Cool Spot

Cool Spot is a 1993 platform game developed and published by Virgin Games for the Mega Drive/Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was later ported by other teams to Master System, Game Gear, Game Boy, Amiga and MS-DOS in 1994.

Story
Something terribly uncool has happened, apparently someone very bored has dedicated himself to kidnapping all the cool points and locking them in the most bland cages where they can not even use their cool magic to escape. Luckily the coolest spot of all has managed to avoid capture, and now embarks on a risky rescue mission in style to put an end to boredom once and for all. Help him free his colleagues from this boring fate.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The difficulty is decently balanced: It's not that difficult, it's not that easy, it can be hard to defeat enemies and get the red dots at the first attempt, but practicing upgrades your playing skills and becomes more easier to play.
 * 2) * The levels progressively increase in difficulty. Some are especially difficult because the slightest mistake will make us fall into the void, and in others the difficulty lies in doing almost blind jumps whose punishment is having to start over.
 * 3) Animations with great detail, and with a lot of style, the game is kept in the artistic style of typical 80s and 90s cartoons,using the design of some characters in the cartoon style. Animations that we can enjoy while we jump through some imaginative and colorful levels, with some other curious graphic effect. The enemies are also well animated, and look good with great and detailed designs.
 * 4) Graphics are good for almost any version of the game, complemented by colorful animations and well-detailed themes, enemys and Cool Spot graphics are also good and colorful and the scenarios have a great level of detail, bringing out the best potential of almost each console.
 * 5) * The technical section in Master System and Game Gear is also very good. The graphical similarity of this version with respect to versions of more powerful systems such as Mega Drive and Super Nintendo is surprising. Spot's sprite still maintains its design and is very well animated, and the different enemies have a design very similar to the more powerful systems. The scenarios are logically worse than the originals, but still an uncanny resemblance to them, being varied, detailed and very colorful.
 * 6) The levels are varied, huge and some quite difficult, these are as imaginative as they are detailed, and the challenge is worth enjoying. We will visit different worlds, such as the beach or the port, always from Spot's tiny perspective, which almost always means danger even from the most harmless creatures.
 * 7) Intelligently made Gameplay: The game system is not very different from other 2D platforms, but it emphasizes exploration, as we will have to go through the level looking for a certain amount of red dots to be able to free our trapped partner and move on to the next phase. In general, this objective will be easy to achieve, but the grace is in being able to find all the hidden points in the level and being able to access the bonus phase where you can add lives and extra points.
 * 8) Speaking of the special stages, they are good, the concept is to collect red dots and lives when you jumping into bubbles that are disappearing, to enter these areas you must collect a number of red dots that vary depending on the level of difficulty, which is an imaginative and well-made concept, in addition to that these phases have the best song in the game.
 * 9) Many different enemy types, with new ones introduced in every level. These range from fish, conches, mice, to spiders, wasps and giant crabs, which add a challenge at the level, that greatly complicate the journey,besides they have good design and animations.
 * 10) The controls are simple and you can get used to it easily, in addition, they are fluid and responsive. The control passes with outstanding. The jumps can be performed with total precision, without problem to change direction in the air, and the design of the phases is perfectly adapted to the abilities of the protagonist. In addition, our way of attacking enemies will be by shooting them, which gives it a touch of action almost more typical of a "run and gun" than a platform.
 * 11) The work of the prolific and always great Tommy Tallarico in the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo versions is pretty good, the musical themes give the game a funky touch that feels great, and that also fully squeezes the sound capabilities of each system. Especially in the base version of the game, which is the Mega Drive, where Tallarico took advantage of all kinds of incredible tricks to get the most potential from the sound chip of the console. It is not strange to spend hours in the sound test of this game enjoying such great compositions.
 * 12) * Also the soundtrack of the other consoles are decent versions of the original soundtrack doing their best to adapt them to their respective systems.
 * 13) The sound effects also stand out for their sympathy and quality. From Spot's squeaky "helium-like" voice, to fun cartoon-style sound effects that sound great. Naturally in the versions for less powerful systems we will not find the same level, but even so the sound is quite well adapted taking into account the limitations of these systems.
 * 14) The cover art of any version of the game are well made, drawn in a similar way to the game and are detailed, especially the cover used for the United States.
 * 15) The Game Over screen in the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo versions is quite well realized as it shows Spot crying while playing a cartoon-style song because Spot has lost in his rescue mission.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The game is very short after getting used to level design: It can take two to four hours to complete the game.
 * 2) Level design can be somewhat confusing on some levels, so it can take a long time to complete.
 * 3) * The levels are full of deep abysses and persistent enemies (giant crabs, wasps, fish, conches, mice, spiders and a long etcetera) that greatly complicate the journey. As if that were not enough, the phases are long, labyrinthine and even sinister, which also take us to very varied areas and narrow.
 * 4) On consoles with less power, some levels are removed due to the capacity of the consoles.
 * 5) Some versions are not as good, for example, the Master System and Game Gear version and the Gameboy version.
 * 6) * Due to the Game Gear's smaller screen, it's harder to see enemies, this would be fixed in the version of Master System released only in Europe.
 * 7) The Super Nintendo version was created based on the Mega Drive version. This causes that when passing the sprites to Super Nintendo they can be shown somewhat flattened, but in return we will enjoy a more overflowing color that feels great to the game.

Tips

 * 1) Memorize the levels so you can be familiar with the patterns of hazards and enemies. It may not seen like much, but it can go a long way to mastering the game.
 * 2) Play the Sega Genesis version and, to a lesser extent, the Super Nintendo version for the best experience.

Trivia

 * In Europe they almost did not find out that they were trying to sell soft drinks with this game because Fido Dido was the mascot of 7Up in Europe, so Cool Spot simply arrived as another one of the many nineties mascots with that cool touch that was so fashionable, all 7Up references had to be removed so people in Europe would not get confused.
 * In the introduction of the NTSC versions, the protagonist navigates using a bottle of "7 Up"; in PAL versions in a generic soda bottle.
 * Some enhancers also reflect these changes.

Reception
Cool Spot was praised by critics and the general public for its graphics and animations, the intelligent gameplay and the great music that is considered the best of the game.

This game was ranked 88th on Complex's 'Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time' list, which praised the game for being a 'pretty enjoyable platformer' despite blatant product placement.

Pelit gave it a score of 82%, and summarized it as "one of the most enjoyable platform games in a long time".

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