Cool Spot

Cool Spot
a game by Virgin
Genres: Action, Platformer
Platforms: PC (1994), Sega GenesisGenesis (1993), SNESSNES (1993), Sega Master SystemSega Master System (1993), GameGear (1993), GameBoy (1994)
Editor Rating: 7.9/10, based on 14 reviews, 16 reviews are shown
User Rating: 9.3/10 - 3 votes
Rate this game:
See also: 2D Platformer Games, Side Scroller Games

Although you've seen the same game before on the Genesis, SNES owners may find Cool Spot's addictive game play and clean graphics refreshing and new, kind of like... well, you know... 7-Up.

Out, Out Damn'd Spot

This seven-level, multi-scrolling commercial for the Uncola seems like the worst sort of crass commercialism until you actually get into the game. Spot's little Spot friends are being held hostage. Sounds silly, but before you know it you'll find yourself plugging along and actually caring whether Spot can free his little friends in this very cool one- player action/adventure.

Your task is to free one Spot buddy per each side-view level, and they're hidden very well. You guide Spot across well-drawn and well-animated human-size backgrounds, like a huge tub, a beach, a perilous pier, and in between the walls of a house. The game play is simple. You hop and jump over obstacles and enemies, and search for your friends. Along the way, you also need to collect Cool Points, which are (surprise!) round red dots. If you collect 85 dots, you go to a Bonus Level (surprise again... it takes place in a bottle of 7-Up) to win a continue or a 1-up.

Other power-ups include bottles of 7-Up, which help you regain your strength during a level. To see the game's Cool ending, you must play the game on the Hard Mode and collect all six letters (U-N-C-O-L-A) from the Bonus Level.

ProTip:

  • Check the pipes in the walls for Cool Points. Some Points are behind the pipes.
  • As you go, you'll find bubbles that'll take you for a ride. These bubbles often lead to other bubbles or time-saving shortcuts. When your bubble bursts, check your surroundings carefully.

Spot needs all the help he can get as he battles crafty crabs, menacing mice, terrifying toys, calamitous clams, and other enemies. Some of his foes can fire projectiles, while others just run into him every which way they can. Your Cool Spot comes equipped with some Un-conventional ammo (namely, bubble blasts), which he can spew in eight directions. The game's effortless controls make Spot easy to maneuver.

  • Continues are much more important than extra men in Cool Spot. Try to end each level with at least 85 Cool Points so that you can enter the Bonus Level and get some continues.

See Spot Run

Cool Spot's graphics are very cool, indeed. As Spot roams the landscape, his foes are miniaturized to make Spot the big man on can-pus. A lot of attention was paid to detail; the hooks laying around the piers can hurt you, and the mouse traps will spring you forward if you hit them in the right Spot.

Spot's music is more than effervescent. The familiar themes, like "Wipeout" and the theme to The Magnificent Seven, are quite appropriate. You also clearly hear every pop and fizzle in this game, as well as the oh-so-cute digitized voices of the Spots.

  • If you see an enemy just off-screen, but have a barricade between you and your foe (like a wall or part of a dock), shoot the enemy through the barricade. You then won't have to fight them later on.

Between a Spot and a Hard Place

Cool Spot's only drawback is one that most gamers won't mind: 7-Up's game is more frustrating than Pepsi up your nose. Limited continues and a lack of passwords mean you have to finish the game in one sitting. Get the picture?

Even so, you'll find this game fun, and a real challenge to boot. Bet on the red this time and save yourself a Spot.

Download Cool Spot

PC

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
Genesis

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
  • Game modes: Single game mode

Player controls:

  • Up, Down, Left, Right - Arrow keys
  • Start - Enter (Pause, Menu select, Skip intro, Inventory)
  • "A" Gamepad button - Ctrl (usually Jump or Change weapon)
  • "B" button - Space (Jump, Fire, Menu select)
  • "C" button - Left Shift (Item select)

Use the F12 key to toggle mouse capture / release when using the mouse as a controller.

SNES

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
  • Pentium II (or equivalent) 266MHz (500MHz recommended), RAM: 64MB (128MB recommended), DirectX v8.0a or later must be installed
Sega Master System

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
GameGear

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
Gameboy

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

What's black and white and red all over? Try Cool Spots! These well-rounded spokes-spots for 7-Up are now starring in their very own Genesis game.

Heads Up, 7-Up

Yikes! An evil nasty has kidnapped an entire horde of Cool Spots. You take charge of the sole survivor and guide him on his search for his comrades through a strange, larger-than-life world -- ours!

Cool Spot's one-player, multi-scrolling, action/adventure game shows off the Spots' true colors with cool graphics. Download this game, and the first thing you're gonna notice is the enchanting personality of the Spots, which is captured effectively through a range of these little guys' different animations. They surf on 7-Up bottles, yawn or play with a yo-yo when they're bored, leap and flip across the screen, clean their glasses, and warble in excited little squeaky voices. The backgrounds in each level are equally well-done, although with minimal animation.

Run, Spot, Hun

Once Cool Spot's looks pull you in, you'll find the game play simple to learn, but somewhat uneven. The Spots can run, jump, and fire bubbles at their foes. Although the controls are easy to learn and generally straightforward, it's often tough to get the little guys to jump with precision and fire their bubbles in diagonal directions. This can get very un-cool, especially when you're trying to leap from bubble to bubble in Level 4's Wading Around, or trying to fire at buzzing bees in Level 2's Pier Pressure. In each of the game's 11 levels, the Spots are hoppin' and boppin' through a different landscape. Spot will travel from the seashore (complete with happenin' Rastafarian tunes), to the pier, to between the walls, to a wading pool, to a toy train in a toy room, to a strange hi- tech laboratory. Each level features a human-size terrain that a quarter-size Spot must negotiate.

ProTips:

  • In Level 4's Wading Around, you'll reach a point up in the sky where it seems that there's nowhere to go but down. Jump up to the bubble and veer right as far as possible. When the bubble pops, it'll deposit you safely onto a toy rocket.
  • Spot can fire bubbles clean through seemingly solid obstacles, such as pillars, sand dunes, and walls.
  • During Level 2 (Pier Pressure) and Level 5 (Toyland), you have to do some fancy climbing on ropes and shoelaces. To leap from a rope or shoelace to a platform, jump from below the platform up and onto it.

Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz

Scads of uncool enemies with a humorous attitude hang out in each of the different levels. Hermit crabs crawl across the sandy beach and sport polka-dotted boxer shorts after you blast 'em. Mice in pinstriped nightshirts fling hunks of cheese at you between the walls. The Robot from Lost in Space roams the Toy Room's toy shelves.

  • Don't miss Level 2's (Pier Pressure) 7-Up.
  • In Level 3, you'll sometimes have to crawl up screws, where Mice toss cheese at you from two directions. If you inch up slowly you can get within range to take them out but still be under the trajectory of the cheese.

The aim of each level is simple: Collect enough Spots to open the cage and release your Cool Spot buddy. However, if Spot jams his way through the easier, early levels, he won't have enough lives built up to cover his... er... backside the later, tougher areas. To build up lives, Spot's got to collect Spots and other power-ups, such as 7-Ups, which give you seven spots. Once Cool's racked up enough points, he can earn 1-ups and enter the six different Bonus Rounds. One particular power-up keeps Spot in the pink. Guess what the little guy likes to drink? 7-Up! No big surprise! A tall frosty glass occasionally appears when Spot implodes an enemy.

  • Grab all the Spots in a level and earn 10,000 points.
  • Can you spell U-N-C-O-L-A ? In each Bonus Round, use your effervescence to get to the top of the bottle and grab one of the letters in "UNCOLA" With each letter you grab, you earn a continue. (P.S., Don't miss the 7-Up just to the bottom-left of the first Bonus Round).
  • It's always a good idea to grab the Clock power-ups. Extra seconds on the clock give you time to find more Spots and extra points.
  • To earn enough spots to enter the Bonus Round at the end of Level One, (Surfin Safari), you have to travel up through the sky. Stand on the bottle to the left at the beginning of the Round and leap up. You'll grab onto a balloon. You can then leap from balloon to balloon and grab lots of spots.

No Deposit, No Return

Spot starts off easy and gets tougher around Level 4's Wading Around. Adjustable challenge makes the cool guys refreshing for anyone -- beginning to advanced gamers. Changing the difficulty setting adds new and tougher enemies to each level. Plus, it'll put the Cool Spot prisoner in a harder-to-reach location. Although Cool Spot doesn't pack the all-around, in-depth, complex game play found in Sonic The Hedgehog or Super Mario, it's got enough going for it to guarantee the little guys a decent following in the video game world. Worst case, you're gonna have an insatiable craving for a glass of 7-Up! Hmm....

If, like me, you realised long ago that adverts are the only things worth watching on tv these days, then you probably need no introduction to Cool Spot. If, on the other hand, you are one of those unenlightened souls who still watches the programmes that television companies insist on interrupting the adverts with, then I'd better explain that Cool Spot is not, in fact, a suave and sophisticated zit, and introduce him, her or it, as the star of the media campaign for 7-Up. Cool Spot also enjoyed a considerable amount of attention last summer when he (she or it) became the rather unlikely protagonist of one of the best games to appear on the Sega Mega Drive. Now the little chappie (chapesse or, er... chap-it) is setting out to impress pc owning Seven-Up drinkers.

In the time-honoured tradition of character licensing this is, of course, a platform game. The objective of the scarlet pimple-nell is simply to fight his way through a series of two-dimensional scenes to find and rescue a fellow spot who has been incarcerated in a cage. This task is made more difficult than it sounds on two counts. Firstly, our hero (heroine, or urn... hero-it) has to collect a specified number of bonus spots first. (These spots, you understand, while most certainly red, are of the inanimate variety.) Secondly, he has to fight off a variety of malign beasties who prefer their environment to be spotless (sorry about that!).

Death by bubbles

The levels range from the shore, on which Cool Spot is beset by a motley selection of shellfish, to a steam train going full-pelt, complete with gun-toting bandits. Cool Spot dispatches these creatures by firing a stream of bubbles at them (and for those of you with overactive and scatalogical imaginations; (a) don't be so disgusting, and (b) you're totally wrong). The bubbles can be aimed in any direction, a fact which you miss at your peril, since you will soon find yourself in situations where enemies have to be destroyed from odd angles, or even when they are just out of sight off the edge of the screen. The reason being that many of the little sods fire projectiles back or drop bombs on you, so half the trick is finding a location where you can attack them without fear of reprisal. Even in the throes of death many of the enemies find ways of getting their own back at you by exploding or making a last mad dash in your direction. Beyond the extremely abstract nature of its protagonist, it has to be said that Coo! Spot doesn't really offer anything you haven't already seen if you've played the likes of Robocod, Trolls or Zoo!, with the possible exception that the central character is dextrous to a painful degree. You can make the spot spin, roll, do somersaults and a host of other ridiculously energetic activities that will have any self-respecting couch potato feeling quite ill. Leave it alone and the bloody thing still insists on fidgiting all over the place, clicking its fingers and messing with its sunglasses.

The level designs are, on the whole, pretty uninspired, although there are two which merit particular attention. One is composed entirely of slides and air tubes and has you alternately sliding rapidly from the top to the bottom of the level and riding back up to the top on a current of air only to slip all the way back down again. That is until you get the knack of defeating gravity and jumping back up the slides, an exercise that is somewhat akin to running the wrong way up a down-moving escalator. The only other level that has a real spark of originality is the steam train, which is superbly done in mock Western style.

In the can

On each level you must collect a particular percentage of the available bonus spots before you are allowed to shoot the lock of the cage and free your not so cool buddy. Relief from the normal run of events is to be had, however, if you manage to collect a higher percentage of spots. In the latter case, before you are cruelly thrust into the next mad world, you find yourself running the gauntlet of the bonus level which is k set, wait for it, in a kV 7-Up can. The Wk objective here being to collect yourself a nice, fat bonus score by collecting even more bonus I spots. Wa-hay! This is where some of the acrobatic skills you gained in the normal levels really come in handy, because to reach most of the spots you have to jump between balloons, which involves leaping from one and trying to grasp the string of another in mid-air, or by riding in bubbles which take you only a short distance before bursting. A badly timed move at this stage will send you plummeting to the bottom of the can. Fortunately though, the end result is not bits of dead Cool Spot floating around in your 7-Up, since our hero is more flexible than Access and simply flops around pathetically, pretending to do the dying-fly for a while when he hits the deck.

Knocking spots off nothing

I can't help coming away from Cool Spot with the overall impression that it's all show and very little substance. Admittedly, the funky soundtrack and excellent animation really add something but, at the end of the day, this is a platform title which isn't really breaking any new ground. You'll find a lot more variety and invention in Zool 2, for instance, which is reviewed on page 56 of this issue. Cool Spot seems to have substituted difficulty and challenge for variety and length. That will please some accomplished game players, but not many. Having said all that, this is, notwithstanding the original game design, an outstanding conversion of the Mega Drive game which loses absolutely nothing in terms of style or playability over the original.

What's round, cute and red all over? Why, Cool Spot of course! Virgin's witty dot character is bouncing his way over to the Super NES. Spot's bubbly friends are missing in action. Mr. Cool himself is the only one that can save them. Help our shaded hero find them. Send a blast of soapy suds at your foes to knock them off their feet for a while. Grab various icons from the beach to keep your health meter happy.

People say:

8.0

Just when you thought the Genesis version was the best it could get, here comes the Super NES version which outdoes its Sega counterpart! The multi-directional firing and improved graphics just add to the overall fun! The only problem: the whole "Spot thing" is beginning to wear thin. Still, it's a good game!

8.0

While the Genesis version was spectacular, the Super NES version improves upon the only flaw with the Sega edition -the choppy scrolling. With this repaired, Cool Spot is now an even better game with new features in the background and music that really sets the pace. Spot is really the coolest dot around.

8.0

Oh yeah, baby! Spot is back and the Super NES version is even better than the Genesis one. What makes this better is the enhanced game play, more colorful graphics, and excellent music and sound. You can even shoot in any of eight directions while in place. There is also more animation. This is cool, Cool, COOL!

9.0

That little red spot is just too cool. This cart is loaded with colorful backgrounds and excellent animation. There is also a jjamming soundtrack for each level to keep your foot stomping. Levels are large and loaded with the classy humor and attitude you've come to love. Add good control and you've got a winner.

Spot's buddies have been kidnapped and are being held captive in 11 different areas. Only Spot can get them back, and armed with his sud-shooting ability and two great legs for jumping, must single-handedly free them! Spot takes the Sega Genesis to new heights with eye-popping visuals! There is a true feeling of three dimensions, supplied by flawless parallax and absolutely no slowdown! Spot is also a marvel to watch: he snaps his fingers, plays with a yo-yo, and takes off his glasses and cleans them when you make him stand still! It isn't always laughs: you must carefully guide Spot through the levels! Why would Spot try to rescue his friends? Because he can!

That famous star from the 7-Up television commercials comes to life in the 16-Bit world! Guide Cool Spot through many lands in search of the infamous 7-Up spots. Spot's search will take him through the darkest regions of your bathroom walls, a harrowing train ride, a serene beachfront, a construction zone, and many more places!

Spot can do all sorts of things like rope climbing, floating to higher areas, and shooting enemies with soda bubbles. Your main objective is to collect spots to increase your Cool Meter and earn extra lives and bonus points.

So pop open a soda, grab a controller, sit back, and chill with the ultimate cool dude, Cool Spot!

The Cool Spots took the Genesis by storm earlier this year. Now the little guys are fixing to captivate Game Gear audiences with an excellent pint-size portover.

Don't Fence Me In

Somebody's grabbed those cute little Spots and penned them up in cages all over the place. Fortunately, one of their brave itty-bitty compatriots has the gumption to hop 'n' bop across a very dangerous humansized world to set them free. This UN-likely hero has to traverse a beach, a dock, the inside of a wall, a wading pool, a toy room, and more. Each is an obstacle course of objects and critters, ranging from toy planes and rockets to crabs and mousetraps.

Little Spot defends himself with rapid-fire bubbles, which he flings across the screen in eight directions. Spots running and jumping is easier to control here than in the original Genesis game, although his bubble aim is still a little iffy.

The UN-hero can't unlock his buddy's cage on a given level until he's grabbed a certain number of Spots. Other powerups abound, and a bonus round inside of a 7-Up bottle waits at the end of each level.

Cool Spots graphics are .delightful and extremely well-done by Game Gear standards. The Spot animations capture the little guy's personalities well, and the backgrounds feature entertaining objects galore in bright, clear colors. The sounds are also positively effervescent.

You Won't Be UN-Happy

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

ProTip: Always grab Clock power-ups. Spot gets bonus points and 1-ups for time left over at the end of a level.

  • Virgin / Super NES

The famous 7-UP Spot is starring in its very own video game! Based loosely upon the classic board game Othello, Spot II breaks new ground in innovation! In Othello, the pieces change according to the end piece placed upon a row, but in Spot, the pieces change color around a central piece! After each level is complete, you get to see a cinema display showing Spot in different situations like surfing on a 7-up bottle or building a sand castle.

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.

Spot's buddies are missing and it's up to you to find them. Cool Spot comes to Game Gear in a very cool way. This translation is a carbon copy of the Genesis version, losing very little in the graphics and animation department. This cool dude has to fight his way through various levels, using his eightway directional firing suds.

Spot also has to use his jumping abilities to help complete his mission.

  • Manufacturer: Virgin
  • Machine: Game Boy
  • Theme: Action

If you liked the Super NES or Genesis versions of Cool Spot, you'll love this portable version of the same game. Save your friends and explore huge levels.

Like before, there are a lot of dangers, from pinching crabs to killer mice. What's a Spot to do?

Cool Spot is action-packed and portable.

  • Action

Oh No! All your Cool Spot buddies have been captured, and it's up to you to save them! It's an action-packed adventure that's a riot to play. This cart is ported over from the Genesis version, but it is now even better! Great thrills from a great game!

  • Theme: Action
  • Available: 1993
  • Levels: 12+

You've got a Spot on your Genesis! Cool Spot by Virgin combines action and attitude to create one of the coolest games yet!

Spot is in pursuit of his kidnapped friends. Only this sud-shooting spot can save them. You will travel from the beach loaded with crabs to the inner workings of a wall infested with mice! Watch Spot's life meter: it will show you how much he can take! Stick around to see if Spot can do it!

People say:

8

Cool Spot is a right-on-target action winner from Virgin! This game is filled with some great sights and sounds, and the interaction and control are tweaked just right to deliver good response and open up a host of special techniques. The personality in the Spot characters is captured perfectly and the game is a lot of fun!

9

Cool Spot is one of those licensees that you knew could become a great game! The levels are all spectacular with nice scenery and music to complement the action. Spot's many features like shooting soda bubbles and speaking in a squeaky voice are nice touches. So don your shades and grab a soda, this one is great!

8

Cool Spot ends up being one of the most enjoyable carts to hit the Genesis in a while. The graphics are cute and the animation of Spot is great. The music and sounds are fitting and leaving the controls alone has never been so much fun. The game does get repetitive however, but Spot keeps his cool to the end.

9

Kids across America are going to be clamoring for this hot Spot! Somehow, Sega manages to squeak in the cutest character to ever hit the TV airwaves, add tons of intricate graphic details, plenty of techniques, and a sense of humor! Cool Spot is the coolest spot around town, and this is one license that didn't get away!

They're far from lazy and they're definitely crazy. Who are they? They're the 7-Up Spots.

These well-rounded pranksters are starring in a brand new adventure. They search for their missing 7-Up bottle in an amusement park, on a beach, and around town.

Cool Spot also know as "Spot and the Quest for Cool" - Informal Title.

You play as Spot, the popular 1980s mascot for the 7UP soft drink company, as he wanders about in various places collecting enough stuff to free his buddies.

The adorable 7Up mascot has found his way as the star of his own game, COOL SPOT.

Realizing the personality and flair of Spot, the 7-Up mascot, in the early '90s Virgin Interactive acquired the character license and created a side-scrolling adventure in the tradition of Super Mario Bros.

Cool Spot is a solid, colorful platform game featuring the 7-up mascot in the hero position. The game objective is fairly simple; you have to collect enough number of bonuses throughout each level in order to find the trapped Spots.

After seeing all of his friends get kidnapped, the last remaining Spot sets out on an adventure of rescue and redemption through 10 levels of platforming excitement. As you venture through beaches, toy stores, docks, and piers, you'll have to deal with enemies like UFOs, chattering teeth, bouncing slime balls and cheese-throwing mice. If you're good enough, you'll also get to play the five bonus rounds that will really test your skills as 7Up's main man.

Your friends are counting on you to save them and bring them back to your world of cool carbonation don't let them down!

Cool Spot features:

  • 7Up mascot Spot is the star
  • 10 levels of action
  • Five bonus levels
  • Photo-realistic graphics
  • Silly but dangerous enemies to face

Developed by Virgin Games--which just released a Spot adventure for the Game Boy--this wild Genesis adventure features the same kind of clever animation and sense of humor as Virgin's Mick & Mack as the Global Gladiators.

A scrolling Sonic-style adventure of platform jumping and exploring. Cool Spot looks easy enough to master--but don't be fooled by the soft-drink mascot's rubbery appearance and innocuous surroundings.

Snapshots and Media

PC Screenshots

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Screenshots

SNES/Super Nintendo/Super Famicom Screenshots

Sega Master System Screenshots

GameGear Screenshots

GameBoy Screenshots

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