Spy vs Spy II: The Island Caper


by Orpheus Ltd
Databyte
1987
Your Sinclair Issue 19, Jul 1987   page(s) 69

Databyte
£8.95

A missile is hidden on a remote tropical island and your job is to retrieve it (funny that, eh?) It's in three pieces, though, and the pieces are scattered about the island. And to cap it all someone else is trying to get the same parts as you. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that after a certain length of time, the island's volcano explodes, so once you've found your missile, you'd better find your sub and get out - fast.

The screen display is very complicated with the game options displayed on the right of the screen, and the playing areas, two of them, taking up the rest, one above the other. It's on these screens that the action takes place. The main display is your Trapulator - a short of hi-tech scanning device with lots of bells and whistles, and on here you can monitor your actions. Your opponent also has one of these fiendish devices, as the game can be played in one or two player mode - if you choose one player, the computer is your opponent.

The rest of the display shows a 3D view of the land and you can move left, right, forward and back. If the two characters enter the same area then the action takes place on only one of the screens. A clock counts down the time before the volcano blows its top (the end of the game), so you're racing against time throughout. As well as fighting your opponent, you have to avoid shark attacks, quick sand, coconut bombs and all manner of other hazards as you race to get your bits together. Lots of fun can be had by not only completing the task yourself, but stopping your opponent in his tracks by booby trapping him or luring him to his demise.

It's all good fun, but a touch too complicated for my liking. However, I'm just a simple soul, you might get more out of it than me!


Graphics: 8/10
Playability: 7/10
Value For Money: 7/10
Addictiveness: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Your Sinclair Issue 90, Jun 1993   page(s) 10

Wicked Software
£3.99
Reviewer: Simon Forrester

Spy vs Spy? That's MAD magazine, isn't it? Great. Fab. Load of ready-made jokes at MAD's expense, (Rubs hands.) (Er, I've already used 'em for the review of Spy vs Spy 3. Ed) Damn.

OK. Two blokes, one island. Two blokes (or spies) each want to build a missile, but with only one set of bits. So, the spies fight, hence the game being called Spy vs Spy, and the comic strip being so funny. It's a classic comedy scenario.

The spies have many ways of really hurting each other in a non-lethal comicky sort of way. They use coconut bombs, land mines, snares, and pitfalls against each other, all to no avail.

Y'see, it's a two player game. Now you may think that, what with the fast pace and all, you don't have time to watch the other player.

Er. no.

What with the spies pondering over each and every step, you have all the time in the worid to watch the other player, the Film On Four, and your neighbour cutting the grass, before you get a chance to go wrong.

When the two spies meet on the same screen, things do speed up a little as they then proceed to run around, using their swords to deal nasty, stinging cuts. But it's not really enough to make the game playable.

Oh. and then there's the presentation. Haven't mentioned that, have I? Imagine taking a beautiful painting of a desert island and, while it's still not quite dry, dropping white and black rocks on it. We're talking colour clash splasherama here. Ugly.

So, it's a potentially fun game that's slightly marred by very crap design. On top of that are the weedy sonics and those hideous graphics, so altogether I'd give it a lethal injection and argue it was a mercy killing.


Overall: 30%

Summary: Uppers: It's based very closely on Spy vs Spy which was great. Downers: The speed of a hobbled donkey, the graphics of a crap game and the playability of an episode of Praise Be. It's very crap.

Transcript by Chris Bourne

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