Pandemonium! (Sep 8, 1996 prototype)

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 cannot 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.)
**Fargus: "A great place for my purple chaps!"; "That's what put Aunt May"; "Onwards! In the name of all that's good and decent and chicken-ey!"
**Nikki: "Psycho hopscotch!", "Ye-ess!", "I used to be a bird, myself"
*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==
File:PSX - Pandemonium-0001.png|Seen after the title-card screen, and before each level
File:PSX - Pandemonium-0002.png|The start of the map-screen. You return here after completing each level
File:PAN01 8SEP1996.png|Example of how levels look on the map; some are just a blank tile
File:PSX - Pandemonium-0003.png|Most of the earlier levels are near-final in their texturing
File:PSX - Pandemonium-0004.png|You are invulnerable in this beta
File:PAN02 8SEP1996.png|Press START on the MAP for this screen -- you can save in this beta!
File:PAN03 8SEP1996.png|The "SAVE GAME" screen! (No saving at-all in the final game)
File:PAN04 8SEP1996.png|Both characters talk, but the "VOICE" slider here cannot be adjusted
File:PAN05 8SEP1996.png|Fargus finally has his spin-attack!
File:PAN06 8SEP1996.png|Large hearts now restore a hit-point; small hearts are all removed
File:PAN07 8SEP1996.png|The grey-icon is the "coin-doubler", represented by "x2" in the final game. While its power is active, nothing is shown on-screen
File:PAN08 8SEP1996.png|The gold-ankhs are finally here, replacing the "green clubs" from the previous betas that served no-purpose
File:PAN09 8SEP1996.png|The gold-star that used to be here is now replaced by one of the powerup's icons
File:PAN10 8SEP1996.png|At the end of each level, you'll now see this screen. Get enough coins and you can choose which bonus level you play!
File:PAN11 8SEP1996.png|The odd "walking-legs-and-torso" enemy in this level has been replaced
File:PAN12 8SEP1996.png|The gold-key sprite now matches the final
File:PAN13 8SEP1996.png|No grey or red button on the floor here now
File:PAN14 8SEP1996.png|The floating mushroom-head in this acid-pool now moves when you step on it
File:PAN15 8SEP1996.png|This heart-in-box pickup does nothing in this beta; in the final, it is a rare collectible that awards an extra hit-point
File:PAN16 8SEP1996.png|Having two powerup pickups so-close is a leftover from the first beta, where each gold-star would award you three shots...
File:PAN17 8SEP1996.png|...but in this beta and the final, this is pointless as you cannot stack powerups, and lose your current one the moment you take a hit
==Origin==
File:PSX - Pandemonium.jpeg|Disc front.
==Files==
==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)