Proto:Pengo (Atari 2600)

This page details one or more prototype versions of Pengo (Atari 2600).

This prototype of the Atari 2600 Pengo, dated February 28, 1984, has some key differences from the final version.

(Source: Atari Protos)

General Differences

• There is no music on the title screen.
• There are considerably fewer sound effects.
• Pengo does not move on the title screen or bonus screen.
• The right difficulty switch toggles the music on and off. The final uses the left difficulty switch for this instead.

Graphical Differences

Proto	Final

Pengo's sprites are all at least a bit different, most notably his front-view sprites.

Proto	Final

• The logo is a version of the one used in the arcade original. The final uses a rather generic font instead, likely to free up space for features not present in this build.
• The copyright info is dated 1983 and uses a different font.

Gameplay Differences

• You start with five lives.
• Pengo is slower and the Sno-bees are faster, making the game more difficult.
• The level layouts are different and only have blue ice blocks.
• When starting a game, sometimes the Sno-bees’ graphics are skewed and Pengo can’t move.
• Sno-bees can get hung up on the top and right borders, which freezes all other Sno-bees.

(Source: Atari Compendium)