Prerelease:Tatakae! Chou Robot Seimeitai Transformers: Convoy no Nazo

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Tatakae! Chou Robot Seimeitai Transformers: Convoy no Nazo.

Starting at 2:55 in the video on the right, this Transformers promo tape includes an early look into Convoy no Nazo.

General Differences

• The score appears to be continuously increasing at the beginning. The counter also seems to be shifted more to the right than the final.
• The music is completely different and less repetitive. It also plays during the bosses, as the boss theme hasn’t been implemented yet.
• The score font is like those of early Famicom games, rather than using its own (blander) font.
• Ultra Magnus is invincible, very likely to make showcasing the game easier.

Stages

Stage 1: Wasteland Zone

Video	Final

The palette is different, looking more desert-like than the vibrant green landscape of the final version. Most of the grass patches in the video lack a middle portion, and there’s also strange square tiles in the ground that aren’t in the final.

In the Mystery of Convoy manga published in Comic BomBom, the stage is referred to as an “endless desert”, most likely referencing this early color scheme.

Stage 2: Temple Ruins

Video	Final

The stage has a different palette, with blue bricks, red posts, and a black background. Some of the bricks used for the platforms raised on the posts, however, are gray.

Stages 3 and 6: Time Tunnels I & II

Video	Final

The tileset is completely different, being a mishmash of the Stage 2 tiles (from this point in development) and the tiles used for the Devilstar boss arenas (which, strangely enough, have lights, unlike the ones seen in the video's Devilstar arenas, but like the final versions of said arenas). On top of that, the layout is completely different.

Time Tunnel I is the first stage in the video to completely lack enemies. This also applies to Time Tunnel II, being the exact same level but in reverse.

Stage 4: Subspace Zone

Video	Final

While the tileset and layout are generally the same as in the final version, the palette is completely different.

Stage 5: Floating City

Video	Final

The volcanos don't spew out fireballs in the video. Also in the video, the floating platforms that appear during most of the boss fights (named “Pressures”) are present. In the final game, they only appear in boss arenas.

Stage 7: Glacier Zone

Video	Final

Being a reskin of Stage 1 (with the addition ice physics), it has the same differences, besides the palette for this stage having been (mostly) finalized at this point (note the blue planet, which is gray in the final).

No enemies are present in this stage in the video, though during this section, artwork for the Snow Commander enemy is shown, despite it not being present (nor the other enemy unique to this stage, Azak (the orange enemy that pops up from the ground)).

Stages 8 and 10: Time Tunnels III & IV

Video	Final

While the tileset and layout are the generally the same as in the final version, the palette is somewhat different, with some tiles being yellow, and the gears(?) having eight prongs instead of four, and thus, they lack animation.

As with the first two Time Tunnels, these Time Tunnels completely lack enemies in the video.

Stage 9: Underground Machine City

Video	Final

The ceiling is completely grey in the video, despite blue versions of some of the tiles used for the ceiling being present.

Once again, the stage lacks enemies; as such, it would’ve been impossible to grab the secret Dakko-chan (Takara’s former mascot) pickup for 5000 points, though even then, it was likely not programmed at this point.

Bosses

Bosses 1 and 2: Devilstar/Mecha Planet

Video	Final

The grey platforms are missing lights in the video, and there's no bottomless pits. The Kabusu enemies are also upside down and have the orange palette.

Bosses 3, 6, and 8: Decepticon/Destron Mark

Video	Final

All the fights with the Decepticon/Destron Mark (the giant, sentient Decepticon insignia fought at the end of the first three Time Tunnels) have the same purple color, where all of them have different colors (purple, red, and blue) in the final. The bottom half of the Destron Mark is also wider in the video, making its appearance more accurate to the actual Decepticon insignia. It’s also the only boss that has a flashing weak spot in the final game to actually have such at this point.

On top of that, there are 4 Pressures instead of 3. Despite the removal of one of the Pressures, however, the second middle one was not moved to compensate, leaving a big gap between the first and second Pressures in the final.

Boss 4: Nemesis/Destron Boat

Video	Final

Though the fight is the same, like the Decepticon logos, there are 4 Pressures in the video instead of 3. The Nemesis' weak spot is also absent.

Bosses 5, 7, 9, and 10: Menasor, Bruticus, Megatron, and Trypticon/Dinosaurer

Video	Final

Video	Final

Video	Final

Video	Final

All four of the battles with actual Decepticons are unfinished. While their AI is implemented, they don’t shoot projectiles at all. Plus, there are no Pressures to stand on in the video, and thus, Ultra Magnus stands on air.

Menasor has a somewhat different head, and Trypticon is blue instead of gray. The weak spots of all four bosses also don't flash.

Other Changes

• The Burcane Ball enemies behaved differently, travelling in "trains" of four along the same wavy course, but also drop projectiles underneath them to discourage you from just running under them.
• The Laggar enemies are called “Tabara” (タバラ). The art shown, however, doesn’t match their appearance, being a crab-like robot, and the Tabara was definitely meant to be a completely different enemy. A sprite for the crab-like Tabara does exist in the final game’s data.

Oddities

• The video states that Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Ramjet, Thrust, Ravage/Jaguar, and Frenzy appear in the game. In reality, they’re completely absent from the game, though for the Seekers, they could be part of the legions of Jetron enemies seen throughout the game. As for the Mini-Cassettes/Cassettrons, the only one that actually appears in the final game is Laserbeak/Condor, exclusive to Stage 5. There’s also an unused red and orange recolor of him in the data, possibly Buzzsaw. Ravage/Jaguar and Frenzy completely lack graphics in the data, meaning that they were never even implemented at all.