Spy vs. Spy NES Review - Grade - 1 player mode: D- 2-player mode: B-

Spy vs. Spy is a game based on a MAD magazine comic strip about two spys - one decked out in black, the other one white - who constantly figure out inventive ways to mame eachother.

The game is graphically primitive but the gameplay is faithful to the theme of the cartoon. The two spys wander around in different buildings, looking for a briefcase, a passport & a couple of other items you need (they are hidden behind pictures and pieces of furniture). Once the items are collected, you find the exit and you are the victor!

This is a simple concept spiced up by the fact that there is only 1 of every item in each building. This means you have to sabotage your opponents attempts to find these things by hiding bombs, waterbuckets and lethal springs throughout the area. If each player has different required items, they must find weapons and duke it out, or wait till the other player stumbles upon one of their booby traps and dies. When a player dies, they take a few seconds to revive and in that time their items are rescattered around the playing field for the other player to sieze. Oh, and there is also a time limit to the whole thing, increasing the need for speed and violence.

This sounds complex but once you get a handle on it, it's simple fun. One-player vs. computer mode is challenging, but kind of dry in the fun department. Only when you have a second player does the real addictive action begin! Lots of oppertunity for people to trick eachother and laugh in their friends faces.

Only problem is there is no randomization - there are many levels, but the location of items in each one remains static, making it easy for people to know the playing field too well. Even then, as long as your playing with another seasoned player who knows the ins and outs, it's still a pretty fair and fun competition.

-Hokum