I'm running this sample code located here:
http://monoclestudios.com/cocos2d_whitepaper.html
using cocos 2d-iphone 0.7.2, and the sprites are being drawn coloured blue. But this is only happening on the simulator. On an actual device, everything looks fine.
Has anyone else run into this problem?
Unfortunately the simulator isn't identical to the physical iPhone. I haven't encountered this particular bug, but I did have issues with sounds. Wouldn't play on the simulator but worked fine on the device. If you're only having problems on the simulator I'd suggest ignoring the bug and moving forward. The simulator is just for convenience after all.
Checkout #cocos2d-iphone on freenode if you have more questions like this.
Don't test OpenGL ES on the simulator. It just isn't the same. The simulator renders slightly differently. Since cocos2d-iPhone is heavily based on OpenGL ES, your only choice is to test on the device!