Pandemonium! (Jun 5, 1996 prototype)
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| Download Pandemonium! (Jun 5, 1996 prototype) (info) |
| Download Pandemonium! (Jun 5, 1996 prototype) from external mirror |
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
Title card for this beta
The MAP SCREEN. Stand on a square and jump (TRIANGLE) to enter...
...note that levels 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 do not work.
No power-up is offered when toppling this statue, unlike in the final
Press SELECT at any-time during a level...
...to switch character!
Hold R2 to zoom-out (to the maximum shown)...
...or R1 to zoom-in (to the maximum shown)
You run to the left to reach the waterfall-opening, not right, in this beta
Expect many untextured areas
The "cliff-skull" as of this beta
A "green club" collectible, this one seemingly unreachable
The "cliff-skull" has more-variety in tooth-design in this beta
Beta end-of-level effect
Beta walking-enemy
Beta lava
Beta glass-roof
To make the lift come down, stand on the grey button; in the final, it's already down waiting
A trap which fires a triangular bolt when you step on the arrows...
...which is the head of one of the purple enemies
You cannot jump onto this roof...
...however, enter this door...
...then exit back out...
...and then you'll appear atop it!
Another of the beta "green clubs"
The front-view of the beta Invulnerability Shield looks similar...
...but the final doesn't feature this reverse-view
A very untextured area, where the game usually crashes near the end...
...however, jump at the right spot and you can get past it...
...though you cannot finish this level!
You complete this slide-section as the frog, unlike in the final
To get past this point, keep pressing DOWN and RIGHT together to clip-through the stump
Closest view of one of the beta "green club" collectibles
Possibly the only level in this beta that ends with this platform
The (untextured) rolling-logs don't hurt you in the beta, but do push you backwards a lot more
You can ride this hot-air balloon into the trees...
...once it goes behind them, jump and move left or right to return to the previous area
A level-background I don't think is used in the final
A view of the waterfalls in this beta
After you get the key here, go right in the area below to make the wall open...
...and then to avoid the game crashing here, zoom-in fully (R1) before trying to enter the next room
In LEVEL03, you move left, not right, as in the final...
...and you go left (clockwise) in the circular-area, too!
A removed-section from LEVEL03, near the end
In the final, this section was revised to make getting to the doorway easier
If you fall-down here...
...you'll end up on a wooden-bench...
...jump across the suspended platforms...
...for a shortcut to the end of the level area! (Not sure this is still in the final?)
If this door won't open, check you've defeated all enemies in the area leading up to it...
...though moments later, you cannot get-past this point anyway!
Origin
Disc front.
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!