Cool Cool Toon (クルクルトゥーン?) is a rhythm-based music video game exclusive to the Dreamcast. It was developed and published by SNK and released in Japan only on August 10, 2000.The letters A, B, X and Y appear at the edge or in the middle of a large circle on screen. The player must use the analogue stick to move a marker to the letter and press the corresponding button on the controller at the right time. If the player misses too many letters, they will fail.
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I am a massive sucker for those colorful 1999/2000 Y2K aesthetics and by god does this game deliver that in spades. Stylistically this game is awesome, with some insanely cool cool character designs done by Ippei Gyoubu, an artist that does hella rad work. The visuals are that perfect level of dreamcast low-poly chonkiness mixed with an assortment of pop colors all over the place. Aesthetically and stylistically, this game owns.
While there is a plot involving two random kids getting yote into their TV into coolcooltoonland where everything must be settled by shmooving danceoffs, the plot really isn't the most coherent and seems like it serves as more a means to an end, that end being to show off the aforementioned rad ass character designs and world. Plot points and new characters get thrown around left and right, and the main point isn't to think about it and just enjoy the colorful craziness that each chapter offers.
That all being said the actual rhythm gameplay is pretty ho-hum. There's a big circle with various button inputs that you gotta move the cursor with the stick and press the button to make the input happen. My only gripes with it are really the fact that I can't do the edge-of-the-circle slide moves to save my life which ruins all my combos and sometimes when things get busy it's really hard to sight-read what the hell the game wants you to do even if the pattern and rhythm is quite simple. The game is hella forgiving though both with timing windows and how close your cursor actually needs to be to make a hit count so it's not all too bad. This game even supports the samba de amigo maracas officially! (though it's quite tiring to play that way and the game actually does have to handicap its own gameplay to make it work, but hey!) The setlist is also quite existent, nothing super offensive to listen to but also nothing that I would ever go looking up the OST for.
It's def style-over-substance at the end of the day but yanno that doesn't stop it from being cool cool. Honestly if the soundtrack was as cracked as the visual design this would have been an easy 4 for sure. It's crazy to me that this game was made by SNK of all people because this looks and plays so unlike ANYTHING else they have made before that it's shocking to see their logo on here. Considering this was made like the exact same year SNK imploded in on themselves I wonder if this was some effort to diversify their game lineup outside of the Neo Geo that was just done too late or something. There's surprisingly not a mobygames page for this that I can quickly scan the credits of, but I wonder if this was made by a veteran team or a team made out of new talent... Apparently there was going to be an english localization of this at its time, but the aforementioned SNK implosion kind of put a stop to that. There's a fan translation of decent quality out there by now, so if you have the means to play this, I would def suggest giving it a shot if not just to admire the visuals.
put a team of mfers from this game in the next KOF, cowards
While there is a plot involving two random kids getting yote into their TV into coolcooltoonland where everything must be settled by shmooving danceoffs, the plot really isn't the most coherent and seems like it serves as more a means to an end, that end being to show off the aforementioned rad ass character designs and world. Plot points and new characters get thrown around left and right, and the main point isn't to think about it and just enjoy the colorful craziness that each chapter offers.
That all being said the actual rhythm gameplay is pretty ho-hum. There's a big circle with various button inputs that you gotta move the cursor with the stick and press the button to make the input happen. My only gripes with it are really the fact that I can't do the edge-of-the-circle slide moves to save my life which ruins all my combos and sometimes when things get busy it's really hard to sight-read what the hell the game wants you to do even if the pattern and rhythm is quite simple. The game is hella forgiving though both with timing windows and how close your cursor actually needs to be to make a hit count so it's not all too bad. This game even supports the samba de amigo maracas officially! (though it's quite tiring to play that way and the game actually does have to handicap its own gameplay to make it work, but hey!) The setlist is also quite existent, nothing super offensive to listen to but also nothing that I would ever go looking up the OST for.
It's def style-over-substance at the end of the day but yanno that doesn't stop it from being cool cool. Honestly if the soundtrack was as cracked as the visual design this would have been an easy 4 for sure. It's crazy to me that this game was made by SNK of all people because this looks and plays so unlike ANYTHING else they have made before that it's shocking to see their logo on here. Considering this was made like the exact same year SNK imploded in on themselves I wonder if this was some effort to diversify their game lineup outside of the Neo Geo that was just done too late or something. There's surprisingly not a mobygames page for this that I can quickly scan the credits of, but I wonder if this was made by a veteran team or a team made out of new talent... Apparently there was going to be an english localization of this at its time, but the aforementioned SNK implosion kind of put a stop to that. There's a fan translation of decent quality out there by now, so if you have the means to play this, I would def suggest giving it a shot if not just to admire the visuals.
put a team of mfers from this game in the next KOF, cowards
CLASSIC SNK MOMENT
This game really is cool kinda im still processing my thoughts on this game especially since i played it again on actual hardware (i thank god for letting my find this game for 30 smackeroos) cool cool toon has a pretty amazing art style and pretty alright soundtrack it's story is a bit underdeveloped but pretty charming(they really did the orochi shit from kof with the flitz ghost) gameplay was sort of my main issue with the game some of the notes are asking for precision that can feel a bit too overwhelming there's also a pretty awkward difficulty spike at the end of episode 4 tho what snk game doesn't have a difficulty spike there's also these small rhythm based minigames your forced to play that kinda suck since it's asking for very precise rapid button inputs (tho you could call all this a skill issue ) other then that game was pretty good ain't got much more to say
This game really is cool kinda im still processing my thoughts on this game especially since i played it again on actual hardware (i thank god for letting my find this game for 30 smackeroos) cool cool toon has a pretty amazing art style and pretty alright soundtrack it's story is a bit underdeveloped but pretty charming(they really did the orochi shit from kof with the flitz ghost) gameplay was sort of my main issue with the game some of the notes are asking for precision that can feel a bit too overwhelming there's also a pretty awkward difficulty spike at the end of episode 4 tho what snk game doesn't have a difficulty spike there's also these small rhythm based minigames your forced to play that kinda suck since it's asking for very precise rapid button inputs (tho you could call all this a skill issue ) other then that game was pretty good ain't got much more to say
The game has SO much visual style and but for some reason it has one of the lamest soundtracks I have EVER heard in a rhythm game. Don't get me wrong, there's certainly a lot of skill behind it, but it physically hurts to listen to sometimes, and does not fit the visual style at all. Kind of a big shame. Mechanically it's alright, I find that the precision of the Dreamcast joystick isn't reaaaaally good enough for some of the harder tracks.
Cool Cool Toon walked (in a very queer way) so that Gitaroo Man could run (in a very straight way).
Played during the Backloggd’s Game of the Week (29th Aug. – 4th Sep., 2023).
The 1990s marked a transition for the Japanese arcade market, as the historical business model was no longer viable. Technological developments by the various home console manufacturers brought fierce competition to the arcade industry, while the success of medal machines and other purikura – state-of-the-art photo booths popular with teenage girls as part of the kawaī culture – pushed the various arcades and shopping malls to target teenage and family audiences, more lucrative demographics [1]. While games such as Virtua Fighter (1993) and beatmania (1997) set trends in the arcade's last golden years that the various publishers tried to capitalise on, SNK failed to achieve structural success with its various titles, which all too quickly went out of fashion. Cool Cool Toon appeared to be one of the last attempts to stave off the bankruptcy looming after the failure of the Hyper Neo Geo 64 and Neo Geo World, combining rhythm gameplay, motion capture and a colourful aesthetic for the Dreamcast.
The Story mode places the player in the role of Amp or Spica, whose campaigns feature exclusive tracks. Cool Cool Toon aims to create a highly tactile relationship between the player and the game, making full use of the Dreamcast's joystick. Moving it to reach the different notes mimics the protagonist's dance steps. The player is constantly invited to indulge in this fantasy, just as the character immerses themselves in a kawaī world. The soundtrack contributes to this impression with its slightly dated quality: the title alternates between sweet and burlesque tracks, city-pop, disco and funk flourishes [2]. Cool Cool Toon combines, with a certain humour and a touch of melancholy, the spectacle of the boy bands and dance divas of the 1990s [3] with some musical genres that were losing ground among young people. As a swan song, Cool Cool Toon tries to conjure up an unexpected success with the home console audience, but seems to be haunted by the ghost of the past and suffers from a lack of legibility – especially during the complex sequences with sliders and half-tilts – despite some good ideas, such as modulating the difficulty during a song.
Yet there is something particularly touching about the title, which shines with sincerity through the childish speech and naive attitude of the characters. More than a story for chūnibyō, the game expresses the frustrations of a lost generation: Amp and Spica transcend class hierarchies through their talent at flitzing, while 1990s Japan is marked by growing inequalities between the winners and losers of modernisation. Contrary to the image of an atypical niche game that still persists in the West, Cool Cool Toon had positioned itself as a synthesis of Japanese popular culture at the turn of the century, without the expected success – in line with previous attempts such as Koudelka (1999) and Athena: Awakening from the Ordinary Life (1999). Perhaps Cool Cool Toon failed because it was released on the Dreamcast, because it was connected to the Neo Geo Pocket, or because it was too difficult for the average player. Anecdotally, the game's concept has been carried over into The Rhythm of Fighters (2014), although simplified by touch controls. It is difficult not to see Cool Cool Toon today against the backdrop of its context; perhaps it is this singular magic, so wistful despite its sugary colours, that makes it such a delightful game.
__________
[1] Other factors explain the market shift. On the console manufacturers' side, technological progress and the new distribution structure – with the major studios abandoning the toy distributors and setting up their own systems – meant that costs could be cut. For the arcade, the 1984 extension of the Businesses Affecting Public Morals Regulation Act (Fūzoku eigyō torishimari hō) to include game centres, the bursting of the economic bubble, which multiplied the costs of electricity, rents and machine maintenance, meant that the risks of arcade-type services were no longer sustainable when safer alternatives were available. In general, the number of game centres has declined since the mid-1990s and their average size has increased, as the lucrative medal and prize machines take up too much space for small venues. On this topic, see Yuhsuke Koyama, History of the Japanese Video Game Industry, Springer, Singapore, 2023 [2016, 2020], pp. 109-135.
[2] It is worth noting that one of the only tracks that openly embraces a more modern feel is 'Grown Up World'.
[3] The choreography and set design of Cool Cool Toon bear a striking resemblance to the kōhai groups of Johnny's jimusho (KinKi Kids) or the idols promoted by Tetsuya Komuro (Namie Amuro). The game is also reminiscent of the very 'visual' bands and performances of the late 1990s, such as Yūwaku (1998) by GLAY. On this topic, see Fabienne Darling-Wolf, 'SMAP, Sex, and Masculinity: Constructing the Perfect Female Fantasy in Japanese Popular Music', in Popular Music and Society, vol. 27, no. 3, 2004, pp. 357-370 and Carolyn S. Stevens, Japanese Popular Music: Culture, Authenticity, and Power, Routledge, New York, 2008, pp. 53-58.
The 1990s marked a transition for the Japanese arcade market, as the historical business model was no longer viable. Technological developments by the various home console manufacturers brought fierce competition to the arcade industry, while the success of medal machines and other purikura – state-of-the-art photo booths popular with teenage girls as part of the kawaī culture – pushed the various arcades and shopping malls to target teenage and family audiences, more lucrative demographics [1]. While games such as Virtua Fighter (1993) and beatmania (1997) set trends in the arcade's last golden years that the various publishers tried to capitalise on, SNK failed to achieve structural success with its various titles, which all too quickly went out of fashion. Cool Cool Toon appeared to be one of the last attempts to stave off the bankruptcy looming after the failure of the Hyper Neo Geo 64 and Neo Geo World, combining rhythm gameplay, motion capture and a colourful aesthetic for the Dreamcast.
The Story mode places the player in the role of Amp or Spica, whose campaigns feature exclusive tracks. Cool Cool Toon aims to create a highly tactile relationship between the player and the game, making full use of the Dreamcast's joystick. Moving it to reach the different notes mimics the protagonist's dance steps. The player is constantly invited to indulge in this fantasy, just as the character immerses themselves in a kawaī world. The soundtrack contributes to this impression with its slightly dated quality: the title alternates between sweet and burlesque tracks, city-pop, disco and funk flourishes [2]. Cool Cool Toon combines, with a certain humour and a touch of melancholy, the spectacle of the boy bands and dance divas of the 1990s [3] with some musical genres that were losing ground among young people. As a swan song, Cool Cool Toon tries to conjure up an unexpected success with the home console audience, but seems to be haunted by the ghost of the past and suffers from a lack of legibility – especially during the complex sequences with sliders and half-tilts – despite some good ideas, such as modulating the difficulty during a song.
Yet there is something particularly touching about the title, which shines with sincerity through the childish speech and naive attitude of the characters. More than a story for chūnibyō, the game expresses the frustrations of a lost generation: Amp and Spica transcend class hierarchies through their talent at flitzing, while 1990s Japan is marked by growing inequalities between the winners and losers of modernisation. Contrary to the image of an atypical niche game that still persists in the West, Cool Cool Toon had positioned itself as a synthesis of Japanese popular culture at the turn of the century, without the expected success – in line with previous attempts such as Koudelka (1999) and Athena: Awakening from the Ordinary Life (1999). Perhaps Cool Cool Toon failed because it was released on the Dreamcast, because it was connected to the Neo Geo Pocket, or because it was too difficult for the average player. Anecdotally, the game's concept has been carried over into The Rhythm of Fighters (2014), although simplified by touch controls. It is difficult not to see Cool Cool Toon today against the backdrop of its context; perhaps it is this singular magic, so wistful despite its sugary colours, that makes it such a delightful game.
__________
[1] Other factors explain the market shift. On the console manufacturers' side, technological progress and the new distribution structure – with the major studios abandoning the toy distributors and setting up their own systems – meant that costs could be cut. For the arcade, the 1984 extension of the Businesses Affecting Public Morals Regulation Act (Fūzoku eigyō torishimari hō) to include game centres, the bursting of the economic bubble, which multiplied the costs of electricity, rents and machine maintenance, meant that the risks of arcade-type services were no longer sustainable when safer alternatives were available. In general, the number of game centres has declined since the mid-1990s and their average size has increased, as the lucrative medal and prize machines take up too much space for small venues. On this topic, see Yuhsuke Koyama, History of the Japanese Video Game Industry, Springer, Singapore, 2023 [2016, 2020], pp. 109-135.
[2] It is worth noting that one of the only tracks that openly embraces a more modern feel is 'Grown Up World'.
[3] The choreography and set design of Cool Cool Toon bear a striking resemblance to the kōhai groups of Johnny's jimusho (KinKi Kids) or the idols promoted by Tetsuya Komuro (Namie Amuro). The game is also reminiscent of the very 'visual' bands and performances of the late 1990s, such as Yūwaku (1998) by GLAY. On this topic, see Fabienne Darling-Wolf, 'SMAP, Sex, and Masculinity: Constructing the Perfect Female Fantasy in Japanese Popular Music', in Popular Music and Society, vol. 27, no. 3, 2004, pp. 357-370 and Carolyn S. Stevens, Japanese Popular Music: Culture, Authenticity, and Power, Routledge, New York, 2008, pp. 53-58.
finally got to do a full playthrough of this due to the english translation patch that just came out. man. this game's so cool. the music is all really fun and i love the way each chapter iterates on the song over the course of its stages. incredible character design, especially with all of the mocapped choreography? it's just so stylish.
actually playing it is pretty fun too, i like the risk/reward system of leveling up and that you can kind of take a "safe" option of hitting the wrong button and still getting partial credit if the chart is getting too overwhelming. hitting notes that expect you to push the stick only a little bit is fucking insane though
actually playing it is pretty fun too, i like the risk/reward system of leveling up and that you can kind of take a "safe" option of hitting the wrong button and still getting partial credit if the chart is getting too overwhelming. hitting notes that expect you to push the stick only a little bit is fucking insane though