Tail of the Sun
↗ 6.6%
🙂 6.3/10
(Playstation - US, Action & Adventure)
.png)
Complete
$65.41
Loose $32.13
Developed by:
Artdink Corporation
Published by:
Sony
Released On:
26 Apr 1996
Tail of the Sun begins with a simple yet challenging premise: you're a caveman trying to survive in a harsh environment. Your goal is to hunt, gather resources, and explore while managing your stats to ensure your survival. Be careful, as your life can be cut short by various factors such as animals, drowning, hunger, or age. Once your current caveman meets their demise, you'll get to choose a new tribe member to carry on the journey.
The gameplay in Tail of the Sun is action-packed and full of adventure. You'll hunt mammoths, collect tusks, and construct a tower that will allow you to reach the elusive tail of the sun. With each step, your goal is to progress through the game's world, overcoming obstacles and achieving new milestones.
eBay Product ID:
1451 (United States)
UPC-A:
711719460725 (United States)
ASIN:
B00002STQC (United States)
Sony PN:
SCUS-94607 (United States)
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Input Devices Required:
Gamepad
Number of Offline Players:
1 Player
Save Game Methods:
External Storage
Number of Players Supported:
1 Player
Prices as of 30 Jul 2026
Typical $65.41–$65.41 (last 90 days)
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Market activity: active · about 53 sales a year
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Manual
Game Guide
Extracted from the original game manual
This is a prehistoric survival and exploration game where players lead a primitive tribe, hunting and gathering to grow their population and advance their culture. The ultimate goal is to build a tower of mammoth tusks to catch the "Tail of the Sun," requiring players to explore a vast world, discover artifacts, and strategically use power-granting tattoos.
Story
Introduction
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, a handful of primitive humans struggled to survive. A brave hunter was chosen as tribal leader to explore the wild and bring food back.
Test your instincts and survival skills as you hunt and gather food, watching your tribe grow and evolve. Use increasingly deadly weapons created by your tribe's advancing tool-builders.
Discover mysterious artifacts as you explore your vast world. Develop your intelligence and think ahead to reach your goal: building a tower of tusks to catch the Tail of the Sun.
Power Tattoos
South of your village lie mysterious monuments. Each of these stones bears a symbol, and if you approach them, a mystic power will flow through your body, and a magic symbol appears on your character's right arm. These Power Tattoos enhance your character's abilities as follows:
•
LEAP - increases jumping height and distance, helpful when attacking or for covering greater distances on land or in water
•
SWIFTNESS - increases speed, helpful for tracking prey
•
SWIM - increases your ability to travel across water, helpful for reaching islands or sunken mysteries
•
INNER EYE - increases intelligence, helpful in raising your tribe's Cultural Level
•
FERTILITY - increases rate of population growth, helpful for providing additional tribe members in case their leader falls, and for raising Cultural Level
Whichever tattoo you bear provides power to all members of your tribe, and will be given to a new leader if your current character dies. You can return to the Tattoo Stones at any time to seek new powers for different situations. To check which Tattoo you currently have, use the Body command under the Info Menu.
The Tail of the Sun
To catch the Tail of the Sun, you will have to build a tower of ivory. Unfortunately, the only material suitable for making such a tower is mammoth tusk, which is usually still attached to mammoths.
Mammoths are big and don't like primates pulling off their body parts, so they'll be your biggest challenge as a hunter. Don't consider going after one of these nasty beasts until you've built up your weaponry and hunting skills - even then you might consider pelting them with a few rocks first from a distance.
Exploring the World
As you begin to explore this savage land, you will quickly find that the countryside is vast. Since the world is round, it is even possible to travel entirely around it and end up where you started.
This map of the world is marked with a few landmarks to give you a general idea of where you are and where you can go. There are many other interesting things to be found in this world, many of which do not serve a purpose, but are fun to discover.
•
1 & 2. Stone Ears
•
3 & 4. Stone Eyes
•
5. Stone Nose
•
6. Stone Mouth
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7 & 8. Stone Hands
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9. Your Village
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10 & 11. Stone Feet
Explore carefully and see if you can discover all of the items listed here - and there are many more out there!
•
Dinosaur Tracks
•
Monkey Skeleton
•
Diamond
•
Body of an Alien
•
Ice Mammoths
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Deserted Village
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Stonehenge
•
Underwater Temple
•
Penguins
•
Cave Painting
Environments
Each area of this huge continent, and the smaller surrounding islands, features a variety of different climates, items, and wildlife. There's a lot of ground to cover, and many unusual things to find.
Prairies
Your tribe's village is located here. A generally flat area with plentiful food and forests filled with small wildlife. Test your hunting skills here before moving on to more dangerous spots.
Deserts
Stock up on calories before you enter, because food items are rare. Use oases as reference points so you don't get lost.
Arctic
These frozen tundras are cold and barren - mostly snow and rocks.
Mountains
Found throughout the continent, these peaks require you to run up them, not walk. You won't find much food at the higher altitudes, but if you search carefully around mountain bases, you may locate hidden caves.
Rivers & Oceans
You'll need to cross water to reach the islands, but boats haven't been invented yet. Walk, jump, or swim to get where you need, but don't stay under for long or you'll drown.
Run or jump to cover underwater areas quickly, and leap to the surface periodically for air. Even at the bottom of the sea you'll find food, creatures, and mysteries.
How to Play
Setting Up
Set up your PlayStation™ game console according to its Instruction Manual. Make sure the power is OFF before inserting or removing a compact disc.
•
Insert the TAIL OF THE SUN disc and close the CD door.
•
Insert a game controller and turn ON the PlayStation game console.
Your Adventure Begins
Title Screen
•
START GAME
•
OPTIONS
•
Adam&Eve
•
0000:00:00-E
New Game Select Screen
To begin a new game, select START GAME at the Title Screen. Select the center character to begin a NEW game.
If you have saved previous unfinished games, these can be continued by pressing the Directional Buttons to select the title. Press the X Button to continue.
Enter Name
When beginning a new game, use the Name Entry Screen to alter the default name for your character if you choose. You also have the option to change your character's name when loading a saved game.
•
Move the cursor to different letters with the Directional Buttons.
•
Press X to enter letters or O to delete letters.
•
Select END at the bottom of the screen to continue.
Name Entry Options
•
Steven
•
ABCDE FGHIJKLMNO PQRST UVWXYZ...
•
abcdefghijklmno pqrstuvwxyz.?
•
0123456789+-×÷=
•
!@#$ %& *()_"':;, . /\~`|{}[]<>^
•
100%&50 ◇ロム〒
Sound Mode Select
Before beginning, select STEREO or MONO sound for music and sound effects. Press the X Button to select.
Choose Tribesman
Your village begins with only three members in the tribe - each with the same abilities.
•
Press the Left or Right Directional Buttons to scroll through the members of your tribe.
•
Press the X Button to select the bravest hunter.
As the population of your village grows, you will see additional members to choose from. If the tribe member you are controlling dies, this screen will appear again until you've used up your entire tribe. Be careful with your tribe, or the human race could become extinct!
Options Screen
At the Title Screen, select OPTIONS to change gameplay options.
Button Configuration
To change the button functions, highlight the button you wish to change, then press the X Button. A menu with the four button functions will appear.
•
Select the function you wish to assign to the selected button.
•
Press the X Button.
Button Functions
•
ATTACK / EAT / THROW
•
JUMP
•
TAKE / EAT / THROW
•
RUN
Game Level
To change difficulty level, select Game Level in the Options Screen and press the X Button. Choose between Easy, Normal, and Hard settings and press the X Button.
Game Level Options
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EASY
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NORMAL
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HARD
Default
To return the button configurations and game level to the default settings, select Default and press the X Button.
In-Game Menus
Pressing the Select Button while playing brings up the In-Game Menu.
•
Press Up or Down on the Directional Buttons to highlight an option.
•
Press the X Button to select.
Save
Brings up the Save Screen, and checks both Memory Card slots. If there is insufficient space on a card, or no card present, you'll hear about it.
If there are 2 blocks free on a memory card, you can save your game progress.
•
Press the Up or Down Directional Buttons to select the spot you want to save to.
•
Press the X Button to save your game using the name of your current character.
Each memory card can hold 2 saved games. If you have a previously saved game, it will be listed on the Save Screen and can be overwritten with your current position.
Load
Brings up the Load Screen, which shows any saved games on either Memory Card.
•
Highlight the game you want to load.
•
Press the X Button.
In-Game Menu Options
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SAVE
•
LO
•
BODY
•
IN
•
HISTORY
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RES
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TOWER
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QU
•
ABOUT
•
INFO
Info Menu
Selecting INFO brings up another menu, the Info Menu, from which you can see additional helpful information.
Body Status Screen
The Body Status Screen shows the current evolution of your character, which happens to be the same for your entire tribe. Various portions of your character's body are shown in color, indicating how developed those aspects of your tribe currently are.
Body Status Attributes
•
BRAIN: intelligence level, if increased, your tribe's cultural level goes up more quickly
•
SWIM: lung capacity, greater ability to travel through water
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HAND: arm strength, increased effectiveness when fighting
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PROPAGATE: reproductive ability, the more food you eat, the more your tribe's population increases
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JUMP: leaping height, the stronger your legs, the higher and further you can jump
•
RUN: running speed, greater ability to catch or avoid animals
•
CURRENT TATTOO: shows which Power Tattoo your character currently bears.
History
Shows the tribe's record of all your successful hunting expeditions. As you become a more prolific hunter, your history will grow beyond a single screen.
•
Use the Left and Right Directional Buttons to scroll across the entire cave wall.
Tower
Shows the progress you have made building your mammoth tusk
Controls
L1, R1, L2, R2 BUTTONS
Look around
DIRECTIONAL BUTTONS
Walk upright in all directions
A BUTTON
Take, Eat, Throw
O BUTTON
Attack, Eat, Throw, Wake up
X BUTTON
Jump
SELECT BUTTON
Enter Options Menus
START BUTTON
Pause/Unpause Game
BUTTON
Run
Items & Weapons
Throwing items
Items like apples, cabbages, acorns, rocks, branches, and trees can be picked up and thrown at enemies. Magical golden rocks will down any opponent with a single blow.
Weapons & Tools
Initially, your character fights with bare hands. As your tribe's cultural level increases, new weapons will be developed and automatically equipped.
Mammoth Tusks
Prized ivory tusks from mammoths can be returned to your tribe to add to your tower, or used as powerful throwing weapons.
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