Proto:Tempo/1229 Prototype

This is a sub-page of Proto:Tempo.

This prototype has "ROM B 94/12/9 J" near the header, though "ROM 1994/12/21" is stated on the title screen, and the ROM file is dated December 29, 1994. For the sake of consistency, the ROM filename's date will be used.

(Prototype source: Hidden Palace)

General Differences

• Interestingly, the header shows "SEGA MEGA DRIVE (C)SEGA 1994.???TEMPO", meaning that this game was likely intended for a regular Genesis/Mega Drive.
• The SEGA logo animation does not have a sound effect, and can be skipped.
• The player has to press Left or Right to access the controller type and sound monitor sub-menus.
• Only four control schemes instead of six.
• The intro is unfinished, and its song keeps playing even after the intro is done. This means that the player can go to the option menu and exit to re-start the song.
• You cannot escape the password screen.
• The game goes to its demo after only two seconds of inactivity, rather than ten seconds.
• Pressing Start too quickly will freeze the game when it fades to black right before going to the level select scene.
• All the levels are instantly accessible.
• Coins are not required to play the bonus games, but you can still collect them.
• The player gets more points from hitting enemies than the final, making it easier to get extra lives (hitting multiple enemies in a row results in point increases of 200, 300, 400, etc., 1000 instead of 10, 20, 30, etc., 1000).
• Rather than seeing Tempo dance and getting a tally screen, it just says "ROUND CLEAR".
• When going to the next part of a level, the game doesn't check to see if the player is on the ground.
• It shows the score, but in a really bizarre way (see the screenshots below).
• Some sound effects are either different (the dying sound) or missing (one sound when collecting notes for health).
• In order to access different levels on the level selection menu, pressing Down goes up and Up goes down. Pressing Left and Right goes to different parts of each level.
• The music that plays when collecting an LP keeps on playing until the player dies or the player dances.
• Completing a level cuts off the PWM sound until entering a level.
• The bosses don't play their unique music, but their music exists.
• No points are given for collecting note patterns, and the icons representing said patterns don't exist yet.

Debug Mode

A debug mode that was disabled in the final can be activated by pressing different button combinations:

• A + B + C + Right enables some sort of tool for the Genesis-rendered foreground graphics. The interface is very glitched anywhere you summon it, except in the level select screen.
• Pressing A + B + C + Right again enables a free-movement mode, but pressing it four times returns the game to normal.

To do: Is there more to this? Some other aspects of this might also still be in the final version, but disabled.

Aesthetic Differences

• The pause graphic is sometimes layered incorrectly.
• Most of the background objects stop moving when you pause.
• No title cards for each level; instead, a screen with the words "T E M P O ROUND START" appears.
• The "MCTV 64 Live" graphic is not displayed.
• When facing a boss, said boss' health bar is unfinished/glitched.
• Picking up DANCE with Katy already around you doesn't make the foreground's palette change.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Tempo's 1up graphics were redrawn in the final.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Tempo's whistle animation was also redrawn.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

A date is given on the top-left corner of the screen, which is supposed to be the date the prototype was built, but it is inconsistent with the other dates in the ROM. The special background behind the copyright has not been inserted. Also, the "Press Start Button" text uses a standard font in the prototype.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

The buildings do not move in this screen, and transparency is applied incorrectly. The background was also re-drawn and re-colored.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

The palette of the passwords screen(s) is/are screwed up, no matter from where they are viewed. There's a different arrangement of which sounds are played for most actions.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Katy is present, doing her idle animation that was seen in a prototype that was shown in a promotional video, on this screen, but you can't see her without moving down. A little round selection debug box can be seen in the top-left corner. The sprites move way too fast in this prototype compared to the final version. This screen is lacking the cameramen and the crowd, although the crowd is present in the prototype's data (their graphics can be viewed in the VRAM, but they (normally) aren't visible). The sides of the background were slightly recolored and shifted upward. The teleporting stands are also absent. Finally, the camera is moved slightly downward.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Aside from having a "pts." added and slight recoloring to the background when the double score power-up is used, it is identical to the final version.

Some objects tend to glitch up their graphics.

Level Differences

• The Downtown and Indigestive levels have their respective soundtracks swapped in the prototype.
• The Jungle and Circus levels do not have the crowd graphics or intro/outro sequences implemented.
• In the boss stages, instead of Major Minor's head, the giant note is reused. It has the same effect as the head, though.
• The first three bosses come through a door rather than the side of the screen.

Downtown

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

A row of keys at the beginning of the level were removed from the final. Also, as with the sound test screen, the background was re-drawn and re-colored.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Different object placement, along with a solidity issue.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Glasses were later added to Dȧ Boot, matching the artwork in the Japanese manual.

Indigestive

• The polar bear's mouth opens and closes faster. Its teeth do hurt you, but don't take off any health.
• The seagull in the background animates, but does not move around.
• The trumpet enemy attacks you with emeralds instead of gushes of air.
• Losing to the boss and getting a game over screen causes the 32X layer to glitch.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

The entrance has extra platforms on the top to prevent the player from attempting to walk on the polar bear's muzzle. The platforms were re-done to make the entrance look less conspicuous. The "IN" sign was also re-drawn.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

The second part of the level has glitched tiles all around the level and no objects, sans spikes. An invisible ceiling was added to this scene in the final.

• The third part's ceiling does not fall on the player.
• Sometimes, the boss will get stuck because the player is out of bounds.

Hi-Fi

• The backgrounds for Part 1 and Part 2 are swapped.
• Part 2's background is duplicated multiple times.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

There is a note here instead of three enemies.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

In the proto you have three of these boosters going up and on the top, two going down. In the final, there is only one going up.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

This teleporter was moved up in the final, forcing you to go through the electric hazards.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

These wires are colored differently from the final, and neither they nor the computers in the background change colors like they do in the final.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

The platforms in this segment do not work, and the background displays are colored white instead of green.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

These "electric flies" are imprisoned in the final, giving you more time to move around before they attack you.

Circus

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

In the proto, you start on top of this enemy.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

The TV was removed in the final.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Ditto.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

This act reuses the background from the last act instead of the Downtown Act 2 background. Also, when you summon Katy the note in the floor doesn't disappear. The direction sign on the top is moved up a bit in the final.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Different object placement.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Ditto.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Baffo dâ Clown's stage doesn't have working monitors. The background was slightly retouched in the final.

Jungle

• Background objects move a lot faster than in the final.
• Tribal drum platforms bounce you a little to your right instead of straight up.
• The ant-like critters add 200 points to your score, whereas they give none in the final.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

The frog platforms got revamped in the final.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Different object placement.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Ditto. If you break the honeycombs in the proto, you get one bee enemy and one note. The final gives you nothing.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

This section was made easier to reach in the final.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Different object placement.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Some odd object placement.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Some really odd object placement.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

You can actually fall here and not die. You're able to move around a bit under the stage until you die for some reason.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

More different object placement. The act transition isn't mapped correctly; instead, it's mapped...

...here.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Even more different object placement.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

Ditto.

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

The Bee-Bees stage uses the Baffo dâ Clown stage background as a placeholder. This boss only takes one hit to beat.

Winter

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

This act uses a background from the Final Performance instead of its own. The floor was changed a bit.

Instead of not facing a boss at all, you face Dȧ Boot with an empty background. This is likely a placeholder for a boss that was not finished.

Final

December 29, 1994 Prototype	Final

The door graphics are different, and this solidity issue was fixed in the final.

The room layouts are finished, but there are no objects in them. The doors do not open, as well, meaning the player has to keep going right. Tempo can get past the room with water, but it is difficult to do without debug mode on. If Tempo does make it past the water, the player will be sent to a series of rooms to pan out the level, which are likely placeholders, until the player eventually makes it to the final boss. The final boss merely stands in the middle of the room, and doesn't do anything other than deflect direct kicks. Killing the boss sends the player to a screen saying "The End" rather than the ending sequence.

A glitch causes the level music to keep on playing after the "The End" screen. To end the music, go to the Options menu and return to the title screen.

Bonus Stages

• All the bonus stages have temporary descriptions.
• None of the bonus games have any indicator as to when a button should be pressed.
• You can still collect pizza in the pizza minigame even after the player has been caught eating it. However, when the player eats all six pizzas after getting caught, but before the game over screen, the game still ends not longer after that.
• The player can progress through the karate game much more easily than in the final, since the player only has eight rocks and logs to hit.