Back in the 1990s (or was it earlier?), 7-Up tried to make its product cool through special advertisement. There was Fido Dido (a triangular-shaped character), and there was Spot, the red dot on its landmark drink. He even came to life in video game form. Once again, the Genesis version is superior is almost every aspect to the Super Nintendo one.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics are very beautiful for the time. Spot’s movements are very fluid and he is very agile. Jumping sideways makes his do somersaults, his walking looks very relaxed and his firing looks like he’s throwing Frisbees. And when he’s idle, he casually snaps his fingers and even plays the yo-yo! When it’s game over he cries, and his pushing (of the letters from the bonus level) is really life-like. Let’s also mention his smashing of the alarm clock when he’s overtime.

The levels come in pairs: a beach, a pier, inside a wall, a water basin, inside a playroom and unique levels (a train and a labyrinth skewed downwards). Except for the wall levels (the lighting was dimmer in the SNES version and you could only see clearly in a tiny circle around you), they all look better on the Genesis version. The beach has beautiful lounge chairs and volleyball nets, the piers have wooden poles and floating boats (you see them moving), the walls have a darker background and spider webs, the playrooms have all sorts of toys around, the train is constantly moving (even when you pause) so be careful if you have motion sickness, and the labyrinth has all sort of detours to confuse you.

If you collect enough red dots (depending on the difficulty level), you can even access a bonus level. You are teleported inside a 7-Up bottle where your goal is to spell UNCOLA. Back then, spelling it out at the most difficult level and finishing the game prompted you to call a number and maybe win a prize. Now it only serves as continues. The design is simple but beautiful (it’s green all around and you see the beach) and the increasing difficulty level (there are floating mines appearing all around) is sure to challenge you.

Finally, your enemies come in varied forms and are also well-drawn. The hermit crab will surprise you (although they’re more static than other enemies), the mosquitoes will annoy you (and they fly pretty well), mice will throw their cheese at you, frogs will spit at you and then plunge back, toy dentures will try biting you with their fluid movements and coal miners will throw their production at you (albeit not as fluidly as other enemies).

Music: 9/10

Once again, the Genesis version outshines the SNES version on that feature too.

Except for the pier levels, the music is always better on the Genesis because it sounds less synthesized (believe it or not). It’s especially obvious for the wall levels; on the SNES it sounds like they had trouble recording it and the sound level was too high. But on the Genesis it sounds more intriguing. Ditto for the bonus level; the sound was too high and synthesized for the SNES whereas the Genesis version just sounds high-tech, a little like Phantasy Star IV. In short, the Genesis music just sounds smoother and more joyful – although the beach levels on the SNES seem to have “Jamaican drums”, the Genesis version sounds more exotic and beach-like. Finally, the toy room levels on Genesis have a goofy synthesized “whistling” not heard on the SNES and the intro song has a much more realistic, Beach Boy beat – it just flows better.

Sound effects are also pretty good. You can hear Spot’s pain when he gets hurt (and the nothing-happened sound he makes when he gets back on his feet shows his endurance), you can feel his effort when he pushes something (even if it’s the wall) and his jumping really sounds like he has springs on his shoes. On the Genesis version, collecting many red dots in little time yields a crescendo ending with a “Yeah!” from Spot and a little bonus in points.

Although their sound aren’t as memorable, your enemies can still be heard. Crabs move their fierce claws to attack you, planes drop powerful bombs (you can hear the whistling of the dropping) and the toy dentures yield a goofy sound as they jump. What jumps in and out of a water pound sounds realistic, and your fireballs sound fierce. Finally, I like the way they deviate from the cage where your friends are when you haven’t collected enough red dots for your difficulty level.

Addictiveness: 8/10

For me, the music was enough to get me hooked to the game. And since there is a sound test in the welcome screen, I used the opportunity to record some of the tracks with my old red tape recorder (yes, yes!) Slight caveat: only the SNES has the possibility to play around with the Virgin symbol, which the Genesis version doesn’t have.

Another big plus for the game (especially for the Genesis version) is the availability of a cheat code making you invincible. It’s better on the Genesis since, with appropriate manipulation, you can cheat at the most difficult level, easing your way to spell UNCOLA and the get prize– on the SNES you could only do it at the medium level because it was right from the intro screen.

Finally, for “completionnists”, there are three difficulty levels to challenge you. The more difficult, the more red dots you will need to free your friends and access the bonus level. At the hardest level, you will need all but one of them, and you can’t heal the damage you receive!

Story: N/A

Your goal is simply to save your friends from their cage before time runs out. There is not even a boss to fight to set them free, so moving along…

Depth: 6/10

In the early game, the levels (including the bonus) don’t have much to offer. They are pretty straightforward and, other than avoiding enemies, you won’t have much to do to complete them unless you chose a higher difficulty level.

But starting at the train level, the game much more challenging. The levels are suddenly larger (you have to climb quite high to free your friend on the train level), enemies are more numerous and red dots become more dispersed.

The bonus levels too become increasingly larger as you spell out UNCOLA. Not only are there mines floating around but the bottle inside which you are is bigger, making the collection of the letter and the red dots more challenging

Difficulty: 6/10

In itself, the game is moderately challenging. Enemies are reasonably difficult (increasingly so as you advance) and they each represent a different challenge. For example enemies in a shell take more hits to kill than a mosquito of a frog. Levels with water are challenging as you can’t swim, and the labyrinth level has no flat floors so you will find yourself constantly jumping. Finally, the train level can be challenging for people not used to platform games as you can easily fall back on the ground, making you do the road again (and if you hit a midway lamppost, die and fall again, all the enemies will reappear. Of course you also have to climb back up).

The main challenge in this game stems from the higher difficulty levels. For medium and hard, you will need to explore the levels more thoroughly as you will need more red dots to free you friend and access the bonus level. And you need to do it quickly since you are timed. Finally, the hardest difficulty barely (if at all) offers ways for you to heal with the 7-Up “Erlenmeyer” since no enemy ever produce one. At the easy level they pop up once in a while when you defeat an enemy; not at the hardest level. Of course, enemies are more numerous and vicious at higher difficulty levels.

In short, I strongly recommend Cool Spot. The graphics are appealing to the eye, the music is jolly and exotic and the difficulty level is reasonable. The levels become increasingly bigger and more difficult as you advance so there will be plenty to challenge you. Will you be able to spell UNCOLA and get the special phone number?