Pandemonium! (Jun 5, 1996 prototype)

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Title Screen
Pandemonium! (Jun 5, 1996 prototype)
Build date Jun 5, 1996 19:37:06
Build name Beta
Dump status Released, redump needed
Released by Hidden Palace
File release date April 17, 2021
Origin CD-R
Lot Project Deluge
Labels Pandemonium very beta
Dump method PLEXTOR DVDR PX-716UF 1.11 03/23/07 15:10 (CloneCD)
Game Pandemonium!
System PlayStation
Genre Platformer
Final build JP Dec 19, 1996
EU Oct 9, 1996
US Oct 2, 1996
Release date JP Feb 28, 1997
EU Oct 9, 1996
US Oct 31, 1996
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A prototype of Pandemonium! for the PlayStation.

Notes

  • Very early, with no startup disclaimers, logos, sequences etc.
  • Opens to a simple title card, then goes straight into the game.
  • Game begins in an interesting level select menu, in the form of a playable "level".
    • Different angle of view, zoomed out
    • Walk over a square and press Triangle to enter a level.
  • No loading screen before levels
  • Different HUD/status display
  • Most levels feature differences in areas, and many untextured areas
  • Different music for the level, also
  • Miscellaneous Notes:
    • Game is emulatable: Yes (as of April 17, 2021).
    • Game contains dongle protection: No.
    • Game contains debugging symbols: N/A
    • Dump was originally scrambled: No

Differences (from final)

  • No map-screen yet, only a rudimentary "flat" level-select "board" is offered, and of the 18 slots, only levels 1-7 and 9-12 work. Level 8 makes the game lock-up; levels 13-18 just return you to the left of the Level 1 square
  • Different controls: TRIANGLE, not X, is used to jump and enter levels; and R1 and R2 can be used to zoom the camera in and out, a mechanic removed in the final
  • Change characters during levels: during a level, press SELECT to switch-character. In the final game, this is only possible on the MAP screen, not during a level (unless the "BODYSWAP" cheat is used, then TRIANGLE is used to switch)
  • Nikki and Fargus lack their final unique abilities: Nikki lacks her double-jump, and Fargus does not have his roll-attack, meaning both characters play exactly the same (and so being able to swap between-them during a level rather pointless!)
  • Rolling-logs do not hurt you, but do send you flying backwards a lot more than in the final

Collectables:

  • Red-diamonds are the main collectable (the final uses coins); most are worth 1, but the large-ones can be worth 5 or 10. As LIVES don't exist in this beta, collecting them appears to do nothing (in the final, every 300 in value awards a new life)
  • Gold-stars each give three-shots of the pink plasma-ball powerup (which is the only powerup in this beta). The shots counter resets to 0 at the start of each level
  • Keys exist, but are much-smaller than in the final, so harder-to-see
  • Small red hearts restore one hit-point each (in the final, the large hearts serve this purpose, and no small hearts appear)
  • Large red hearts add an extra hit-point, up-to a maximum of 8 (7 in the final, and only 5 extra hit-points can be found in the entire game, mostly in secret-areas, and their icon has changed to a small heart in the centre of a gold square)
  • Green "clubs": similar to the "club" or "clover" symbol in a pack of playing-cards, these can be found a handful of times within each stage, though seem to have no purpose; in the final, most of these were replaced by the gold ankhs, though others were replaced with either a high-value coin, or a powerup

Controls

  • TRIANGLE to jump, and to enter levels (stand in the middle of a white square on the "map" screen, then jump). In the final game, X is used. When held-down on a trampoline, or while landing on an enemy, allows a higher jump-off to be performed
  • SQUARE to fire a shot (after a gold-star has been collected; each star grants three shots. Right-most on-screen counter shows shots remaining, which always resets to 0 between levels)
  • D-Pad Left and D-Pad Right to move left or right
  • D-Pad Down to duck. When transformed to the TURTLE, makes you invincible while held-down, required for getting-past some circular-saws
  • R1 to zoom camera in (removed from final game)
  • R2 to zoom camera out (removed from final game)
  • START to pause; press SELECT while paused to return to the MAP
  • SELECT to change between Nikki and Fargus at any-time! (In the final-game, this is only possible via the "BODYSWAP" cheat, where TRIANGLE is then used. Otherwise, you can only change characters while on the MAP, between-levels)

Screenshots

Origin

Files

File Type Date Size SHA-1
PSX - Pandemonium very beta.img File 2020-12-14 04:09:15 43.27 MB 29390253daaac752e7eeea087114242b77fac2f1
PSX - Pandemonium very beta.cue File 2020-12-14 04:08:33 91 bytes 3452a921b0c244c0562aad8ed53685f4db669bef
PSX - Pandemonium very beta.ccd File 2020-12-14 04:08:33 771 bytes ea6bf60d8c4768ed6135cb7514d741a1670b729e
PSX - Pandemonium very beta.sub File 2020-12-14 04:09:19 1.77 MB 07be960e047d8c0643f70dff257f0ac102fe9d81
PSX - Pandemonium very beta.jpeg File 2021-03-14 12:15:02 970.9 KB fcf52c17696c4993b37147bf840a4e3dead07772

Acknowledgments

A huge thanks to Iniche for doing the initial research on this prototype!

See also