Super Tempo Review

You may have noticed in the comment box after the last post, that SJY reader 'gameofyou' alerted us to the fact that he had written a review of this lovely title for the esteemed gamefaqs website. I've taken the liberty of posting this fine review here at the SJY, but you can see it in it's original glory here... I experienced a moment of sadness as I read the line: "This game has the honor of being my final Sega Saturn game purchase..." Although the article was written in 2004, I wonder whether the author had persevered with the Saturn until this time, or simply written the review in retrospect during this year... Perhaps the man himself will enlighten us?
As is customary, to ensure that no one mistakes gameofyou's words for our own output, I'll post the article in our customary scarlet "quote colour". Enjoy!

Review by gameofyou

"It is indeed SUPER..."

Welcome to my first game review. This fantastic game desperately needs a review, so here I am to give it a shot. Super Tempo is a 2D platforming game, with musical themes. Featuring excellent graphics and a nice variety of game-play, Super Tempo is definitely worth checking out. Let's break it down.

Presentation
When the game begins, the player is treated to an intro sequence in which a (quite humorous) song is played, in full English. Waiting at the Start Screen will lead to a second sequence playing out, which provides the premise for the game. Although all text is in Japanese, this game is quite playable by a non-Japanese speaker. Upon starting the game, you will notice that the colors in the game are very bright and vibrant. Some may not care for the "cartoonish" look of the game, but there's no denying that the 2D graphics are gorgeous. The sound effects for the game are very well done. Tapping the d-pad slightly to move the character results in a funny sliding sound. You can tell the developers had fun making this game. The background music is also very catchy and goes perfectly with the action on screen.

Game-play
There are two characters that you alternately control on screen, a male character and a female character. Both characters can jump, and both characters have an attack move. The male character's attack consists of playing a violin which releases (shoots) bubbles at enemies. Once an enemy has been trapped by a bubble, you merely need to jump into the enemy to destroy it. The female character's attack consists of shooting fire. When enemies are destroyed, they leave behind musical notes, which your character collects. When the male character performs a jump, you can slow his descent by holding down the attack button. When the female character performs a jump, holding the attack button will actually allow you to GAIN in altitude. So there may be places which are unreachable by the male character, and you will have to wait until you switch. Switching character's may be done by finding a "phone booth looking" object within any given level. Although the game-play is 2D in nature, there are instances where you travel into the screen. Very similar to the system in Princess Crown, you may enter doors in the background by pressing UP on the d-pad. This is a nice addition to the basic 2D game-play. There is also a nice variety of levels, some of which have you swimming underwater or flying across the screen like a horizontal shooter. Of course there are also end-of-level boss fights, which are very entertaining. Skilled game players may find the game too easy. Since I can't read Japanese, I'm not sure if there is an option to change the difficulty level. It's also a fairly short game. I completed the game in just under 3 hours, but that was taking my time and exploring every area well.

Overall
Well, this can be a pretty difficult game to find. This game has the honor of being my final Sega Saturn game purchase. If you enjoy 2D platformers, and find this game for $50 or less, I would recommend that you pick it up. It is certainly one of the best 2D platformers on the Saturn. Even though there is no save feature (that I know of), no difficulty select (that I know of), and is fairly short in length, I am still giving this game a 10/10 because the good parts more than make up for it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/30/04