Tempo Jr.

n/a

Tempo Jr.
System(s): Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Sega
Developer: SIMS
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1995-04-28 ¥3,8003,800 G-3369 US 1995-04 2563 EU 1995 2562-50

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 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

Tempo, Jr. is, like its predecessor, a basic platform game 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 and and look up and down with and . also ducks. He jumps with and can hover with his wings by holding while in midair. He gradually loses altitude while hovering. Tempo attacks with , snapping music notes that stun enemies or by 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 or . While running, he can perform a somersault with 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 +. 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 stages (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.

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.

	Inner City Performance
	Through the Woodwinds Performance
	Winter Wonderland Performance
	Night Lights Performance
	Final Showdown Performance

Bonus Stages

Bonus stages 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.

	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 or .
	Hit & Hit
	A timing challenge. Press to stop the lights at a goal. The power gauge then cycles, and the player must press 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.

Items

	Musical Note
	Adds a bar to Tempo's strength gauge. Appears whenever Tempo defeats an enemy.
	CD
	Adds four bars to Tempo's strength gauge.
	Keynote
	Opens the exit. Tempo must find the keynote on each stage to complete it.
	Gold Coin
	Gives the player one credit to use for bonus stages.
	Flat
	Makes Tempo's music notes fly downward.
	Sharp
	Makes Tempo's music notes fly upward.
	Zigzag
	Makes Tempo's music notes zigzag up and down.
	Tempo
	Awards the player an extra life.
	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.

Production credits

• Producer: Motoshige Hokoyama, Mike Larsen
• Director: Hideki Katagiri
• Planner: Masakazu Sato
• Programmer: Hirohiko Yoneda
• Chief Designer: Hiroki Maeda
• Designer: Hiroko Kato, Masakazu Sato
• Sound Programmer: Keisuke Nishino
• Special Thanks to...: Masaru Setsumaru, Manabu Morinaga, Ryoichi Hasegawa, Yoko Yamamoto, Nobuo Matsushima, Bill Person, T's Music Co., Red Company
• Presented by: Sega

Source:

In-game credits

• Producer: Mike Larsen
• Asst. Producer: Bill Person
• Product Manager: Chrissie Huneke Kremer
• Test Leads: Fernando Valderrama, Al Dutton, Kevin Johnson, Jennifer Vernon
• Testers: Tim Spengler, Peter Clark, Robert Owen, Mark Busalacchi, Chris Charles, Dana Green, Charles Artoux, Jeffery Kessler, Scott Morrison, Howard Gibson, Nathan Clark, Mike Herauf
• Manual: Wendy Dinsmore

Source:

US manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Tempo Jr./Magazine articles.

Promotional material

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

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U 83 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 45 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 28 Mega Force (FR) PAL 69 Mega Fun (DE) 60 Mega Play (US) NTSC-U 86 Player One (FR) 88 Play Time (DE) 59 Todo Sega (ES) 69 Top Consoles (FR) 55 VideoGames (US) 70

	65
Based on 11 reviews

Tempo Jr.

Game Gear, JP
Cover
Cart

Game Gear, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

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