather sufficient food for the tribe to thrive and multiply.

While exploring the landscape, the player's character will need to sleep, and will often choose to do so while in the middle of hunting or swimming. Tail of the Sun, known in Japan as , is an action role-playing video game developed by Artdink for the PlayStation. The landscape the player character inhabits is not only shared by a variety of polygonal fauna, but by flora rendered in the form of Mochi of various shapes and colors, which have varying effects on one's health and various stats.

Why Players Still Load It Up

On December 15, 2025, the game was re-released globally on Steam in Japanese and the Nintendo Switch exclusively for the region of Japan under the title ARTDINK GAME LOG: Tail of the Sun. As with Aquanaut's Holiday, its relaxed gameplay style polarized reviewers. It was created by Kazutoshi Iida, who worked on Aquanaut's Holiday and would later work with Nintendo on Doshin the Giant.

On one end, Next Generation said, Tail of the Sun "doesn't fit neatly into any one genre but still gives gamers most everything they want - challenge, tension, humor, and fun - in a way that hasn't been done before." The reviewer also praised the combination of ludicrous and serious concepts and the graphical style. They were irritated by the player character's falling asleep, and found the game world "surprisingly barren", the graphics primitive, and the premise excessively high concept. Like EGM, GameSpot contested the idea that the minimalist graphics are stylistically appropriate rather than simply crude ("Tail of the Suns prehistoric schtick ... seems like an excuse for its often lackluster presentation"), and found both the static camera and the player character's passing out when sleep-deprived irritating.

Tail of the Sun — Frequently Asked Questions