Mr. Cool

The Good
In the early '80s, a small company known as Sierra On-Line started making adventure games for the Apple II machine. They were created by its founder, Ken and Roberta Williams. They got other programmers to work on several arcade games. These were clones of others that proved popular with players at arcades. This game is called Mr. Cool, and it is Sierra's take on Q*Bert

When you start the game, there are rows of flashing platforms that form a pyramid. As an ice cube, you have to stop these platforms from flashing, but they also have to be a specific color. There are Hot Springs that appear from a hatch and hop across various platforms in an attempt to reach you. The color you have to turn the platforms to isn't specified, so you have to jump on the same platform until it is the color you need.

When I played Q*Bert, I found it easy to go up to Level 3. Mr. Cool is a bit complicated than that, since not only do you worry about the Hot Springs reaching you, you also have to avoid fireballs coming across the screen toward you. When I played the game, I was scared that a fireball could instantly kill me when I jumped on the platform that is close to the edge of the screen. There are also no discs you can jump on to carry you to the top of the pyramid and destroy the enemies on screen. The amount of times you have to jump on the same platform after level one means that it will take longer to complete the level.

There is a border around the game screen, and it is great to see the top one open up so that the Hot Springs can fall down onto the pyramid. Another thing I like about the graphics is you can see Mr. Cool melt down into the fire pit below if he touches one of the enemies.

There are nice sound effects in the game. After completing a level, the sound effect that plays reminds me of an alarm clock, and the same goes when you are jumping. After losing a life, the game plays a smoothing sound that fits the sounds found in games set in space. The controls act the same way to QBert. You have to push the joystick diagonally to jump on a platform.

The Bad
The graphics could have been more detailed. For example, the back cover of the game's box states refer to the platforms as plates, but they don't even stand out as plates.

The Bottom Line
As Sierra's take on QBert, the game is excellent and it mimics the Gottlieb game very well. You still have to jump on platforms to change them to the target color and try to avoid other enemies jumping on the same pyramid. Now there is the threat of fireballs trying to melt Mr. Cool, a feature of this game that makes it slightly difficult. Although the sound and graphics are good, they are not as spectacular when compared to other games.