Spot Goes to Hollywood (Genesis)

Spot Goes to Hollywood
Developer: Eurocom Publishers: Acclaim Entertainment (US), Virgin Interactive (EU) Platforms: Genesis Released in US: February 4, 1995 Released in EU: January 26, 1996 This game has a hidden developer message. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has debugging material. This game has a notes page

Spot Goes to Hollywood, the sequel to Cool Spot, is an isometric platforming game.

Sub-Page

Notes

Button Cheats

During gameplay, press Start to pause and enter one of the following cheat codes.

LURBLURBLUR - Cycle Colors

Left, Up, Right, B, Left, Up, Right, B, Left, Up, Right

Memory address $FFE622 is set to #$FF. You will lose the ability to pause the game.

Before:

After:

BBACLUB - Houses

B, B, A, C, Left, Up, B

This displays a screen with drawings of houses that spin around.

ARDBLUBBA - FRUITMEISTER II Mini-Game

A, Right, Down, B, Left, Up, B, B, A

Enter the password PROGRESS before using this cheat. This loads a slot machine mini-game using portraits of the programmers. Press Start to play, or press C to exit. No, nothing special happens if you win. Maybe the prequel exists in one of their earlier games?

UBBABALL - Developer Messages

Up, B, B, A, B, A, Left, Left

Enter one of the passwords listed below before using this cheat for developer messages.

CHASDAVE

WORMBALL

TRUELOVE

HANDYBAG

LOVELIFE

BLADDURACUD - Mine Cart Changes

B, Left, A, Down, Down, Up, Right, A, C, Up, Down

Memory address $FFE625 is set to #$FF.

The mine cart accelerates on flat terrain and has a higher top speed. The mine cart top speed is located at memory address $FFF7D8. The original value is #$340, and this cheat sets it to #$360.

ADBADCRAB - 99 Lives

A, Down, B, A, Down, C, Right, A, B

Memory address $FFE2F1 is set to #$63.

RABLARDBALL - Finish Stage

Right, A, B, Left, A, Right, Down, B, A, Left, Left

Memory address $FFE60E is set to #$FF.

This doesn't seem to work while riding the mine cart.

(Source: Mezmorize (all cheats))

Debug Text

Text printing for a debug menu begins at $2CD7E4, but the programming for the menu is missing, unfortunately.

DEBUG MENU V2.02
SLO-MO MODE
RASTER CHECK
JUMP HIGH
TEST OBJECTS
INVULNERABLE
DEBUG PANEL
MAP VIEW
RESET GAME
OFF
ON

(Source: Mezmorize)

Assuming the debug menu uses the same font and palette as the checksum screen (as is the case with The Jungle Book (Genesis)), it would look something like this:

Action Replay codes 2B2512:0001 + 2C378C:D7E4 were used to produce this screenshot at bootup.

Checksums

The game contains two checksum checks similar to the ones in The Jungle Book, another game by the same developer.

$2B2512

If the word at $2B2512 is non-zero in the North American version (e.g., Action Replay code 2B2512:0001), the game runs a checksum and displays the result on this screen at bootup. The checksum calculation ignores the words at $2B2512 and $2B2514. The checksum for the North American version is 284C, which matches the stored value at $00018E.

$2B2514

If the word at $2B2514 is non-zero in the North American version, the game runs a checksum (ignoring the words at $2B2512 and $2B2514) and compares it to the stored value at $00018E. The result of the comparison doesn't matter, however, as the code path for a failed checksum is a single NOP command, and the next operation is the same destination as a good checksum.

Oddities

"Cool Spot 3"

Not just once, but twice during the game's credits, the game refers to itself as "Cool Spot 3: Spot Goes To Hollywood". This is quite strange, considering that only one prior game had ever bore the "Cool Spot" name, that game of course being Cool Spot. It's possible that "Cool Spot 2" is supposed to be Spot: The Cool Adventure, but not only does it share neither the name or basic gameplay of Cool Spot, it was also rebranded as a McDonaldland game in Europe, and the European version of Spot Goes To Hollywood doesn't omit or change this part of the credits. Another possibility is that the original Spot: The Video Game is intended to be "Cool Spot 1", making Cool Spot its sequel, and thus "Cool Spot 2".