The object of the game is to collect various secret items in a briefcase and exit the building through a door to the airport, either before the opposing player exits or before the timer runs out. While searching for the items, traps can be laid to take out the opponent. Each spy has a personal countdown timer which depletes by 30 seconds upon each death. The arena is an embassy, constructed from a series of interconnected rooms laid out on a grid pattern. Higher levels have more rooms and therefore a larger play area. The spies can engage in hand-to-hand combat as well as place traps on the furniture and doors which occupy the playing area. These traps are triggered when a spy searches a piece of furniture or opens a booby trapped door, resulting in a cartoon-style animation showing the subject being shot, blown up, etc., and floating up to heaven as an angel. Strategy is introduced by limiting the numbers of each trap a spy can use and by allowing the traps to be triggered by either spy. Some pieces of furniture also contain 'remedies' which match up to specific traps; these allow a trap to be defused, but can only be fetched one at a time.
Reception
Video magazine described it as "a rousing action-strategy contest" and praised the game's "excellent" graphics as "befit a game so rooted in a visual medium." The reviewer also noted that "no one has more successfully captured the original feel of the source nor offered a more satisfying result". Ahoy! agreed in its faithfulness to the original, and praised both the simultaneous two-player and one-player options. Antic called it "one of the most original and clever games for the Atari computers yet". The magazine praised the simultaneous two-player display and concluded, "I cannot recommend this game highly enough." The ZX Spectrum version was rated number 20 in the Your Sinclair Official Top 100 Games of All Time.
Legacy
A remake including the original version was released for iOS in 2012, but is no longer available. Two sequels to the original 1984 game were produced: Spy vs. Spy II: The Island Caper and Spy vs. Spy III: Arctic Antics. The third game was also released for the IBM PC. These kept the basic gameplay while tweaking some core features. Spy vs. Spy II: The Island Caper adds a side-scrolling play area. Spies no longer start with a fixed number of traps but must collect the raw materials to build them Spy vs. Spy III: Arctic Antics switches the location from a tropical island to the arctic. The spies fight by throwing snowballs at each other and setting traps, which decreases their body heat bar. Tools include a saw to cut holes in the ice for the second player to fall into. Lost body heat can be restored by moving into a heated igloo. The game is an early example of the "trap-em-up" genre, which also includes games like Heiankyo Alien, Space Panic, and Lode Runner.
