Tempo Jr.

From Sega Retro

n/a

TempoJr Title.png

Tempo Jr.
System(s): Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Brand: Sega Club (US)
Genre: Action[1][2][3]

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Game Gear
JP
¥3,8003,800 G-3369
Sega Rating: All Ages
Sega Game Gear
US
2563
ESRB: Kids to Adults
Sega Game Gear
EU
2562-50
ELSPA: 3+ OK
Sega Game Gear
UK
2562-50
ELSPA: 3+ OK

Tempo Jr. (テンポ Jr.) is a 1995 Sega Game Gear sequel to Tempo. It is the only game in the series to be released in Europe. It was released under the Sega Club brand in North America.

Story

The Major Minor Show

The Major Minor Show is a big concert and music festival, hosted by Major Minor. It features a dance contest where Tempo and his friend Katy are set to compete. However, Katy has been kidnapped by the evil Zenza, who is holding her hostage to prevent the pair from competing. Tempo must free Katy in time for the show.

Gameplay

The game is, like its predecessor, a basic platformer about the musically themed adventures of the anthropomorphic grasshopper Tempo. The game is greatly simplified from its forebear because it was targeted towards young children.

Tempo can move around with Left and Right and look up and down with Up and Down. Down also ducks. He jumps with 2 and can hover with his wings by holding 2 while in midair. He gradually loses altitude while hovering. Tempo attacks with 1, snapping music notes that stun enemies or kicking them at close range. He also automatically kicks enemies by walking into them if they have already been stunned by music notes. Tempo can run with LeftLeft or RightRight. While running, he can perform a somersault with 1 that defeats any enemies it hits.

Tempo has a strength gauge that starts with four bars. Each time he takes damage by touching an enemy or a stage hazard, he loses a bar of strength. However, he can replenish his strength by collecting Musical Notes, which drop from defeated enemies, or CDs, which are found throughout the stages. Tempo's strength gauge can have as many as 16 bars. When at full strength, the gauge starts flashing, denoting that Tempo can perform his special Dance Attack by pressing 1+2. This move causes Tempo to do a dance routine that turns all nearby enemies into Gold Coins, which act as credits for use in bonus games (and which can also be found in the stages normally). However, the move costs half of Tempo's strength gauge.

There are no obstacles in the game, such as bottomless pits, that instantly cost the player a life. Instead, Tempo bounces off spikes and water traps so that the player can recover. If Tempo loses all of his strength, he loses a life. If he loses all of his lives, the game ends but the player is given a chance to continue. The player can also reveal a password at this point, which can be used to continue the game at a later time.

Items

Tempo Jr, Items.png
Musical Note
Adds a bar to Tempo's strength gauge. Dropped by defeated enemies.
Tempo Jr, Items.png
CD
Adds four bars to Tempo's strength gauge.
Tempo Jr, Items.png
Keynote
Opens the exit. Tempo must find the keynote on each stage to complete it.
Tempo Jr, Items.png
Gold Coin
Gives the player one credit to use for bonus games.
Tempo Jr, Items.png
Flat
Makes Tempo's music notes fly downward.
Tempo Jr, Items.png
Sharp
Makes Tempo's music notes fly upward.
Tempo Jr, Items.png
Zigzag
Makes Tempo's music notes zigzag up and down.
Tempo Jr, Items.png
Tempo
Awards the player an extra life.
Tempo Jr, Flowers.png
Flower
Checkpoint where Tempo is revived after losing a life. When Tempo finds it, the flower is wilted and everything around it is dreary. Tempo's sprite becomes glum as he approaches. If Tempo snaps a musical note onto it, it awakens and activates as a checkpoint.

Stages

The player progresses through four stages (dubbed "performances"). Unlike the first game, the stages progress in a linear fashion instead of being chosen by the player.

Each stage has two parts and a boss fight. To complete each part, Tempo must explore the level for a Keynote, which opens the exit. After completing all four stages, Tempo faces two "Grudge Matches," where two of the previous bosses are randomly chosen to face again, before facing the final boss, Zenza.

Tempo Jr, Stage 1-1.png

Tempo Jr, Stage 1-2.png

Tempo Jr, Stage 1 Boss.png

Inner City Performance

Tempo Jr, Stage 2-1.png

Tempo Jr, Stage 2-2.png

Tempo Jr, Stage 2 Boss.png

Through the Woodwinds Performance

Tempo Jr, Stage 3-1.png

Tempo Jr, Stage 3-2.png

Tempo Jr, Stage 3 Boss.png

Winter Wonderland Performance

Tempo Jr, Stage 4-1.png

Tempo Jr, Stage 4-2.png

Tempo Jr, Stage 4 Boss.png

Night Lights Performance

Tempo Jr, Final Boss.png

Final Showdown Performance

Bonus Games

Bonus games are played after boss fights if the player has credits from collecting Gold Coins. Each turn costs one credit. They allow the player to play minigames for points and extra lives. They can be skipped by pressing  START  at any point and choosing not to continue.

Tempo Jr, Bonus Stage, Sound Trace.png

Sound Trace
A simple memory game where Major Minor plays a series of notes (starting with one but becoming one note longer with each round) and the player is tasked with playing them back correctly. Select a note with the D-pad and 1 or 2.

Tempo Jr, Bonus Stage, Hit & Hit.png

Hit & Hit
A timing challenge. Press 1 to stop the lights at a goal. The power gauge then cycles, and the player must press 2 at the right point to hit the hammer hard enough to reach the goal. If Tempo hits the hammer too hard or not hard enough, he misses the goal and receives nothing.

Versions

Localised names

Also known as
Language Localised Name English Translation
English Tempo Jr. Tempo Jr.
English (US) Tempo Jr. Tempo Jr.
Japanese テンポ Jr. Tempo Jr.

Development

A Sega Master System version game was planned, but eventually cancelled.

Production credits

Source:
In-game credits
Tempo Jr GG credits.pdf
[5]

Source:
US manual
Tempo Jr. GG US Manual.pdf
[6]

Source:
Uncredited


Magazine articles

Main article: Tempo Jr./Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Hobby Consolas (ES) #46: "Julio 1995" (1995-xx-xx)
Logo-pdf.svg

Artwork

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
83
[7]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
45
[8]
Game Informer (US) NTSC-U
28
[9]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
69
[10]
Mega Fun (DE)
60
[11]
Mega Play (US) NTSC-U
86
[12]
Player One (FR)
88
[13]
Play Time (DE)
59
[14]
Todo Sega (ES)
69
[15]
Top Consoles (FR)
55
[16]
VideoGames (US)
70
[17]
Sega Game Gear
65
Based on
11 reviews

Tempo Jr.

Game Gear, JP
TempoJr GG JP Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngTempoJr GG JP Box Front.jpg
Cover
TempoJr GG JP Cart Back.jpgTempoJr GG JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Game Gear, US
TempoJr GG US Box Back.jpgNospine.pngTempoJr GG US Box Front.jpg
Cover
TempoJr GG US Cart.jpg
Cart
Tempo Jr. GG US Manual.pdf
Manual
Game Gear, EU
TempoJr GG EU Box Back.jpgTempo Jr GG EU BoxSpine.jpgTempoJr GG EU Box Front.jpg
Cover
TempoJr GG EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Tempo Jr GG EU Manual.jpg
Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 de466796
MD5 d5d52e216698b34a3dbe95d5990c52c8
SHA-1 a2d800d2836a03f81dd8f3dda23cd2d8bfff18a5
512kB Cartridge
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 a33b5b92
MD5 c3dd941b63d62cc15e18530ed6b9bdeb
SHA-1 d909b2b153e500c506a5cee3439d3c514c58600b
512kB 1994-11-28 CD-R disc[18] Page
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 3475d48e
MD5 6b77ba7ff746ad45f77bfa14abf8d97c
SHA-1 c86b63d669464cba8bf167c33cfa8dc5bf1625b4
512kB 1994-12-05 CD-R disc[19] Page
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 fb9a5885
MD5 5ec3c24a33add41adf3909c3a0f16145
SHA-1 6112068a8b6ad0e34afc2d576c2ef7e95af32c6d
512kB 1994-12-12 CD-R disc[20] Page
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 e484e41c
MD5 9493d4617a7ae96b8c95e18f9a2cc863
SHA-1 9fb56c4cb39f48bdfb6a16a7af40b85888d81b3b
512kB 1994-12-26 CD-R disc[21] Page
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 ab6dc88c
MD5 4a8bc6281bf4f66dd76150142c976fde
SHA-1 987bbf9f394a3aa7e79a95b847b093e45d532296
512kB 1995-01-17 CD-R disc[22] Page
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 96d64b16
MD5 99bd890ad3cc1539019c1cd8a75da1d1
SHA-1 01a81e62f04759993d1fb865aa5f7feb086e15ec
512kB 1995-01-20 CD-R disc[23] Page
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 7afedf36
MD5 12ad4b3c6759cc6dabde4998caaf3b90
SHA-1 75a0914f97622c3f148b7874a8b8ce564a150eae
512kB 1995-01-31 CD-R disc[24] Page
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 3ef6551c
MD5 2f080114c5a110b02d1079399241ef44
SHA-1 f3a25425c939a3190c15a1c35a86cde116dcc5ea
512kB 1995-02-06 CD-R disc[25] Page
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 79e83d67
MD5 9a1e8fb53ef4fcf05d4fb5bb9a5d0204
SHA-1 bb2cfeb11e0319021a83a63556bd5e4f98e3d217
512kB 1995-02-15 CD-R disc[26] Page

References


Tempo Jr.

TempoJr Title.png

Main page | Maps | Hidden content | Magazine articles | Reception


Sega Game Gear
Prototypes: 1994-11-28 | 12-05 | 12-12 | 12-26 | 1995-01-17 | 01-20 | 01-31 | 02-06 | 02-15



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