Cool Spot

I normally do not like product placement games, but Cool Spot is a clear cut exception. This is one of the best titles I have seen on the Genesis for quite some time. Spot really brings the characters to life! Worth seeing.

What should make these games especially worrisome to parents is that they're so much fun to play. Like a million-dollar, 60-second advertisement, except about a hundred times as long, Cool Spot is loaded with production value, from the opening scene of Spot surfing on a giant 7UP bottle (to the tune of the Surfaris' ''Wipe Out'') to the panicky expression on the little guy's face when he takes a tumble. And the action, as in all good commercials, is relatively unobtrusive vis-a-vis the company that's doing the advertising- except when Spot replenishes his energy by quaffing you-know-what along the way.

What should make these games especially worrisome to parents is that they're so much fun to play. Like a million-dollar, 60-second advertisement, except about a hundred times as long, Cool Spot is loaded with production value, from the opening scene of Spot surfing on a giant 7UP bottle (to the tune of the Surfaris' ''Wipe Out'') to the panicky expression on the little guy's face when he takes a tumble. And the action, as in all good commercials, is relatively unobtrusive vis-a-vis the company that's doing the advertising- except when Spot replenishes his energy by quaffing you-know-what along the way.

Toss in adjustable challenge levels, with tough advanced play, and Spot becomes extremely well-rounded fare for the Game Gear. Cool!

That's all a sign of an under appreciate gem. Yes, it's hard to acknowledge the quality when you're being sold a certain liquid whenever you press a button. That shouldn't take anything away from this games surprising platform achievements. Just because it's selling pop doesn't mean Cool Spot isn't one of the few great platformers of the 16-bit era.

På trods af det slidte platform-format gør den utrolige grafik og animation Cool Spot til et virkelig suværent spil. Der er masser af omveksling i spillet, og på trods af det temmelige åndssvage plot, kan man ikke slippe det her tjekkede spil, når man først er kommet i gang.

Autant les bons points que les mauvais sont révélateurs du style Virgin Games tel qu'il se perpétuera dans leurs jeux suivants. Mais pour Virgin, Cool Spot marque surtout le début d'une période de succès, brève et ardente, sur consoles 16-bit.

Tras jugarlo en profundidad y analizar todos y cada uno de los apartados que componen Cool Spot, debemos comentar que es un gran plataformas que cuenta con una jugabilidad excelente, pero que es una lástima que no tenga algún que otro nivel o extra final que alarguen un poco más el cartucho. Además, tope de una fórmula nueva para el género para refrescar un poco el desarrollo, que se ve acompañado por un diseños de niveles envidiable. Por si fuera poco, cuenta con unos gráficos bastante vistosos y detallados, a lo que sumar una banda sonora realmente notable. Si a estos cuidados apartados técnicos le sumamos la interesante curva de dificultad (que se ve un poco suavizada si recoges las vidas de las fases de bonus o te haces con los ítems que mencionamos anteriormente), obtenemos un cartucho de los más completo, jugable y "refrescante".

Fesch sieht er aus, unser Held. Er hat eine gewisse Ähnlichkeit mit einem Casinobillet, dem man ein Paar weiße Handschuhe, ein Paar weiße Turnschuhe und eine jener legendären Blues Brothers-Sonnenbrillen verpaßt hat. Ja, und einen Namen hat er natürlich auch, dieser Held: Spot!

The bright, colorful graphics and outstanding reggae music effectively put you in the mindset of being at the beach on a hot summer day - it's great! The second stage takes place on a dock where you climb ropes and wooden planks Donkey Kong Junior-style. The next few stages take place in less-inspired indoor environments, but they do contain interesting toys like miniature versions of the robot from Lost in Space (the old 1960's television program). Fun bonus stages take place inside a green bottle of 7-Up, where you bounce around on (and in) bubbles trying to collect as many red dots as you can. With tight controls, stylish visuals, and a kick-ass soundtrack, Cool Spot should win over just about any Genesis fan.

Just like Chupa Chups tried to make their products more popular by creating Zool, 7-up created Cool Spot to promote their soda drink. Even though the game doesn’t make me go out and buy insane amounts of 7-up beverage, I still enjoy the game for what it is: a simple and fun jump and run game.

Cool Spot är ett riktigt bra plattformsspel som ingen med intresse av dylika bör vara utan. Snudd på högsta betyg.

But that little downfall isn't half as bad as I'm making it sound; if it were an earthquake, it would register on the Richter scale (just enough to lower the score from a 9 to a high 8), but it wouldn't be that big. I always enjoy most of the levels, and the bonus stages are some of my favorites from any video game. The gorgeous graphics, the mood-fitting music, and the addictiveness and fun that Cool Spot has to offer makes it a must-have title for any platformer fan. That leads one to wonder why the game was named Cool Spot instead of Awesome Spot!

Virgin and their development team, headed by Dave Perry, have crafted a classic 2D action/platformer in the tradition of Aladdin, Terminator, and Global Gladiators. Featuring highly detailed and appropriately colorful graphics, fluid and cartoony animation, and huge levels, Cool Spot is the logical progression of Virgin's line of great platformers.

While not brimming with major flaws, Cool Spot does lose a little of its special "something" in this format. It's lucky then that it was such a wonderful game to begin with. Even though it doesn't contain everything that made it great, the few deletions just add a few frustrating moments in what is a large game overall. It all balances in the end.

Spot, the cool dot, moves to the Game Gear with excellent graphics and very good control. The story is the same as the other versions (rescue Spot's cool buddies before the time runs out), as are Spot's attacks and jumps.

Wer ein gut spielbares Jump-and-Run sucht, wird hier fündig. Der Spielwitz prickelt mit der Betriebsamkeit einer doppelten Portion Kohlensäure.

Hey, if you didn’t play this game when it came out nine to ten years ago, you really should have at least rented it. I mean, come on, wasn’t the funny cop commercial for it convincing enough? Oh well, it’s not like I’m going to beat you with a salami until you go out and buy this thing. It’s a pretty good game, but you’ll need a lot of patience to cope with all of the time-consuming long jumps where one wrong move will mean your doom. Hmm, on second thought, maybe it will mean the controller’s doom.

Spelet är rent visuellt oerhört njutbart, framförallt animeringen och det höjer spelkänslan avsevärt på ett annars ordinärt lir.

All in all, Cool Spot is a fun game to play, and it can be quite challenging but it can get boring after a while, particularly if you are stuck somewhere. But give it a try, that is, if you are cool enough.