Tempo

From Sega Retro

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Tempo Title.png

Tempo
System(s): Sega 32X
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Action

















Release Date RRP Code
Sega 32X
JP
¥7,8007,800 GM-4009
Sega 32X
US
$69.9969.99[1] 84504
Sega 32X
BR
152070

Tempo (テンポ) is a 1995 action platforming game developed for the Sega 32X by Sega and Red Entertainment Corporation. It was the first game in Red's Tempo series, and was followed by Tempo Jr. and Super Tempo.

In the game, you control a grasshopper named Tempo, who uses the power of music to rid the world of Rythmia from the minions of the music-hating King Dirge Sound on the television show The Major Minor Show. You defeat enemies by either jumping on them, falling on them, or kicking on them, and you can stun them by shooting music notes at them. When in midair, you can glide slowly downward, destroying any enemy that touches your feet. If you find a special DANCE panel, you can summon your butterfly friend Katy to assist in killing enemies and opening up secret paths.

Gameplay

The game plays like a straight platformer. A causes Tempo to kick, B causes Tempo to jump, and C causes Tempo to shoot musical notes from his hands. While in midair, holding B will cause Tempo to slowly float downward using his wings. Enemies are mainly killed by hitting them with your feet; kicking an enemy gives you +100 points each time, while jumping on them gives you +10. Shooting music notes will stun enemies (but won't affect the score you get when you destroy them). Two powerups available in the level will cause Tempo to shoot two notes at a time or eight notes in a circle each time; the powerups will fall from Tempo to nearby ground whenever he is hit.

Finding a panel that says "DANCE" on it will cause Katy to appear. Katy will automatically kill enemies if Tempo stuns them with a note. If you find a panel that says "KATY" while Katy is following you, Katy will destroy a nearby obstacle, opening up a secret path. The "DANCE" panel will also kill every enemy on screen at the time.

Health is measured by a health bar at the top left corner of the screen. You lose a certain amount of health with each hit, depending on the enemy or obstacle you hit. Once your health reaches a dangerously low point, Katy will flee. You can regain health by collection music notes scattered around the level. Green, red, and orange notes will refill a certain amount of health; the amount decreases with each respective color. A large yellow music note will refill your health once. Some platforms, such as the electric drums in Hi Fi Performance, will give you music notes of decreasing heath value each time they are jumped on.

In each level there is a set of diamonds blocking an alternate path that will electrocute you when touched. A nearby flower encased in ice will cause the diamonds to turn into music notes when touched.

In each level there is a series of trophy-like platforms similar to the one shown when Tempo starts the level; standing on these will warp you to a different part of the level. These platforms usually come in pairs, so standing on one will always take you to the other.

Levels

The game's stages are divided into three different levels; hitting up and down on the stage select screen allow you to choose the level to choose the stage to play from, though you must beat all the stages on one level to be able to go to the next.

  • Ground Level
    • Indigestion Performance: Fight your way through the mouth and into the belly of a large monster to fight a boxing glove in a boxing ring.
    • Hi Fi Performance: A digital maze of conveyor belts, electric drum pads, electroshock televisions, and dancing bug monsters in the background frame this gimmick-filled area, ending with a fight with a pair of headphones.
    • Downtown Performance: An urban city filled with basketball-playing enemies, skyscrapers that rise and fall, and lots of city-related gimmicks leading to a fight with a giant shoe.
  • Second Level
    • Circus Performance
    • Jungle Performance
  • Top Level
    • Winter Performance
    • Final Performance

Production credits

In-game credits

Designer: Keisuke Abe
Character Animation Design: Keita Komiyama
Producers: Hiroshi Aso, Yukihiko Hojo (RED), Mike Larsen
Assistant Game Designer: Ryoma Kaneko (RED)
Assistant Producer: Bill Person
Lead Programmer: Tsukasa Aoki
Player Programmer: Yuzo Iwai
Enemy Programmer: Naohiro Hirao
32X Programmer: Masanaga Uekusa
Miscellaneous Utilities: Tomonobu Takahashi
Object Graphics: Hiroyuki Hirama
32X Graphics: Masahiro Kumono
Background Graphics: Yuta Ihara, Mototaka Nakatsu
Graphics Assistant: Akira Soejima, Yasuhumi Yamaguchi
Assistant Map Designer: Hito Ii (RED), G. Chatani (RED)
Product Manager: Ami Matsumura-Blaire
Lead Testers: Norihito Sekine, Jeff Junio
Assistant Lead Testers: Lorne Asuncion, Don Carmichael, Mike Herauf
Music: Chamy
Composer: Hiroyuki Hamada
Sound Effects: Masaru Setsumaru
Sound Programmers: Atsumu Miyazawa, Akio Setsumasa
Vocals: Dawn Marie Moore, Jerick De Perio, Bob Timbello (RED)
Choreography: Hiro Kurosu
Choreography (Dance Assistant): Yukiko Tsukamoto
Supervisors: Takashi Shoji, Takeshi Niimura, Ryoichi Hasegawa
Presented by: Sega 1995, Red 1995

US manual credits

Assistant Lead Tester: Lance Nelson
Testers: Arnold Feener, Ly Ly, Joe Cain, Jeff Hedges, Dana Green, John Amirkhan, Janine Cook, Kerry Kirkham, Phil Co, Peter Clark, Richie Hideshima, Maria Tuzzo, Sean McInnes, Rachael Bristol, Christine Watson, Sean Doidge, Len Jung, Crisi Albertson, Erik Larsen, Robert Buckingham, Amber-Leigh Junier, Sam Saliba, Noah Mackenzie, Atom Ellis, Howard Gipson, Steve Bourdet, Jeff Loney, Ed Riel, Nicole Tatum, Chris Lucich, Tony Lynch, Lloyd Kinoshita, Dan Webber, Steve Rapp, Chris Charles, Charles Artoux, Eric Simonich, and Todd Morgan
Manual: Wendy Dinsmore

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega 32X
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
Cartridge
Sega 32X
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
1995-02-07 Page
Sega 32X
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
1995-02-06 Page
Sega 32X
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
1995-02-06 Page
Sega 32X
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
1995-02-04 Page
Sega 32X
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
1995-01-26 Page
Sega 32X
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
1995-01-24 Page
Sega 32X
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
1995-01-21 Page
Sega 32X
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
1995-12-29 Page

Artwork

Magazine articles

Main article: Tempo/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
60
Sega 32X
60
Based on
1 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
50
[2]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
42
[3]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
75
[4]
GameFan (US) NTSC-U
82
[5]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
47
[6]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
85
[1]
MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-U
60
[7]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
69
[8]
Next Generation (US) NTSC-U
25
[9]
Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J
71
[10]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
58
[11]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
72
[12]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
74
[13]
Video Games (DE) NTSC-U
64
[14]
VideoGames (US) NTSC-U
70
[15]
VideoGames (US) NTSC-U
80
[16]
Sega 32X
64
Based on
16 reviews

Tempo

32X, US
Tempo 32X US Box Back.jpgTempo 32x us cover.jpg
Cover
Tempo 32x us cart.jpg
Cart
Tempo 32x us manual.pdf
Manual
32X, JP
Tempo 32X JP Box Back.jpgTEMPO MD JP BoxSpine.jpgTempo 32x jp cover.jpg
Cover
TEMPO MD JP CartTop.jpg
Tempo 32X JP Cart Back.jpgTempo 32x jp cart.jpg
Cart
Tempo 32x jp manual.pdf
Manual
32X, BR
Tempo 32X BR Box.jpg
Cover
Tempo 32X BR Cart.jpg
Cart

References



Tempo series of games
Tempo (1995) | Tempo Jr. (1995) | Super Tempo (1998)