PrinceWatercress plays Cool Spot (SMS) - Part 3 of 4

If you thought you could avoid the wading pool level...sorry, you're still gonna have to do it.

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Wading Around

You'll start at the bottom of the pool. You'll need pinpoint accuracy to land on the platforms while shooting at the frogs that will spit at you. You'll also need to make some leaps of faith to reach some of the lily pads. If you land in the water, it's instant death.

Once you get above the pool, be ready to jump on some UFO platforms and jump off when you get on them, as they will tilt and send you down as soon as you get on them. Also, be ready to shoot down some planes that fly back and forth. Just listen for the buzzing sound.

There are a few areas will you need to drop down and return to an earlier point just to get some cool points and other things, including some time.

Look for strings! Those will show you where the blimps you can land on are. Just stay away from the edges; you can still slide off those.

There is a big spot on the right end of the first red rocket platform. The red rocket platforms are slanted and will cause you to slide off, but you can jump back in the other direction to save yourself. 

You should be 84% cool when you find the cage. The last 16% will be off the left edge of the blimp, and there will be a bubble that carries you back up above everything else you need to collect.

Bonus Level 5

The second "I" will be at the top with all of the other power-ups, all the way to the right. For best results, keep holding Button 2 to ensure you always bounce off a bubble.

Back To The Wall

We're now repeating stage themes, as this one is the same as Off The Wall but with a different level layout.

There are a lot of spiders to shot down in the level. Good thing you can shoot through walls and ceilings, right? 

Bonus Level 6

The "N" will be in the upper-right corner. You'll need to criss-cross your way across the bubbles to that corner to get to it.

PrinceWatercress plays Cool Spot (SMS) - Part 2 of 4

Can you believe we're halfway through this game already?

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Off The Wall

Check behind the pipe at the start for cool points.

Be be ready to avoid nails, barbed wire and mouse traps. You may have to make a running stat to avoid some hazards, as you don't have much room for error with the barbed wire and the mouse traps. As for enemies, you've got spiders, mice in pajamas that throw cheese at you.

The gray rods with the cables coiled around them can be climbed on. Just jump towards them and hold Up or Down to grab on.

Bonus Level 3

The "R" is in the upper-left corner, near the left wall.

By "A button," I of course mean Button 2. That's what I get for emulating.

There's a lot of points at the top, so be ready to brave mines and ride a few bubbles upwards to score easily.

Radical Rails

We're at the midpoint already!

Just like on the 16-bit systems, you've got a ton of slopes to slide down and a few columns you can rocket upwards. The cage will be in the upper-left corner of the level, so all you need to do is slide around, jump up the slopes when necessary, and go through every nook and cranny to find as many cool points as you can. There's also a 1-Up at the bottom in addition to the one you'll find somewhere in the maze, so if you know what you're doing, you can get three extra lives coming out of this area.

Bonus Level 4

The "G" will be near the upper-left corner, and it will take a while to get to it if you're not used to how spread apart all of the bubbles are. You'll also find four big cool point icons in that actual corner, which can be a big plus in case you're low on points in this area.

PrinceWatercress plays Cool Spot (SMS) - Part 1 of 4

After seeing this version of the game on and off, I decided to try it for myself. Not bad.

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Just like in the 16-bit versions of the game, you'll need to collect the red dots that act as Cool Points, get beakers of red liquid to replenish health, collect 1-ups and shoot down the locks on the cages when you get enough Cool Points to free your fellow Spot and move on to the next stage.

Unlike the 16-bit versions, however, there are fewer stages due to the amount of space to work with, and some of the level types from the more powerful hardware don't even get an 8-bit rendition, with the music from one of the removed types being used only at the ending.

Left and Right let you move left and right, Button 1 shoots projectiles and Button 2 jumps. Holding Up and Down lets you look up and down if you're standing still. You can use the D-Pad to aim while attacking. At the bottom of the screen, you have your score, your current time left (which causes you to lose a life if you run out of it), your current health and lives and your current percentage on the cool meter. The health meter is Spot's face, which vanishes more and more the more damage you take. Drinking the beakers of red liquid will increase your health.

Shell Shock

Just like on Genesis and Mega Drive, there's a cool point behind the bottle at the start. You'll need to pick up those red spots to bring up your cool meter. The big ones with the V on them will be worth more. You'll need at least 60% to break the lock on the cage containing your fellow Spot so you can free them and move on to the next level. If you get even more cool points, you can get the bonus level.

For this area, be sure to check the nook and crannies of this level, especially around the big beach chair, 

The enemies here are just like when I played it a while back: the hermit crabs that move back and forth and lose their shells when you hit them once, the dragonflies that hover around in the air, and the crabs that come out of the holes to snip at you with their claws.

The hands with the clocks give you extra time. These things are few and far between, and the game barely gives you enough time to explore, find everything and finish the level without losing a life due to time running out.

The flags are checkpoints. Hit them so you don't return to the start when you die.

The hands that are pointing in a certain direction will tell you where to go. When you reach the far right end of the stage, you'll be pointed towards balloons you can grab and jump from as well as bubbles you can bounce off of. Hold the jump button to bounce higher This will make for a good amount of the cool points that you'll get in this level, so explore the top of the level before breaking the cage.

When moving left or right, you'll start out slow, then move at a quicker pace like in the Sonic games, just like in the 16-bit counterparts. Keep this in mind.

Bonus Level 1

You'll need to be 80% cool at the end of a level to access the bonus game.

You'll have a limited amount of time to bounce off all the bubbles - which do come back after a few seconds - to get all the cool points before you run out of time. This is easy now, but it will get harder. You can find some bonus time, but you'll only be able to do it once in all of these bonus levels.

The "V" is in the top center of the bonus level. Spell "VIRGIN" to get more continues.

Pier Pressure

Ah, the dock level. I remember this.

You'll have worms crawling all over the ropes, crabs walking back and forth, bees flying around and oysters ready to spit at you.

You can climb on the ropes with Up and Down on the D-Pad while in front of a rope. You can also change the direction you can fire by tapping Left or Right, which makes it easier to shoot to the side.

The jacks are sharp objects and will hurt you.

If you don't know where to go, see if there is a wall you can see through, and go through it. That will usually help you out. Be sure to jump around in the walls that you can pass through; it 

There are fish in some of the pools of water on the floor, and they will take multiple hits to defeat. Take them down before they do the same to you.

Spot will faceplant if you drop from too far down, and while it does not hurt you, it does stun you for a second.

Some enemies will drop health if you defeat them...if you can grab the health without accidentally scrolling it off-screen, that is!

If you lose a life, enemies stay dead, and your time will instantly be refilled.

Bonus Level 2

The mines blow up when you run into them, and they will do damage.

Make your way up on the left side to get the first "I". 

The smaller bubbles will carry Spot upwards briefly if you jump into them. Be ready to hold Button 2 to jump higher when the bubbles blow up and Spot launches upwards.

PrinceWatercress plays Yume Penguin Monogatari - Part 6 of 6

Time to bring this game to a close.

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Stage 5 is where things really get hard. Avoid as many fish as possible, and get that invincibility! As for the boss battle, you'll really want to time it so that you can send the steel drums into the boss.

Stage 6 is easy when you know what to do; it's the boss that's a real pain. Avoid the fruit as you shoot down the hands, then aim at the light in the center as normal while picking up the bottles of Fat-B-Gone to ensure you stay thin.

Once you beat this loop, that's the real end of the game! You just beat Yume Penguin Monogatari!

PrinceWatercress plays Yume Penguin Monogatari - Part 5 of 6

That was a close one.

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Grab everything that you can in Stage 3. Also, get the flight power-up and hold on to it for dear life, because you'll want to get to the goal with as little difficulty as possible so you can take on Frosting Man with ease.

In Stage 4, don't run into anything! As crucial as it was in Stage 2, it is even more crucial here. If you can get the missiles early, make sure you save them, as they will help you tear through the enemies. The screen-clearing power-up really helps here, too. As for the boss, watch out for those eggs and don't get hit by him when he is big, as you don't want time to run out during the boss battle.

PrinceWatercress plays Yume Penguin Monogatari - Part 4 of 6

It's time for the second loop of the game, and it's definitely more difficult compared to the first one.

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Compared to the first loop, you have less leeway when it comes to your weight, as you'll gain a lot more weight for eating something you shouldn't. You also get seven seconds off each clock instead of fifteen, so avoiding running into enemies is crucial. Also, you get far less of a weight loss bonus for all the time you have left.

In Stage 1, the birds will drop blue ball enemies that split into four fruits that travel diagonally. You'll also have rolling rocks that you'll need to avoid. 

In Stage 2, you want to stay away from everything. Shoot what you can and take any bottles and power-ups you can, but if you run into anything, you'll be back to normal, or worse, brought to a chubby weight.

PrinceWatercress plays Yume Penguin Monogatari - Part 3 of 6

The game may be over, but there's a second loop to keep players busy.

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Stage 5

Don't fall into the water, whatever you do, as it will ruin your chances of beating the stage with an ideal weight. Watch those platforms, and watch out for the fish that dive out of the water!

The gorillas throw coconuts; be ready to avoid them when they drop down. The jellyfish will be flying around, but if you're thin, you can easily get rid of them.

The octopus tentacles act as platforms. Watch out for the rice cakes that the octopus spits out. Hold A while jumping to float.

The M icon gives you invincibility. It will help you on the way to the whale, whose blowhole will be able to take you to the pirate ship where you will face Captain Ginta.

The guys with the helmets are the same as the enemies that throw fruit from the earlier stages.

Captain Ginta will throw steel barrels around, and they will bounce around at angles. You'll need to hit the barrels with your attack and make it so that the barrels hit Captain Ginta in the back, or else he will throw the barrels back at you. If the barrels turn red, they are about to disappear. Hitting Ginta will net you bottles of Fat-B-Gone. Also, you'll want to avoid the fruit that he throws at the same time. This boss battle will take some practice.

After this, Ginji will kidnap Penko for real, and Penta will have to save her.

Stage 6

Fun music here.

Hold Right to go down the ramp and jump close to the bottom of the ramp, and hold A to float over the water. Keep attacking all the walruses. You'll need the power-ups.

To beat the boss, take out the hands while avoiding the fruit that they throw. When the gloves are destroyed, attack the visor at the top of the head. When it opens up, get some shots in, then move to the side to avoid the laser. Also, be ready to avoid the rice cakes that Ginji throws while grabbing the bottles. After enough shots, Penka will hook back with Penta only to become overweight herself. It's also going to be time for the second loop, which is much harder...get ready!

If you beat the boss while still fat, Penka thanks you saving her, but tells you that you're still fat and runs off with Ginji afterwards. What was the point?