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| Sly Spy | |
|---|---|
 North American arcade flyer | |
| Developer | Data East |
| Publisher | Data East |
| Designers | Makoto Kikuchi Kazuhiro Takayama, Kenichi Fujimoto, Osapan (hardware) |
| Programmers | Tac.H Umanosuke Hinsyuku Man |
| Artists | Dot Man Kim Marukin Sin Shinichi Kanamori Jun Tomo Adachi Magurin Warrior |
| Composers | Azusa Hara Hiroaki Yoshida (Arcade)[1] Tim Follin (Amiga) Geoff Follin (Amiga, C64) |
| Platforms | Arcade,Amiga,Amstrad CPC,Atari ST,Commodore 64,ZX Spectrum,Switch,Evercade |
| Release | 1989 |
| Genre | Run and gun |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
Sly Spy, known inJapan asSecret Agent (シークレット・エージェント,Shīkuretto Ējento) and known in Europe asSly Spy: Secret Agent, is an arcade video game developed byData East and published in 1989. Despite not being a licensedJames Bond game,Sly Spy contains references to the series.
After Data East became defunct following their bankruptcy in 2003,G-Mode bought the intellectual rights to the arcade game as well as most other Data East games and licenses.[2]
The plot resembles some movies and novels of the James Bond series and takes place in theU.S. in an unspecified time period described in game as "199X". During the introduction sequence, the president and his wife are waving at the crowd next to alimousine at theWhite House inWashington, D.C., when terrorists (some flying in using jetpacks) approach the president and his wife armed and dangerous, and, as soon as the screen goes red and gun sounds are heard, they seem to shoot not only the crowd, but also the president and the first lady, who are both presumed dead.
Later, asecret agent working for the American secret service, and known only by the name of Sly, is informed that the terrorists who struck at the presidential ceremony were located, identified, and confirmed to be CWD (Council for World Domination) members. CWD is a secret underground criminal organization with terrorist foundations, involved in drugs and arms dealing and government corruption, and ultimately plotting world conquest. Sly is assigned by the secret service to eliminate the CWD.
Listening to the world's desperate plea for freedom and hoping to protect those he loves most, Sly jumps from a plane towards Washington D.C., and begins his campaign to prevent the terrorists from infiltrating not only the city, but several spots in the U.S., and must also prevent a nuclear missile from launching and striking the Earth.
In the course of the game, the player faces off against several bosses, eventually encountering the leader of CWD, whose identity is never given outside of that title. A spiked ceiling slowly descends from above and the boss is protected by a force field. Sly must shoot or kick it to deal enough damage and dent the field. Sly then shoots CWD's leader, finishing him for good before fleeing the base with hardly a scratch.
In the beginning of the ending sequence, Sly receives a final transmission from the president himself, who somehow escaped the attack at the early moments of the game and is miraculously alive. The president congratulates Sly for saving the planet, but then tells him that he "missed a couple of things and may come back to pick them up". Sly goes to the White House, only to arrive at the entrance and quickly find roaring applause from the crowd as well as what seems the president's daughters – who were enchanted with Sly's heroic deeds – posing and smiling alongside him for a photo; they give him several kisses in thanks. Then, he and his girls drive off in a speedingFerrari F40 while "THE END" is shown.
Players control the secret agent nameSly Spy through eight different stages. Some stages have their own gameplay. In the first part of the first stage, players shoot enemies horizontally while sky-diving. The second half of the first, third, fifth, sixth and eighth stages are played in arun and gun format similar toNamco'sRolling Thunder and its sequels, but it lacks the ability to jump between the top and bottom floors while grabbing rails. Also, when out of ammo or attacked by a boss with one hit, Sly Spy drops his firearm while the game becomes abeat'em up in2D platform manner, much likeShinobi. Players can make Sly Spy do three different kicks: high kicks, low kicks and jump kicks. The second stage shows Sly Spy riding on his motorcycle with a built-in machine gun, which makes this stage a combination of run-and-gun andvehicular combat game formats, much likeMoon Patrol. The fourth and seventh stages are in marine-based,side-scrolling shooter format. Minor enemies will drop several different items when defeated, such as extra ammo, cans ofCoca-Cola-esque soda and machine guns. Sometimes, enemies will drop ajetpack on land or aDPV while underwater to make transportation easier.
Enemies also drop parts of the ultimate weapon in the game called the Golden Gun, which functions nearly the same way as the Cobra Gun in Data East's 1988RoboCop arcade game and theHeavy Barrel energy cannon from thearcade game of the same name. It is also shaped like arifle instead of apistol; when the Golden Gun is equipped along with either the motorcycle or a DPV, their built-in firearms will shoot the same energy bolts shot from the Golden Gun itself.
The game wasported to several home systems.Ocean Software ported it to theAmiga (with completely differentbackground music composed byTim Follin),Amstrad CPC,Commodore 64,Atari ST andZX Spectrum in 1990 exclusively in Europe, while Data East released Ocean's Commodore 64 version in North America in 1990.
| Publication | Award |
|---|---|
| Sinclair User | SU Classic[3] |
In Japan,Game Machine listedSly Spy on their August 15, 1989 issue as being the fifth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.[4]
Several references from Data East's other arcade games made cameo appearances inSly Spy. A poster showingChelnov (a.k.a.Atomic Runner) can be seen at the beginning of Stage 3,[5] the logo for the aforementionedBad Dudes can be seen at the end of Stage 3,[5] and a poster showingKarnov can be seen at the beginning of Stage 5.[5] In the 1990 filmRoboCop 2, officer Duffy gets pushed byRoboCop into aBad Dudes arcade cabinet, but withSly Spy built into it.[6] Along with a few other Data East arcade games, they appeared in the film due to licensing and advertising agreements betweenOrion Pictures, Data East andOcean Software after the release oftwo video games based on theRoboCop property.
In 2010, G-Mode and G1M2 added the arcade game toData East Arcade Classics asSecret Agent.
In 2018, it was released on theNintendo Switch as part ofJohnny Turbo's Arcade.[7]
In 2021, it was released as part of Data East Arcade 1 on theEvercade.