Spot: The Video Game (NES) Playthrough
199A playthrough of Arcadia's 1990 license-based puzzle game for the NES, Spot: The Video Game.
This video shows four games played:
0:52 Game 1, AI set to level 1
8:23 Game 2, AI set to level 3, alternate board
12:31 Game 3, AI set to level 5, alternate board
17:52 Game 4, all players are AI (triggers hidden credit roll at end)
Whenever mention is made of "the 7 Up game," I imagine most gamers' minds immediately conjure up images of Cool Spot, a high profile 16-bit platformer released by Virgin back in 1993. What many don't realize, however, is that it wasn't the first.
Spot: The Video Game was first, but it wasn't always intended to be an advertising vehicle for the "uncola" competitor to Sprite. The game was originally created in 1988 for various computer platforms, but Virgin snapped up the rights and the project was shelved. In 1990, it resurfaced in two distinctly different forms: there was the sci-fi themed Leland arcade game Ataxx, and there was the game featured in this video, Spot, which was released on the NES, Game Boy, and computers.
Spot: The Video Game is a puzzle-style board game that resembles Othello. Four players each begin the game with a single piece placed at a corner of the board, and pieces can move in one of two ways: they can be "cloned" to any open space directly adjacent, or they can be jumped twice that distance. Whenever a piece lands, it'll capture any opposing players' nearby pieces, and whoever has the most pieces on the board at the end is declared the winner.
The concept is easy to grasp, but as is the case with any good puzzler, the devil is in the details. Playing well requires a fair bit of strategy and quick thinking, but whether you're playing against the AI or a group of friends, there's a whole lot of fun to be found here.
And as unnecessary as the license tie-in may be, it's hard to deny the appeal of the presentation. Spot hops in and out the board as pieces are shuffled around, skating, dancing, and pole vaulting across the playfield with a collection of impressively fluid animation sequences that remind me of the Whammy cartoons from the Press Your Luck game show. Even the option screen manages to pack in a few mini-cartoons that play on the little black-and-white TV sitting at the center of the screen.
Spot: The Video Game is an excellent puzzler that I'd recommend to any fan of the genre. It won't settle an upset stomach, but it will entertain you for hours at a time given the chance.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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