January 12, 2007 Build

This is a sub-page of Proto:Buzz! Junior: Robo Jam (PlayStation 2).

This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

A European prototype of Robo Jam dated January 12, 2007 was released onto the Hidden Palace by Cut Into Fourteen Pieces on January 4, 2020. This build was compiled 3 months and 1 day before the final European build, and it has a huge amount of differences.

General Notes#

• The language in this prototype is only in English.
• It is impossible to save in this build.
• The announcer "Sarge" is voiced by an unknown voice actor (possibly Keith Wickham) before being voiced by Philip Maurice Hayes in the North American version, and by Ewan Bailey in the European version. Found in the credits in GLOBAL.WAD, the only voice talents credited were Liz Barker, the announcer for Buzz! Junior Jungle Party.
• The HUD differs slightly from the final build. The icons for the robots are 3D model renders instead of 2D illustrations. These early icons can be seen in some pre-release screenshots of the game.

Bootup#

PlayStation 2 Logo#

PlayStation 2 Logo

The PlayStation 2 logo in this prototype is corrupted. This is likely due to how the disc was burnt.

Buzzer Type Select Screen#

Buzzer Type Select Screen

• The prototype boots straight into the Buzzer Type Select Screen.
• The prototype lacks the "SELECT BUZZ!™ BUZZER TYPE" text.

Splash Screens#

Splash Screens

• "SCEE External Development" is present on the splash screens.
• The Buzz! Junior logo and the trademarks have their own splash screen.
• This build reuses the same trademarks for "Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party".
• No intro FMV plays here.

Main Menu#

Title Screen#

Prototype	Final

• There's no smooth transition for when the game loads into the main menu.
• The title screen runs at double the framerate in the prototype.
• The music from one of the mini-games is played here as a placeholder since the title screen music from the final version hasn't been made yet.
• The foreground door is a solid metal door that opens vertically instead of horizontally like in the final build.
• The logo is a 3D model with a TV-like design that also features the early name for the game: "Robot Party".
• Unlike the final build, the logo in the prototype has animations where it pops into the scene, stretches, looks around and shrinks up.

Main Menu#

Prototype	Final

• The camera moves straight forwards instead of it moving downwards and forwards like in the final build.
• "PLAY GAME" was originally "MULTIPLAYER" in this build just like with "Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party".
• "CUSTOM GAME" was originally a scrapped and nonfunctional "TEAM" mode.
• The robots are all in their waving animation.
• Throughout this build, the face texture for the robots has only one texture animation of them blinking.
• All the robots use the same head and body pieces on the main menu. They were each given unique body and head pieces in the final.
• The eye texture for the robots is slightly larger.
• There's no trailer video that plays when you idle for too long.
• The Multiplayer mode only set to the Quick Start game style that only lets you pick your color and begins the game as you play through all 24 mini-games randomly. There are no options for changing the game length, difficulty, name and robot customization.

Choose Your Position#

Prototype	Final

• The robot's head is slightly larger.
• Each robot has their own personalized customization.
• Switching from one robot to another too fast will cause the game to crash.

Ready To Play?#

Prototype	Final

• The prototype lacks the "READY TO PLAY ?" text and the game details below the players.
• The robots have different animations here.
• The 3D models for the CPU robots are not yet implemented at this point in development. So a standard robot takes its place.

Options Menu#

Prototype	Final

• Only the "SCREEN OPTIONS" are available in this build.
• "SPECIAL FEATURES" was originally "PLAY INTRO". The intro FMV does not exist in the files.

Practice Mode#

Prototype	Final

• The Practice mode menu lacks the in-game screenshots on the right side of the screen.
• Only 24 mini-games are available to play. The mini-game "Mad Mallets" is not yet implemented in this build at this point in development.

Loading & Mini-Game Demonstration#

Prototype	Final

• The loading screen in the prototype is a black screen. This could possibly be a rendering issue.
• The foreground door for the mini-games has a TV screen shape on it where the demonstration videos would be played on before it was changed to a floating TV in the final build.
• Every single FMV is a placeholder with early names for the mini-games.

Mini-Games#

Astro Blaster#

Prototype	Final

• The early names for this mini-game are "Asteroid Demolition" and "Asteroid Fishing."
• The spaceship is already parked and the camera flies over it and focuses on the robots.
  • It uses an unfinished 3D model that is mostly made out of vertex colors. It's also lacking some details in the main area of the ship. The door, monitors and posts off to the sides. There are only 3 chairs and lack the colors of the robots for the arm rests, and the rocket launcher is very basic and unfinished.
• There's no camera animation that plays to give the players a view of all the asteroids around when each round has started.
• The space background is solid black with stars and planets in the background are missing.
• The asteroids in this version are somewhat the same minus the glow on the small yellow asteroid, however there's one unique asteroid that's not in the final build that's black and spiky with red points on it.
• The animations for the robots are different.
  • The animation for when the robots shoot themselves with the rocket is kind of brutal. They explode into pieces.
• The range of the rocket exploding is a tiny bit larger and inconsistent.

Barrel Bashing#

Prototype	Final

• This minigame is set in a colorful wasteland area with mountains in the background with very unique shapes, an evening skybox and orange pipes making a lake full of purple goo.
• This minigame uses some leftover sounds from Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party.
• The barrels are all stacked up at once before it was changed to only display 5 barrels at a time for each player in order to reduce lag.
• The robots jump onto the red button rather than pressing it with their foot.
• When a robot hits a radioactive barrel, they get launched upwards and fall back down to the ground unlike in the final build where they get lightly hit by the impact. It's also missing the explosion sound effect when you hit it.
• There a bug on the results screen with Green and Yellow how they appear mirrored.

Basket Eye-Ball#

Prototype	Final

• The early name for this minigame is "Robo-Eye Basketball".
• The camera doesn't quickly move upwards unlike in the final build.
• The camera is angled slightly higher.
• You score way less points in this version and uses the standard score counters rather than small ones to make some more space on the screen.
• The lighting is slightly brighter.
• Some missing sound effects.
• The glowing lights from the eyes of the robot heads when you complete a head appears red here before it was changed to yellow in the final build.
• The victory and lose animations for the robots are not present.
• The HUD also stays on-screen during the ending of the mini-game.

Bug Blast#

Prototype	Final

• The early name for this minigame is "Bug Hunt".
• The 5 holes are in the center, the background is missing some plants and the robots are standing behind rocks.
• The camera doesn't fly through the area unlike in the final build.
• The alien's 3D model is a bit unfinished and has different animations. He also doesn't go completely into the hole. Rather instead, sitting outside of it and teleporting to the next random hole.
• The visual effects for the blasters are also basic.
• The AI for the CPU players in this minigame is pretty unfair, shooting the alien faster than you can react.
• This minigame reuses some leftover voice-lines from Liz Barker; the announcer from Buzz! Junior Jungle Party when the robots try to shoot the alien who's peeking out of a hole.
  • Other leftovers include the sound effects and the Snake before he was given his own 3D model.

Cosmic Keepers#

Prototype	Final

• The early name for this mini-game is "Black Hole Goals".
• This mini-game is the most unfinished area in this build.
  • The layout of this mini-game includes some very basic 3D models of the goal, soccer balls, the platform that the robots are standing on and a jungle background which is another leftover from Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party.
• There are no animations for the robots taking turns who gets to be the goalie.
• The soccer balls come up much faster in this build.
• Some missing sound effects.

Crash Test Dummies#

Prototype	Final

• There's no camera animation when you start the minigame.
• This minigame lacks the orange lighting from in the final build.
• The flames coming out of the jets are solid yellow.
• Different camera angles.
• The announcer says "Brake in..." before you enter the danger zone.
• The robots don't have an animation of them surfing off the front of their jets.
• The parachutes are also basic and appear smaller here.
• The sign at the end of the danger zone is missing.
• The scoring is also analog here rather than the final build using score markings at the end of the danger zone.
• The camera doesn't zoom in on whoever player is closer to the end of the danger zone.
• There's a rare unfair glitch that can happen at the end of each round where you don't rewarded with the points you've scored and resets the score next round.

Crazy Conveyor#

Prototype	Final

• The early names for this minigame are "Pogo Panic" and "Crazy Conveyors".
• The layout has a more grayish blue color scheme, he pipe in the background is shaped differently, and there's a platform on the right side of the screen that the robots jump to indicating who won before it was changed to have the robots stop running on the conveyor belt.
• Different camera angle.
• The player names are a little more right to the robots, and timer is in the center before it was moved into the bottom right corner.
• The robots use some different animations.
• The color pattern for the laser beams repeats the same pattern ever and ever: Blue, Orange, Green, and Yellow.
• There's a rare glitch that happens where the mini-game will randomly pick who wins the mini-game.

Crazy Cook#

Prototype	Final

• The early name for this mini-game is "Crazy Cooks".
• The spoons don't scoop up the beans, the oil cans were originally oil cartons, the baking pan and dough in the background are missing and there are heat waves coming from the stove.
• The fart clouds are smaller and basic in this version.
• The Robot Pirate uses a slightly different model with different animations making this version of the minigame harder to tell when he's about to turn around.
  • When the minigame is over, he doesn't throw his tools off to aside, farts and laughs unlike in the final build.
• Some sound effects may be missing but it uses some leftover sound effects from Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party.

Galaxy Grab#

Prototype	Final

• The early names for this mini-game are "Hit & Run", "Spinning Spaceships", "Spaceship Pickup", and "Galactic Grab".
  • "Hit & Run" was oddly given for this minigame which doesn't really fit well.
  • The early demonstration for this mini-game demonstrates the following: "Some nasty little aliens have invaded our galaxy, and you have got to stop 'em. With no guns though, you have to run 'em over with your spaceships. Your ships will keep spinning until you press your buzzer to fire your engines! The more aliens you squish, the more points you'll score!" This early gameplay mechanic was scrapped very early on in development.
• This mini-game is pretty different from the final build.
  • Different background.
  • Different HUD.
  • You can see the robots in their spaceships.
  • Players are controlling more than one spaceship. When you're on the sides of the screen, you can see another copy of yourself.
  • There's no opening animation.
  • The particle effects are missing when you collect a plasma ball.
  • Different obstacles. There are more than one asteroids floating around making the mini-game more of a challenge. The model for the alien spaceship is different, and the black holes use a different design, and they appear in different positions.

Go Nuts!#

Prototype	Final

• The early name for this mini-game is "Grab Yer Nuts" which sounds kind of suggestive for a kids game. This was likely changed to keep the game's E rating by the ESRB.
• This mini-game is very different from the final build.
  • Completely different layout.
  • The guard uses a different model with different animations.
  • The nuts near the guard use different models which look like diamonds.
  • Different opening animation.
  • This version has laser beams implemented. Touching one of the laser beams will stun you in-place and you'll lose your nuts just like getting zapped by the guard.
  • Some missing sound effects.

High Dive#

Prototype	Final

• The early name for this mini-game is "Pitfall".
• This mini-game is slightly different from the final build.
  • Different layout.
  • Different opening animation.
  • The aim and distance speed is pretty fast.
  • The targets don't rise up when someone lands on one.
  • There are no animations for the robots being electrocuted.
  • The announcer's voice is absent in this mini-game.
  • Collision may be a bit buggy in this version.

Nitro Racing#

Prototype	Final

• The layout is mostly final, but slightly different.
  • It lacks the space background and the planets.
  • The number markers are yellow here.
• Different camera angles.
• Runs at double the framerate.
• The robots Blue/Yellow and Orange/Green have swapped their positions.
• The animation for the robots exploding by the sterilizing beam is different.
• Some different animations for the robots when you make it to the end.
• There's only a single round, and finishing this mini-game will skip straight to the next one or bring you back to the main menu when you play this minigame in the practice mode. Selecting any other mini-game after playing Nitro Racing will kick you back to the main menu once more.

Octo-Beat#

Prototype	Final

• This mini-game is slightly different from the final build.
  • Different opening animation.
  • The alien uses a completely different model with different animations.
  • Uses different music and the music never changes.
  • Different HUD.
  • The tentacles look a bit unfinished, and they move higher and lower in this version.
  • The announcer's voice is absent in this mini-game.
  • The second to last bar you play in each round is off-beat.
  • Missing a single note causes you to move down.
  • The disco ball only comes down if most of the players are doing fantastic.
  • There's no animation for the alien eating a fly and burping at the end.

Odd Bot Out#

Prototype	Final

• Slightly different layout.
• The lighting is darker.
• Slightly different clothes for the bots.
• Runs at double the framerate.
• The robots are missing their sound effects here.

Pillow Fight#

Prototype	Final

• The early names for this mini-game are "Hit & Run" and "Sneaky Spanners".
  • Just like with Galaxy Grab, "Hit & Run" is given for this mini-game too. However, the name does fit quite well with this mini-game.
• This mini-game plays very much the same as in the final build, except for a few changes.
  • Slightly different layout.
  • No opening animation.
  • Slightly brighter lighting.
  • There are no sounds for the robots.

Piston Peril#

Prototype	Final

• The early name for this mini-game is "Robot Bomb".
• In the early demonstration for this mini-game, the announcer mentions that the robots getting squished is his "favorite bit".
• The layout is very different and it is most notable for being seen in some pre-release screenshots such as on the game's box art.
  • It lacks the purple and green platform that the robots stand on and they're instead standing on the floor.
  • The giant nuts and bolts are positioned closer to the robots
  • The vent behind Blue is more visible.
  • There's no zoom-in camera animation showing other pistons squishing barrels.
• There are no close-up camera angles for when the robots get squished.
• All of the necessary sound effects for this minigame are present here as in the final build.
• The announcer doesn't mention how many rounds you've done.

Plummeting Platforms#

Prototype	Final

• The early names for this mini-game are "Piston Panic" and "Plummenting Pistons".
• This mini-game is slightly different from the final build.
  • Slightly different layout.
  • The nuts and bolts appear smaller in this build. Their shining effect is different, and they teleport constantly allowing you to score lots more points.
  • The speed of the platforms rising and falling are faster and slower depending on how many robots are standing on the platform.

Pop-Up Pairs#

Prototype	Final

• This mini-game is very identical to the final build, but with a few small differences.
  • Some textures are different in the layout.
  • The red border on the cards don't appear when someone gets a wrong answer.
  • The robots use different animations.
  • Some missing sound effects.

Robo-Rollers#

Prototype	Final

• The early name for this mini-game is "Laser Skipping".
• This mini-game is slightly different from the final build.
  • Slightly different layout.
  • The AI for the CPU Players in this version is pretty tricky even on the lower difficulties.
  • The laser beam is simply on 2 spinning wheels instead of being on a vehicle in the final. And it's simply a solid color.
  • The break is very short in this version.
  • The robots have some different animations.
  • Missing sound effects.

Robot Teleport#

Prototype	Final

• The demonstration for this mini-game mentions a non-existent shield power-up.
• The layout is very different as it is set way up high above the clouds.
  • The clouds are even detailed here.
  • The bases for each player extend from the surface of the clouds.
  • The lighting is brighter.
  • This version of the mini-game has laser guns implemented. If you pick one up, you can shoot the other players with the colored buttons. Shooting a player will give you a lot more points than just pushing them off which seems like a pretty fun way to score points. This was likely removed from the final build to keep the game's E rating by the ESRB.
• There's no opening animation for the robots traveling through the vacuum pipes.
• The robots all exit out from their bases on "Go!"
• The robots have different animations here.
• Different teleporting sound effects.
• The malfunctioning teleporters have a red fog effect on them much like the robots, and they have black smoke coming out of them.
  • There's a bug how you can push off a player when they've teleported onto a malfunctioning teleporter.
• Teleporting can have a bit of a delay.
• The announcer constantly make quotes such as "(color) takes a dive into the clouds." "See you later, (color)." "(color) is armed with a laser." "(color) got blasted into the clouds." "(color), watch out!"

Robot Throwing#

Prototype	Final

• The Big Droid Friend uses purple color scheme.
• Different camera animations/angles.
• The layout and scenery is different with a lighter color scheme.
• The turns for each player are randomized instead of being Blue. Orange, Green, and Yellow in the final build.
• The Big Droid Friend's arm rotates 180° 7 times he loses control instead of 9 times in the later builds.
• The red distance markers are missing here.
• The ground disappears when the distance measurer is on-screen.
• Uses a few sound effects from Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party.
• Some exclusive voice lines for the announcer.
• There's no ending animation.

Rocket Robots#

Prototype	Final

• This mini-game is very different from the final build.
  • Completely different layout.
  • The floating droids and the rocket launcher in the center use completely different models.
  • The AI for the CPU Players in this mini-game can be a bit unfair.
  • Uses some assets from Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party.
  • The floating droids pause for 2 seconds and disappear upon shooting one.
  • The special abilities are also different. The coconut allows you to shoot 3 rockets at a time, the bomb works the same way as in the final build, and the shield works the same but the model for the shield doesn't exist.

Saucer Shootout#

Prototype	Final

• This mini-game is pretty different from the final build.
  • Different layout.
  • The spaceships use different designs.
  • Different particle effects.
  • When you shoot an alien, it'll jump onto your ship and attack you. You have to keep pressing the Buzzer to knock him off your spaceship.
  • Uses some sound effects from Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party.

Space Jumping#

Prototype	Final

• This mini-game is very different from the final build.
  • Very different opening scene.
  • Completely different layout.
  • The lighting is off.
  • You score less points in this version.
  • The robots use some different animations.
  • When a robot lands into the lava, they sink down. However in the final build they just float and swim in it.
  • There's a rare glitch that happens where the robots fall just a bit early and the camera is out of place.

Debugging Features#

Debug Menu#

Debug Menu

A Debug Menu can be brought up by pressing START + SELECT on the DualShock 2 Controller.

Games/FSG_Games#

This is simply a level select menu. You can select one to warp to a mini-game of your choice. The name's of the mini-games in this menu reference some of the mini-games in Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party. There are also some non-existant/unused mini-games in this menu here too, although they can't be accessed by any means.

• Game End
• 004 Turret Terror
• 005 Meltdown
• 006 Robot Boxing
• 011 Rainbow Robots

Team#

There was a Team Mode planned for the game, but was later cancelled. 2 non-existant mini-games of the Team Mode are listed here however.

• 001 Handcar Racing
• 003 Rocket Revolution

Other#

This contains 3 test levels that would've been cool to see, however the data for these test levels don't exist in the files.

Cheats#

This is the cheat menu.

• Silence SFX: Mutes the sound effects.
• Silence Speech: Mutes the announcer's voice.
• Silence Music: Mutes the music.
• GamePlay Hide HUD: Hides the HUD during gameplay.
• FlyCam Hide HUD: Hide the HUD when your in the Freecam mode.
• Update in FlyCam: Makes everything run in action while in the Freecam mode.
• Expire HUD Clock: Expires the timer in-game.
• Pause HUD Clock: Freezes the timer.
• Loop Current Game: Loops the current mini-game that your on.
• ShowXYZ: Displays the XYZ Coordnates on-screen.
• NoAutomaton: Makes some objects disappear.
• FlyCam: Freecam Mode.

FlyCam Controls#

• Press X to move the camera forwards.
• Press Square to move the camera backwards.
• Use the Left Analog Stick or the D-Pad to look around.
• Use the Right Analog Stick to translate the camera.
• Press and hold R1/R2 to speed up or slow down the camera movement.
• Press and hold L2 to freeze the camera in-place.

Globals#

You can change the game's general settings here that you can't otherwise change through the main menu.

Settings#

You can modify the rules to some of the mini-games with this.

Named Items#

This shows a list of various entities that can be displayed in the game's environment or on the screen.