Pengo 1-4-84


 

This is an playable, but early version of Pengo.  While the title screen is much fancier, there are several bugs and missing features in this version such as the two player mode and level select.  Pengo also has different looking graphics which would carry over into the next prototype.   The Sno-bees are much faster in this version which makes it quite a bit more difficult to play.  It's unknown why the nicer title screen was removed, but most likely the programmer needed to free up room for bug fixes.

 

Prototype Differences
The title is in an "arcade-style"

Copyright date is 1983

The copyright text is in a different font
When starting a game, sometimes the Sno-bees graphics are glitched, Pengo can't move, and one of the Sno-bees will constantly move across the screen.  This is because the initialization code misses a CLD command which clears the decimal flag.  So all addition and subtraction operations are assuming BCD numbers (Binary Coded Decimal) and that leads to wrong results.
The graphics for Pengo are different, especially his face which appears to be nothing more than a beak!
The game is one player only, despite this the screen still says 'Player 1 Next'
You cannot select your starting round
The screen showing the number of players and the starting round is missing
Pengo’s death animation is different
Pengo is stationary on the title and bonus screens
You start with 5 lives
The right difficulty switch controls music instead of the left - A=ON, B=OFF
Pengo is slower
Sno-bees are faster
All levels consist of only blue ice blocks
Sno-bees can get hung up on the top and right borders, which freezes all other Sno-bees
The level layouts are different
There are only four different ice patterns, after which they start repeating
Some sounds are missing such as breaking an ice block and squishing a Sno-bee
The background music doesn't mute when other tunes/sounds are played
The sound of pushing the ice block is higher pitched
The sound for pushing the sides of the screen is different
The music for pushing the three diamond blocks together is slower
Pushing an ice block at the start of the game will cut off the opening tune
The score counter shows six digits all the time, even if they're zero's.
The level counter always shows two digits with a leading 0

 

 

Nice title screen!

 

These Sno-bees are FAST!

 

Notice how the level layout is different

 

Pengo doesn't do his little dance anymore

 

Bye-bye!

 

Don't cry Pengo,  you've got five more lives!

 

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