Tempo

From Sega Retro

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Tempo Title.png

Tempo
System(s): Sega 32X
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Sound driver: SMPS Z80 (modified)
Genre: Action[1][2]

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega 32X
JP
¥7,8007,800 GM-4009
Sega Rating: All Ages
Sega 32X
US
$69.9969.99[3] 84504
ESRB: Kids to Adults
Sega 32X
BR
152070
Tectoy: Todas as Idades

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

Story

In the world of Rhythmia, Dance Master Major Minor is holding a huge music festival. Tempo the grasshopper and his friend Katy are competing in a dance contest on the Major Minor Show for a coveted trophy. But the sinister King Dirge wants the trophy. He and his minions, called Mussi Productions, try to force Tempo and Katy out of the contest.

Gameplay

The game is a platformer. Tempo can move around with Left and Right, can look up and down with Up and Down, and ducks with Down. He jumps with B and can hover with his wings by holding B while in midair, slowly floating downward. Tempo can run with LeftLeft or RightRight. Tempo kicks with A, which knocks out enemies at close range, and snaps music notes with C, a projectile attack that stuns enemies. Kicking can be done with jumping or ducking, and snapping can both be done while jumping. Enemies can also be defeated by jumping on them. Jumping on an enemy awards 10 points, while kicking an enemy awards 100 points.

Finding a DANCE panel causes Tempo to do a dance that defeats all enemies on screen, turning them into Gold Coins for use in bonus games, and summons his friend Katy. Katy follows Tempo around for the rest of the stage and automatically defeats enemies if Tempo stuns them with a note. If the player finds a KATY panel while Katy is following Tempo, Katy does a spin attack that opens up a secret path.

Tempo has a strength gauge in the top left corner of the screen and loses strength when he hits an enemy or an obstacle. Katy flees when Tempo's strength is low. There are items throughout the levels that replenish Tempo's strength. If Tempo loses all his strength, he loses a life. If he loses all of his lives, the game ends but the player can continue or get a password to continue at another time.

Landmarks

Tempo, Landmarks.png
Treble Clef
Bounce off these to send Tempo cartwheeling across the screen. He is invulnerable while spinning.
Tempo, Landmarks.png
Minor Teleporter
Jump on top to teleport to another area.
Tempo, Items.png
Crystal
Hurts Tempo if he touches it. Used to block paths. Find a Flower to melt it.
Tempo, Landmarks.png
Flower
Touch the ice block to defrost it into a flower, which melts any crystals that might be blocking the way, leaving Power Notes in their place.
Tempo, Landmarks.png
End
Marks the end of a level.

Items

Tempo, Items.png
Power Notes
Partially replenishes Tempo's strength gauge. The more groups of notes, the more the item heals. Some notes play a song when collected in sequence instead of replenishing strength. When all of the notes have been collected, the player is awarded bonus points.
Tempo, Items.png
Giant Note
Fully replenishes Tempo's strength gauge and awards bonus points.
Tempo, Items.png
Headphones
Permanently extends Tempo's strength gauge by one segment.
Tempo, Items.png
Cassette Tape
Awards double points for each enemy defeated during its duration of effect.
Tempo, Items.png
CD
Temporarily grants Tempo invulnerability.
Tempo, Items.png
LP
Empowers Tempo with the ability to fly with BBBBB and shoot LPs with C. The effect is broken if Tempo takes damage or when its duration ends.
Tempo, Items.png
Hand Snaps
Enables Tempo to use more hands when using his snap attack with C. He uses one hand normally but can use two, three, or four hands depending on the number on the item collected. Tempo drops this item when he takes damage and goes back to using one hand, but it can be collected again.
Tempo, Items.png
DANCE
Tempo performs a dance that defeats every enemy on screen and recruits his friend Katy to accompany him for the rest of the stage. Dances defeat every enemy and turn them into Gold Coins for use in the bonus games.
Tempo, Items.png
KATY
If Katy is with Tempo, she performs a super spin that opens up special passageways.
Tempo, Items.png
Gold Coin
Collected by defeating enemies with DANCE panels. Used as credits for bonus games. Press  START  to check the current coin count.

Stages

The game's stages are divided between the three floors of the Major Minor Show. Pressing Up or Down on the stage select screen changes the floor. Pressing Left and Right changes the stage and A, B, or C selects it. The first two floors allow the player to choose which stage to play in any order. The player beat all the stages on one floor to go on to the next. Stages cannot be played once completed.

Tempo, Major Minor Show 1.png

First floor
Tempo, Major Minor Show 1.png

Tempo, Major Minor Show 2.png

Second floor
Tempo, Major Minor Show 2.png

Tempo, Major Minor Show 3.png

Third floor
Tempo, Major Minor Show 3.png

Tempo, Major Minor Show 0.png

Bonus game basement
Tempo, Major Minor Show 0.png

First floor

These stages can be played in any order.

Tempo, Downtown Performance 1.png

Tempo, Downtown Performance 2.png

Tempo, Downtown Performance Boss.png

  • Tempo, Downtown Performance 1.png

  • Tempo, Downtown Performance 2.png

  • Tempo, Downtown Performance Boss.png

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.

Tempo, Hi Fi Performance 1.png

Tempo, Hi Fi Performance 2.png

Tempo, Hi Fi Performance 3.png

Tempo, Hi Fi Performance Boss.png

  • Tempo, Hi Fi Performance 1.png

  • Tempo, Hi Fi Performance 2.png

  • Tempo, Hi Fi Performance 3.png

  • Tempo, Hi Fi Performance Boss.png

Hi Fi Performance
A digital maze of conveyor belts, electric drum pads, electroshock televisions, and dancing bug monsters that ends with a fight against a pair of headphones.

Tempo, Indigestion Performance 1.png

Tempo, Indigestion Performance 2.png

Tempo, Indigestion Performance 3.png

Tempo, Indigestion Performance Boss.png

  • Tempo, Indigestion Performance 1.png

  • Tempo, Indigestion Performance 2.png

  • Tempo, Indigestion Performance 3.png

  • Tempo, Indigestion Performance Boss.png

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.

Second floor

Circus Performance and Jungle Performance can be played in either order. Winter Performance is played after they are both completed.

Tempo, Circus Performance 1.png

Tempo, Circus Performance 2.png

Tempo, Circus Performance 3.png

Tempo, Circus Performance Boss.png

  • Tempo, Circus Performance 1.png

  • Tempo, Circus Performance 2.png

  • Tempo, Circus Performance 3.png

  • Tempo, Circus Performance Boss.png

Circus Performance

Tempo, Jungle Performance 1.png

Tempo, Jungle Performance 2.png

Tempo, Jungle Performance Boss.png

  • Tempo, Jungle Performance 1.png

  • Tempo, Jungle Performance 2.png

  • Tempo, Jungle Performance Boss.png

Jungle Performance

Tempo, Winter Performance 1.png

Tempo, Winter Performance 2.png

  • Tempo, Winter Performance 1.png

  • Tempo, Winter Performance 2.png

Winter Performance

Third floor

Tempo, Final Performance 1.png

Tempo, Final Performance 2.png

Tempo, Final Performance 3.png

Tempo, Final Performance Boss.png

  • Tempo, Final Performance 1.png

  • Tempo, Final Performance 2.png

  • Tempo, Final Performance 3.png

  • Tempo, Final Performance Boss.png

Final Performance
The Final Performance consists of three hallways with a number of rooms for finding Katy, augmenting Tempo's strength bar with Headphones, and replenishing his strength before the final boss fight.

Bonus games

Bonus games can be played for extra points in exchange for Gold Coins. They are all simple rhythm games that rely on pressing A, B, or C when cued.

Tempo, Bonus Stage, Tasty Vittle Session.png

Tasty Vittle Session
Tempo, Bonus Stage, Tasty Vittle Session.png

Tempo, Bonus Stage, Goin' Pearlin'.png

Goin' Pearlin'
Tempo, Bonus Stage, Goin' Pearlin'.png

Tempo, Bonus Stage, Just Hackin' Away.png

Just Hackin' Away
Tempo, Bonus Stage, Just Hackin' Away.png

Development

The game was initially developed for the Sega Mega Drive, but like Cosmic Carnage and Chaotix, were converted on short notice so that the 32X could have a larger library of games.[4]

Versions

Localised names

Also known as
Language Localised Name English Translation
English (US) Tempo Tempo
Japanese テンポ Tempo
Portuguese (Brazil) Tempo

Production credits

Source:
In-game credits
Tempo 32X credits.pdf
[5]

Source:
US manual
Tempo 32x us manual.pdf
[6]


Magazine articles

Main article: Tempo/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1995-04: "April 1995" (1995-03-08)
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
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
50
[7]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
42
[8]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
75
[9]
GameFan (US) NTSC-U
82
[10]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
47
[11]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
85
[3]
MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-U
60
[12]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
69
[13]
Next Generation (US) NTSC-U
25
[14]
Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J
71
[15]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
58
[16]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
72
[17]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
74
[18]
Video Games (DE) NTSC-U
64
[19]
VideoGames (US) NTSC-U
70
[20]
VideoGames (US) NTSC-U
80
[21]
Sega 32X
64
Based on
16 reviews

Tempo

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, 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, BR
Tempo 32X BR Box.jpg
Cover
Tempo 32X BR Cart.jpg
Cart

Technical information

Main article: Tempo/Technical information.

External links

  • Sega of America webpage: 32X

References


Tempo

Tempo Title.png

Main page | Maps | Hidden content | Magazine articles | Reception | Region coding | Technical information




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