If the app you use supports Versions, the Versions Browser can do that, sort of. But you could go directly into the backups and do that via the Finder.
BACKUPLOUPE REVIEW WINDOWS
That's tough because the "Star Wars" display takes up the whole screen you can't put two windows side-by-side. If I could compare files (for example source code) and see differences and then revert back only files I need, that would be perfect. You can restore selected items, via the "Star Wars" display as noted above. Or does time machine only allow to roll back the whole drive. If you're comfortable with UNIX and Terminal, the new tmutil command has a compare verb that might do part of what you want. Backup Loupe (and Time Tracker) will only compare a selected backup to the previous one. Time Machine won't, except to find differences with the arrow keys as above. Is there a way to compare files and even entire directories? Let's say I need to compare all files on the entire har drive from yeaterday and a week ago (or a month). See #A2 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting Some folks say that doesn't work for them, but it usually seems to. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #15. To find each version of a file, you're supposed to be able to do that by selecting it in the "Star Wars" display, then use the arrow keys. If your HD fails, you restore the most recent one (unless you suspect damage, and want to pick an earlier one). I don't know if I could easily compare 2 files from different points in history. Not because any backup performance issues, it is pretty fast and as a user I don't even notice that the backup is running on my Macbook Air, but I'm concerned how I would find older copy of a file in time machine if it was doing backup every 1 hour.
Using backup every hour would be overkill. I occasionally go back farther than that looking for an old email I deleted, or file I changed several months ago. In any case I don't see why I should keep 6 months long history of incremental backups. The only way to do that is to limit the amount of space available, by making the partition smaller. You might want to review How Time Machine works its Magic for an explanation. It won't take any longer if there are lots of backups vs. It just uses the date-stamped backup folder you select (the same one it uses to display the backup in the "Star Wars" display. If I wanted to restore the latest backup, time machine would have to go through the whole history.