Tempo

n/a

Tempo
System(s): Sega 32X
Publisher: Sega Enterprises, Ltd. (JP), Sega of America (US)
Developer: Sega CS3, Red Company
Distributor: Tec Toy (BR)
Sound driver: SMPS Z80 (modified)
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1995-03-24 ¥7,8007,800 GM-4009 US 1995 $69.9969.99 84504 BR 1995-05 152070

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 and , can look up and down with and , and ducks with . He jumps with and can hover with his wings by holding while in midair, slowly floating downward. Tempo can run with or . Tempo kicks with , which knocks out enemies at close range, and snaps music notes with , 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

	Treble Clef
	Bounce off these to send Tempo cartwheeling across the screen. He is invulnerable while spinning.
	Minor Teleporter
	Jump on top to teleport to another area.
	Crystal
	Hurts Tempo if he touches it. Used to block paths. Find a Flower to melt it.
	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.
	End
	Marks the end of a level.

Items

	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.
	Giant Note
	Fully replenishes Tempo's strength gauge and awards bonus points.
	Headphones
	Permanently extends Tempo's strength gauge by one segment.
	Cassette Tape
	Awards double points for each enemy defeated during its duration of effect.
	CD
	Temporarily grants Tempo invulnerability.
	LP
	Empowers Tempo with the ability to fly with and shoot LPs with . The effect is broken if Tempo takes damage or when its duration ends.
	Hand Snaps
	Enables Tempo to use more hands when using his snap attack with . 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.
	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.
	KATY
	If Katy is with Tempo, she performs a super spin that opens up special passageways.
	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 or on the stage select screen changes the floor. Pressing and changes the stage and , , or 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.

First floor

Second floor

Third floor

Bonus game basement

First floor

These stages can be played in any order.

	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.
	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.
	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.

	Circus Performance
	Jungle Performance
	Winter Performance

Third floor

	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 , , or when cued.

Tasty Vittle Session

Goin' Pearlin'

Just Hackin' Away

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.

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

• 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

Source:

In-game credits

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• 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

Source:

US manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Tempo/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in (JP) #1995-04: "April 1995" (1995-03-08)

Artwork

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  Logo (US)

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  Cover art (US)

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  Cover art (BR)

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  US prototype cover

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score (RU) 50 (US) NTSC-U 42 (JP) NTSC-J 75 (US) NTSC-U 82 (US) NTSC-U 47 (US) NTSC-U 85 (US) NTSC-U 28 (DE) NTSC-U 60 (FR) PAL 69 (US) NTSC-U 25 (JP) NTSC-J 71 (JP) NTSC-J 58 (JP) NTSC-J 72 (RU) 74 (DE) NTSC-U 64 (US) NTSC-U 70 (US) NTSC-U 80

	62
Based on 17 reviews

Tempo

32X, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

32X, US
Cover
Cart Manual

32X, BR
Cover
Cart File:Tempo-32X-BR-Manual.pdf Manual

Technical information

Main article: Tempo/Technical information.

External links

• Sega of America webpage: 32X