Spy vs. Spy

"Decent but could've been much better"

Oh, how much I loved Mad Magazine. Funny articles and cartoons that parodied people, television shows, and other miscellaneous garbage. The one regular article though, was Spy vs. Spy, which featured a black spy and white spy always trying to kill each other in the most gruesome way as physically possible. From decapitations, to slicing in half, and simply blown them to bloody pieces, these were great comics.

So, almost 20 years ago, a company I don't recognized named Kemco released the very first Spy vs. Spy video game. However, instead of just senseless killing of each other, the game was designed into an evil scavenger hunt like game, where you had to find a suitcase, money, passport, etc. to escape, all while doing your best to keep the other Spy from winning, by setting bombs, traps to electrocute him, and other stuff.

Story: 5/10 Eh...nothing much from the comic, so it doesn't really come out well in this kind of situation.

Graphics: 9/10
For the time, the graphics were fine. The Spy vs. Spy comic was never the greatest in graphics, so they were transformed into the NES version with as little modification as possible. The game is given a simplistic design so not to confuse gamers hunting for stuff, and everything looks fine overall. I just wish some deaths were more creative.

Music: 1/10
Horrible. The same beat plays over and over and over, causing me to mute the game and hope for the best. Also when you die, the other Spy gives out an electric chuckle, or maybe he has a vibrator stuck in his pants. Who knows, but one thing is for sure the music is crap.

Game-play: 8/10
Pretty easy to control here. A-Button sets up the traps in doors and bookcases, and B attacks with either a sharp stick or a regular punch, as well as searching through things. However, it can be chore remembering where you and the other Spy set booby traps, so you might accidentally kill YOURSELF in the process.

Replay Factor: 8/10
With another human, this game is great because it's a lot more fun beating up the person next to you instead of a semi-mentally challenged AI who seems to be lost in the house walking around aimlessly while you kick his arse.

Challenge: 5/10
In smaller locations, the game is easy as saying your ABC's and 123's. However, on the most difficult setting, the house is super sized and will take quite a while to beat, since it has about 40 rooms to search through for 5 items, which will sometimes be relocated when the person carrying them dies.

Recommendation:
If you like the Scavenger hunt type format, or just really really love Spy vs. Spy like I do, I'd say pick it up cheaply. Id only one of those or neither, just don't bother with it.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10 | Originally Posted: 10/10/04

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