Spot: The Video Game (NES) Review

Do you remember product mascots? I’m talking about the ones in the 90s that were all over the place. They were these cool, smooth-talking, ultra-confident chads that could make you buy just about anything. They made you eat the cheese-dusted packing peanuts. They sold you the sugary cookie cereal and told you it was good for you. They even made you want to smoke! (Kids, don’t actually smoke ever. It’s not cool at all. And don’t do drugs either. We don’t need another Wally Bear and the No Gang game.)

Just say NO! to the NO! Gang.

One of the companies that had a mascot was, of course, the soda brand, 7Up. They used the red dot in the name, drew some sunglasses on them, and called them Spots. These commercials would show these Spots typically changing a brown cola into a 7Up, or otherwise doing some cool things like surfing or skateboarding. Personally, I really dug these commercials and Spot in general. It certainly made me want to consume a lot of 7Up.

Shades made anything cool in the 90s.

Now and then, these product mascots would somehow end up on a video game, and Spot was no exception. If you were playing video games in the 90s, you knew about this game. You probably saw it in Nintendo Power or saw the box art and thought, ‘Wow, now that is a cool game that I want to play!’ And that was certainly on my mind when I asked my parents to get this game for me for Christmas.

And I did get a 7Up Spot game… just not that one. Instead, I got Spot: The Video Game on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

I’m either six or sixty at any given moment.

Released in 1990 by Virgin Mastertronic, this was actually the very first game to feature the soda mascot. Cool Spot, the game I was alluding to earlier, would follow in 1993, followed by Spot Goes To Hollywood in 1997. Unlike those games, this one isn’t a platformer but something rather different, to say the least. Spot: The Video Game is instead more of a board game along the lines of Othello or Reversi. And I’m sure I’m starting to lose some of my audience, but hear me out.

The game takes place on a 7x7 board covered in divots and is played with 2–4 players, either computer or human (this is one of the few games to use the NES Four Score peripheral). Each player starts with one colored spot on each respective corner and takes turns filling those divots with more of their spots. You do this by either selecting one of your spots and moving either one or two spaces away in any direction, including diagonally. Moving a spot by one will create an entirely new spot on the divot you selected, while moving by two will move that spot from the old divot into the new one.

Eventually this…

…will become this.

Any different colored spots that directly surround (up to 8 all around) a moved spot will be changed into that color, reducing your opponents’ spot count and increasing your own. Your opponents will be trying to do the same, so the idea is to know when to clone a spot by moving one, or when to take the leap and claim your opponents without leaving yourself open to having yours stolen. Once all the divots have been filled, or only one player’s color is left on the board, whoever has the most of their color on the board wins the game.

You’ll be seeing a lot of color changes, especially with a full set of four players.

I know this sounds so out of left field for a company mascot such as Spot, but despite lacking the ‘Cool’ label that its follow-up game has, this game is actually pretty cool itself. If you enjoy games where you need to be a little strategic, or otherwise want an easy, casual game to burn time with, then there’s something for you here. And that enjoyment is further increased by just how customizable this game is. At the main menu, you have the edit feature, where you can change the board how you like, as long as all four corners are present and some movement can be achieved. You can also select from a handful of pre-made board configurations, and you can spend a good 30 minutes to an hour just playing through some of these configurations, just to see how the game flows.

You can also adjust how many players are in the game, up to four, and if you’re using computer players, adjust their AI between 1 and 5. And I have to say, adjusting the CPU skill and using some of these boards can create some pretty hectic games. Hell, there have been times where my very last spot was taken over, and I was knocked out of the game just watching the CPUs trying to beat each other instead. Putting all the CPUs at 5 and playing a game will get you the game credits upon completion, despite who wins, so I guess that’s the end goal for the overall game.

A very unconventional, but rad, options menu.

But I think the biggest appeal of this game is the Spots themselves. Not the game pieces, but the mascots that pop out of them. Depending on what direction and how far you go, the Spots will do a bunch of fun little animations that bring a lot of charm to the game. They’ll Walk Like An Egyptian, rollerskate, pole vault, head-dive, fall back into, breakdance their way to divots, and the first few times, they’re fun to watch. And if you do get tired of the animations, well, you can turn them off in the options, and that’ll speed the game up immensely. And they look REALLY good as sprites. They did a good job with the graphics of this one.

These little guys are the most animated part of the game, really giving off the same wackiness they show in the commercials.

The audio, however, is a bit limited. The main song plays in the option, edit, and while the game is waiting for a player to act, and it’s a catchy little tune. There is also an admittedly rad song that’ll play when you wait on the title screen for a bit during the demo play, but other than that, it’s all short little jingles for players starting their turns or the Spots making their moves. And these jingles and any sound effects that accompany the Spots’ animations are perfectly fine. They aren’t too annoying or feel intrusive, and hey, you may have these jingles in your head for some time. I’ve had them in mine for about 35 years now.

Randomly, a slot game will appear where matching all three images will give you an extra turn. I have never matched all three in my years of playing this.

I did a little digging on this game, and it turns out it was originally supposed to be called Infection, programmed by Wise Owl Software and sold to Virgin Mastertronic UK. While Infection was made for a few early computer consoles, it was never released commercially. However, it would be licensed out to Leland Corporation in 1990, where it was released to Arcades as Ataxx and given a sci-fi horror theme. Meanwhile, Virgin would release Spot: The Video Game, without the company branding as a budget title, but once 7Up got involved, it was sold at full price. There’s been a handful of independent games that have used this concept, with some modifications such as board size. And I would love to check those out sometime as well.

Screenshote for Infection on the C64.

The same game, without the adorable, marketable mascots.

Overall, Spot: The Video Game takes a simple board game concept, slaps on some lovable mascots, and gives the player a reasonable amount of customization options. And it all works in its favor, depending on how much you’re into games like this. It can be a bit samey after some rounds, but this is more of a game you play in short sessions rather than spend days on. If you want a game you can pick up and put down when the mood strikes, you can find a physical copy for about $12 now. It’s been ported to a handful of consoles, even the Game Boy if you want it on the go, albeit less impressive graphically and even more limited audibly. Just be sure to grab a nice, cool, refreshing 7Up while you do. And 7Up, if you’re reading… I’ll take payment in 2 Liters. Selling out ain’t free, you know!

RATING: B