Never played Spanky's. Did you do a vid?
This thread is always a good read.
You know, I've never played it myself until very recently. I didn't make a video.
I'm not sure why this game is relatively unknown. It was released early in the console's lifespan. Usually early era titles aren't destined for obscurity. Enough copies of it must have sold though. It's certainly not a rare game.
Anyways, the game is more or less arcade style single screen "comical action" with a console style adventure pace.
There's definitely an arcade-like sense of urgency here but the consoley "find all of the secrets" feel is very much present.
Your objective is to find enough keys (carried by enemies, or placed alone) to unlock the exit in each stage. You'll more often than not, find yourself with keys to spare in most stages, but that's usually a product of clearing stages via secret bonus stage rooms which don't require keys at all. There are 50 stages in all, plus the stage 6 boss rush, with a true final boss.
1-ups are plentiful even if you're not trying to score (score based extends are granted after very 100,000pts). You can earn 1up coins after defeating bosses, and winning bonus rounds, and you can find them inside some star/spring boxes when throwing bubbles in them. You'll find B coins throughout the game too, sometimes carried by enemies, sometimes sitting sedentary in stages. You'll also receive them when winning bonus rounds, defeating bosses, and inside star/spring boxes. At the 10th B coin, they are worth 1,000 points. After dying, the B coin's value resets to 100 points.
Your method of attacking is where a lot of the fun in the game lies, IMO. This is also how you'd score big too (that and no-missing the game). Scoring via attacks isn't super crucial, but chances are if you're getting a big score bonus on an attack, you'll end up surviving well enough to clear the stage. You're attack is very physics oriented. You will throw a bubble in the air with A. If you bounce the bubble once on your head it will turn purple, then hitting A will pop it and turn it into a baseball. Bouncing twice for a green bubble creates a soccer ball, three times yellow for a volley ball, four times + orange for basketballs. Killing multiple enemies in one shot creates a chain, where you can earn up to 10,000points (I think). Although it's long, the game isn't very difficult. Area 5 can get tricky, but the game doesn't force you to know exactly what you have to do here. There's plenty of cushioning with all of the extra lives, plus there aren't any check points (instant respawn). Blah Blah, the game's definitely worth trying.