Cool Cool Toon

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 only in Japan on August 10, 2000 due to a combination of SNK going bankrupt and the Dreamcast's declining popularity in North America.

Gameplay
The letters A, B, X, and Y appear at the edge or in the middle of a large circle on the screen. The player must use the analog 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 level down. If the performance level goes to zero, or it is too low, the game is over.

Development and release
Cool Cool Toon was developed and published by SNK. The composer, Yasumasa Yamada, considered it a fresh game to work on due to it being a game with music as a central premise. He based the soundtrack's tempo on music used by motion-captured music of the time. When making the music, he had to work with the programmers to approach it in the best way. He contributed four songs to the project, with most of the work being done by other members of staff. According to Yamada, the development of the game was very "business-oriented." The art design was led by Ippei Gyoubu,

It was originally teased on March 22, 2000, when SNK posted promotional artwork on their official website and categorized the game as "Rhythm comic". A side game titled Cool Cool Jam was released alongside the game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color exclusively in Japan. A localization was planned and aimed for an early 2001 release in North America, but was cancelled due to SNK filing for bankruptcy, and the declining popularity of the Sega Dreamcast in the North American markets. An English fan translation was released in 2023.

Reception
Reception of the game has been mostly positive. Reviewers praised the art style and original use of the analogue stick.