“Argh, I was so much better at this game when I was a kid.”
Written: Aug 09 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Awesome soundtrack, good sprite animations
Cons: Grainy graphics aside from animations, ridiculous difficulty
The Bottom Line: Although Cool Spot can get very annoying when you miss a long jump or take cheap hits, the soundtrack and fun gameplay make the game at least worth a try.
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| C_A's Full Review: Cool Spot for Sega Genesis |
Hey, everybody remembers the Cool Spot. He made that soft drink, 7UP, “hip” and “cool.” Er, actually, it’s been so long since I’ve seen the little red dot with shades (although I think he has made cameo appearances on recent tampon commercials) that I can’t recall a damn thing about him. All I do know was that when he hit the Sega Genesis, he hit it with a club full of wacky fun. I rented this game time and time again back in the early 90s and I played the hell out of it. After nine long years I’ve finally gotten my paws on this game.. And now I absolutely suck at it.
Cool Spot has one of those extreme love-hate relationships. You’ll extremely love the addicting and fun gameplay, but you’ll extremely HATE how absolutely irritating this game can get when it comes to performing absolutely necessary perfect long jumps over huge gaps. Ooh, the pain. Anyway, more on that brain-stabbing experience later.
The basic objective of this game is to collect a lot of red dots and a few 7UP logos scattered throughout the level so that you can rescue your fellow Cool Spot buddies. When you collect enough of these items, the cage that is imprisoning your friend can be destroyed, beating the stage. Look out though; Cool Spot can only take four or five hits from enemies before he’s toasted. There aren’t any boss fights or anything in this game, just a bunch of dot hunting.
I’d have to say the level design in this game is very well done. There are numerous secrets strewn throughout the game in certain levels, even from the very beginning of the first level, where hidden balloons are above you that carry those dots you need oh-so-badly. Half of the levels, however, lack any secrets whatsoever, aside from hiding red dots behind pipes or shoes, making them unseen to the player. I am glad, however, that the game doesn’t require you to just go in a straight line to the goal in most of the levels. Hidden in some of the red dots are arrows that point you in the right direction to the cage, but you can go in some other direction to find new areas with more items you need to beat the level. I like a platformer that can give at least a small illusion that it isn’t totally linear.
Of course, the game isn’t just a walk through the damn park. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, this game can be a total chore with the slew of enemies and obstacles this game hurls at Cool Spot. It can get most irritating when you have to do long jumps on certain levels when you’re high up in the air, and that if you miss it just by one millimeter you’ll go crashing down to the beginning of the level, if you’re lucky. If you’re not lucky you’ll fall into some hole or tub or whatever and die. This may be easy to avoid though if you’ve been playing platformers like that all of your life. In one level, however, it can really difficult, for the background is moving very fast (and opposite the direction you’re jumping in. Trust me, you’d have to see it to understand how distracting that can be) and can heavily distract you when you’re trying to jump on a stupid bounce bubble or two. It’s also annoying when the hero dies by falling or jumping into an enemy you can’t even see that is hidden behind a wall, a shoe, or pipe or whatnot.
As for the rest of the difficulty levels, just forget about it. The normal setting is very difficult, for there are more at least twice as many enemies in your way, and it is almost impossible to avoid getting cheap hits. And please, if you want to have any fun whatsoever, do not attempt the hard mode. There are four times as many enemies, you have to collect more items before you can beat the stage, and it is impossible to avoid getting cheap hits. The first stage was so cluttered I couldn’t even get through two minutes without getting blasted to death by an angry fruit fly, which doesn’t even show up until the next to last level in easy mode.
Ha, what to say about the graphics? As if I can accurately give the pros and cons of this category in a Sega Genesis game. Like most other Genesis games, most of the graphical aspects of this game give off a kind of grainy feel to it. The dang Genny cart can’t help it though, so I’ll just give it a slap on the wrist with some bread. Our hero, Cool Spot, however, looks as smooth as ever. Even when he’s walking he has to strut his stuff and dance to the background music. With that being said, the other sprites (enemies) in this game are also very well animated for the most part. The levels are nicely detailed, but the main problem I have is that I think they got a little bit lazy, for most of the early level settings appear in the later levels as well. Like, you go to the beach twice, the pier twice, the toy room twice, and so forth in this game. They should have mixed it up a little bit and made every level a different setting.
The soundtrack compiled for this game was awesome. Any game that has a synthesized version of “Wipeout” for an intro deserves a high score notched up in the audio category. Although there are only six to seven tracks scattered throughout the levels, each and every one of them are highly memorable. Even after nine years of not playing this game the second I heard the tune to each level I instantly remembered every single note that came afterwards. These cool and mellow songs have quite a deathgrip on me.
The sound effects alone are also very good. It’s quite fun hearing Cool Spot scream like crazy as he’s falling from about eighty feet in the air, only to make a small “SMACK” on the floor below. Not much else can be said about the sound effects, except that they run smoothly alongside the funny animations.
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. It depends on if you’re full of pent up video game rage like my little stepbrother. Anyway, try and look for it around the internet for three dollars at most I suppose.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
C_A
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Member: Celestial Avenger
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 9 members
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