Download Spy vs Spy III - Arctic Antics

With characters Taken from MAD Magazine, the Spy Vs. Spy series reached it's end in Arctic Antics.

Spy vs Spy: Arctic Antics is an Action / Arcade game, for one or two players, developed by First Star Software and published by Wicked Soft. Released in the UK in 1989 for several contemporary platforms. There was a fourth earmarked to be made – Spies in Space – that never was. You may notice, on winning the game, the rocket from which you Launch and Escape says this on it's side.

The duo, the White Spy (you) and the deadly Black Spy continue their battle. This time, the scrap takes place in the frozen Arctic, the objective: Find the essential components of a brand new rocket before you freeze to death! And more importantly, before your opponent -- the deadly Black Spy -- escapes his own fate or completes the mission instead!

The object of the game is to find and collect all three objects for the new spy rocket ship (A computer card, a camera and a small satellite) in the briefcase, all of which are hidden in the snowdrifts dotted around the map. You need to be holding the briefcase once you have the objects to place them in it and will drop it if you fall foul to any traps or get snowballed. As you can only hold one thing at a time, laying traps around your hidden (or left oh-so-obviously items) is a good strategy. Just remember where you left everything, else you'll be falling into your own lure!

Traps range from dynamite, hidden in snowdrifts, exploding when picked up by your opponent.
You can also use your saw to make covered holes for your opponent to drop into the icy water. Watch out – these can trap you too! Blocks of ice from buckets of water, causing your opponent to slip and lose valuable body heat, resulting in a snickering from the trapper at the predicament of the other. Lay traps from your trapulator or found under snowdrifts or even just lying around. There are also useful items, such as snow-shoes for faster movement and a map.
Depending upon what size your playing area is, these can be pretty handy...

Your body temp. is effectively your health. You can get warmer by popping into an Igloo and standing by the fire for a few moments. Remember though! You've only a limited time to complete your mission, so don't dally!

Depending on how often you run into your enemy, there's also the old snowball fight! The keys for this – it's more fun two player – are included at the end. You'll need them as they're hard to figure out!

Try and Launch from the hidden or shown launch pad (toggled at start of game) before you are ready and you could be in for a surprise in the form of a Polar Bear! Don't worry though – he's lazy and doesn't really want to come out his hole. Featuring Simulvision game-play technology, you can play against the computer or a friend in an arcade, comic race against time. I have usually just ended up in massive snowball fights, but having your opponent fall for one of your traps doesn't just make your character snicker!

It's probably worthwhile watching the rolling demo so you can get a taste for the action and an idea of how to achieve your objective. Especially if you've never played any of the games in this series. I really recommend using a joystick or joypad for this game unless you have strong fingers (what am I saying, of course you do! You're an Abandonian!) The Graphics are good for the game – very close to the original I remember on C64. The sounds can be a little offensive if too loud and can be toggled off / on during game-play using the F9 key.

Overall this game is quite fun, if lacking staying power, being the same thing over and over. It's main saving grace is the two-player option. Without it, the game just isn't as funny. I mainly played two-player and then ran through, completing, each difficulty. At higher difficulties it does present a challenge, but I don't think I'll be playing this game as often as others that are similar, due to the repetitive game-play and fiddly controls. That and I have no friends to play with... :(
Nah, just kidding!

Type Runme.bat to load the game.

After loading the program, make the following choices:
* Choose the size and shape of the iceberg island.
* Choose to have a hidden or revealed launch site.
* Choose the number of players.
* Choose the difficulty level (1=the lowest level,5=the highest level).

Use the arrow keys to highlight the option of your choice and RETURN
modify it.  When you've made all your choices, highlight GO! and press
RETURN to start the game.

White Spy Controls                  Black Spy Controls

* Up = Up Arrow Key                * Up = W Key
* Down = Down Arrow Key         * Down = X Key
* Left = Left Arrow Key             * Left = A Key
* Right = Right Arrow Key         * Right = D Key
* Action Key = Return Key        * Action Key = Q Key

Note: If the game is set for just one joystick and two players, the Black Spy
will use the Arrow keys and Return key; the White Spy will use the joystick.

Game Controls for Operations

* Pick up an object by pressing your action key.
* Drop an object by pressing your action key.
* Bury an object by holding down your action key and pressing any direction
  key.
* Access the Trapulator by pressing your action key twice.
* Set a Trap by holding down your action key and pressing any direction
  key, or while accessing the trapulator
* Throw snowballs by holding down your action key and pressing your right
  or left direction keys.
* Toggle the sound On/Off by pressing the F9 key.
* Esc will exit the game.