Pandemonium! (Sep 8, 1996 prototype)

Pandemonium! (Sep 8, 1996 prototype)
Build date Sep 8, 1996 17:41:56 Build name N/A Dump status Released, redump needed Released by Hidden Palace File release date April 17, 2021 Origin CD-R Lot Project Deluge Labels Pandemonium 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

• Plextor drive dumped the disc in scrambled mode. Converted to RAW in ISOBuster
• Compiled a little over 3 weeks before the US retail version
• Title logo after the opening FMV, followed by a loading screen, both not seen in the retail
• Doesn't go to the title screen, instead goes straight into the level select (different, simpler), with some counters overlaying the screen
• Status bar/display is noticeably different
• Music continues to play during the loading screen
• Infinite health is provided
• 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: Yes

Differences

• Save feature! Whereas the final-game only supports passwords, pressing START while on the MAP screen displays a menu with "Settings", "Save Game", "Load Game" and "New Game"
• Characters can talk! Both Nikki and Fargus can talk in this game -- though each only has three phrases, all of which repeat regularly during each level. Within the Settings screen is an option titled "Voice", though the slider doesn't move, so the voice doesn't seem like it can be disabled. It would seem therefore with just a few-weeks to go this feature was scrapped, and instead Gex3D: Enter the Gecko would be their next-game to feature a speaking-character
• The map-screen works similar to the final, with each level represented by a themed area, though there is only darkness between each area, unlike in the final
• By-default, X is now jump, as in the final, and is also used to enter levels (replacing TRIANGLE from both previous betas)
• You are invulnerable in this beta, and can only die from falling into a bottomless pit. You still lose your current attack power-up each time you take a hit, however
• Coins are present in this game, replacing the red-diamonds from the previous betas
• At the end of each level, the treasure tally screen is now present, showing what percentage of the coins in the level you collected; if you collected the majority of them, you can access one of two bonus levels
• You can pick which bonus-stage to play, if you collect enough coins: "GOTO BONUS 1" and "GOTO BONUS 2" are offered as choices at the end of the level, with Bonus 1 being the run-from-warp stage, and Bonus 2 being the pinball simulator. (In the final game, you cannot choose, and which one you get depends on whether you got 80-89% of the coins, or 90% or more).
• The coin-doubler powerup is now present, though is represented by a grey circular icon, not the gold "X2" in a ring as in the final. While the powerup is active, nothing on-screen indicates this (whereas the text "x2" flashes in the final)
• Fargus has his spin-attack ability, though the sound-effect is different from the final
• The gold-keys now use the same, large sprite as in the final
• All small hearts have been removed; the large hearts replace them, and perform their previous function: restoring one hit-point of health
• The gold ankhs replace the "green clubs" from the previous betas, and award one life for each one collected
• Lives are now a concept in the game, and aside from the aforementioned gold ankhs, collecting 200 value in coins will award one (whereas you require 300 in the final game, and 500 in Pandemonium 2)
• The power-up attacks from the final game are all present (plasma balls; ice; shrink) and so the gold star pickups have been removed
• The red switch in the second-level (near the end; where you can drop-down via a crumbling floor) has been removed
• There are some different mushroom images which do not have their transparency set correctly
• The floating mushroom-head at the end of one level, in a green acid pool, now moves, unlike in the previous beta, allowing that level to be finished
• Some levels feature an icon of a heart inside a gold square; collecting them does nothing. In the final, these represent a hit-point extension
• At this late beta, there is still one stage featuring leftovers from the previous betas: in one of the desert stages, you'll find four of the plasma-powerups within the same area. This is leftover from the earliest beta, when the gold-stars used to award three shots each. However in this beta, and the final-game, you cannot "stack" powerups; collecting multiple of the same-one has no effect, and when you are next hit by an enemy, you always lose your current power-up.

Screenshots

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Origin

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  Disc front.

Files

File	Type	Date	Size	SHA-1
PSX - Pandemonium.img	File	2021-04-03 16:06:35	159.79 MB	617190d67dcc2ec921d3c24bd652b8948530ad3e
PSX - Pandemonium.cue	File	2021-04-03 17:16:39	81 bytes	25e8408cc069c7791301d1f808886c1d38769134
PSX - Pandemonium.ccd	File	2021-04-03 17:35:16	772 bytes	61312aa014fdcdf6b50eace13d83d3f2b9063628
PSX - Pandemonium.sub	File	2020-12-14 04:08:32	6.52 MB	7df141f6ed481830d21ef3abeda47577a1e57cc2
PSX - Pandemonium.jpeg	File	2021-03-14 12:15:01	837 KB	5d35ff8fabe8fc48b4e09b420c9d616297c670b0

Acknowledgments

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

See also

• Project Deluge: PlayStation 1, Saturn, and CD-i (April 17, 2021)
• Cutting Room Floor (TCRF)
• Internet Archive (IA)