***********************
SPY VS SPY FAQ v2.0
***********************
By Mariner, 2001
Latest Addition - 1/6/02
Table of Contents
*****************
I. Pseudo Legal Stuff
II. Updates
III. The Concept and Basics
IV. Controls
V. Items
A. Booby Traps & Remedies
B. Weapons
C. Suitcase Items
VI. The Maps
A. Explanation and Legend
B. Maps
VII. Walkthrough
VIII. General tips
IX. Contact Information
I. Pseudo Legal Stuff
**********************
This FAQ is written by Mariner for
http://www.gamefaqs.com
Do not use without permission
If you would like to use this FAQ on your site, email me first
Email:
[email protected]
Spy vs Spy is copyright Mad Magazine. The game was made by Kemco.
II. Updates
************
V 1.0 - Parts I - IV, VI, and IX complete. 11 - 11 - 01
V 1.1 - Part V completed. Levels 1 and 2 of the walkthrough
(Part VII) completed 11 - 28 - 01
V 1.2 - Part VII completed 12 - 14 - 01
V 2.0 - Section VIII completed. This is the final version, 1 - 6 - 02
unless some new information pops up somewhere.
III. The Concept and Basics
****************************
Spy vs Spy is a rather unique game. There's really nothing else like it out
there. Because of that, it is probably disorienting when you first start.
MODES
There are three modes in Spy vs Spy that you can choose from. The first is
training mode. In this game, you only need the suitcase and one exit item in
order to leave the building. You can play on any level. Also, the AI is
easier I believe. The second mode is vs computer. This is a normal game, and
can be played on any level against the AI. Finally, there is a vs player mode,
which is 2-player (duh). Use the Up and Down to choose your mode, and left and
right to choose the level.
HOW TO WIN
The goal of this game is to find the suitcase and four items. The items are a
key, a bag of money, a passport, and a plane ticket. You cannot leave the
building unless you have all four items. The items are hidden throughout the
building within furniture that you must search. You can only hold one item at
a time, unless you have the suitcase. Your goal, then, is to find these items,
stop the other spy from getting the items, and escape. Not too hard, right?
BASIC CONCEPTS
There's really not much to it on the surface. You must travel throughout the
building, searching every piece of furniture. You also have a map, which can
be helpful. Besides the items mentioned above, there is also a club and a
dagger hidden. These double and triple your attacking power, respectively.
But why do you need weapons if you're only searching for items? Well, if the
other spy gets to one of them first, you have to take it away from him somehow.
This can be accomplished in two ways. The first is finding him and fighting
him, as mentioned above. The other is to use booby traps to slow him down or
stop him. These booby traps can be placed above doors, behind furniture, or
just in the room itself. If the other spy is unprepared, he will die. If a
spy dies, he is off the screen for 5 seconds, and loses 30 seconds of time.
Yes, there is a time limit. It's not too hard to beat, unless you die often or
are against a good player. Anyways, back to booby traps. If you need to get
past a booby trap, there are remedies placed around the building. All you have
to do is bring that remedy to the furniture or door and you'll disarm it. But
you can't carry both a remedy and an item, so be careful. It's confusing at
first, but you'll get used to it once you play.
IV. Controls
*************
Spy vs Spy has a rather weird control scheme, so I figure I'd give it out for
those of you with emulators or bought it without the instruction manual.
D-Pad - move
Start - Pause
Select - None
A - Search furniture, place trap, remove remedy, open/close doors, fight
B - Choose booby trap, See map
To place a booby trap, cycle through them using B. The order in which you
cycle through them is bomb, spring, water, time bomb. To set the first two,
stand next to a piece of furniture and press A. To set the water bucket, first
close the door, stand next to it, and press A. To set a time bomb, stand
anywhere in the room and press A. If done correctly, your spy should giggle.
To view your map, press B five times. It will cycle through your booby traps
and then show the map. Press B again when you're done. Careful, the timer
still runs and the other spy can still do stuff when you are viewing the map
(you can press pause though).
To remove a booby trap, stand next to the remedy furniture and press A. Your
spy should now be carrying a remedy. Then walk up to the booby trapped
furniture and press A. If done correctly, your spy should giggle. If there
was no booby trap, you should still have the remedy. To get rid of the remedy,
just stand anywhere and press A (or B, but B will cause you to cycle through
your traps).
Fighting is nothing more than standing next to the other spy and pressing A as
rapidly as possible. You can jump (press Up I believe, but I'm not sure), but
it's virtually useless.
V. The Items
*************
BOOBY TRAPS & REMEDIES:
Bomb - Place Bombs behind furniture to set them. When searched, the spy will
explode.
Water Bucket - These can be found in the red boxes on the walls.
Spring - Place springs behind furniture to set them. When searched, the spy
will fly backwards (through open doors as well) and then die.
Pliers - These are found in the white boxes on the walls.
Water Bucket - To place these, first close a door and then place the trap on
door. The spy who opens the door will be electrocuted.
Umbrella - Find these in the umbrella racks. One will always be at your
starting place.
Time Bomb - To place these, stand anywhere in the room and press A. The next
spy to enter the room will turn blue and explode.
There is no remedy for this booby trap. When your face turns blue, just exit
and then return, and the bomb will be defused.
WEAPONS:
The Club - A white stick or something. This will double your fighting power.
The Dagger - A black dagger. This will triple your fighting power.
There is only one of each of these in the level, not one for each spy. If you
find the dagger first and then the club, the dagger will be lost completely
(you will not keep the stronger weapon).
SUITCASE ITEMS:
The Suitcase - The big blue thing you carry around. You cannot hold more than
one item at a time without it.
Ticket - Your plane ticket. It looks like a wallet with an airplane on it. It
is in the top left corner of your inventory.
Bag of Money - A bag with a $ on it. It is in the top right corner.
The Key - A black key. It is in the bottom left corner of your inventory.
Passport - It looks like a sealed envelope. It is in the bottom right corner.
VI. The Maps
*************
This is probably the most useful part of this FAQ, so enjoy!
LEGEND:
B= Black spy's starting position
W= White spy's starting position
X1-4= The items one needs to escape the building. 1 is the upper left, 2 is
the upper right, 3 the lower left, and 4 is the lower right object in your
status screen
S= The Suitcase
F1= Weapon 1, the club
F2= Weapon 2, the dagger
R1= Remedy for bomb (water bucket)
R2= Remedy for spring (Pliers)
R3= Remedy for Water bucket (Umbrella)
L= Ladder (for floor 1), Trap door (for floor 2)
x= One Way Doors (level 8 only)
Doors look like this __ __, and the exit looks like this _ _
Rooms with \\\\\ are empty and not in the game.
LEVEL 1
_____ _____ _ _
| R3 | | |
| B X1 S |
|_X3__|_____|__ __|
| | R3 | X2 |
| F1 W X4 |
|_____|_____|_____|
LEVEL 2
_ _ _____ _____ _____ _____
| | R3 | | | R2 |
| B X3 X1 |
|__ __|_____|__ __|_____|__ __|
| |\\\\\| R1 |\\\\\| |
| S |\\\\\| F1 |\\\\\| F2 |
|__ __|_____|__ __|_____|__ __|
| | | |R2 R3| |
| X2 R1 W X4 |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
LEVEL 3
FLOOR 1
_____ _____ _____ _ _
| R1 | | | |
| X1 L L X2 |
|__ __|_____|_____|__ __|
| | | R3 | R3 |
| | B W |
|__ __|_____|_____|__ __|
| | | | R2 |
| F1 |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|
FLOOR 2
_____ _____ _____ _____
| | | | |
| S L | L R3 |
|__ __|_____|_____|__ __|
| | | R2 | |
| X3 F2 | X4 R1 |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|
LEVEL 4
_____ _ _ _____
| | | |
| F2 |
_____|__ __|__ __|__ __|_____ _____ _____
| | | | | | | R2 |
| R2 | | R3 X1 X3 |
|__ __|_____|__ __|_____|_____|_____|__ __|
| R1 |\\\\\| |\\\\\| | | |
| X2 |\\\\\| S |\\\\\| | R1 |
|__ __|_____|_____|_____|__ __|__ __|__ __|
| | |\\\\\| | | | R3 |
| R2 F1 |\\\\\| R3 | W |
|_____|__ __|_____|__ __|_____|_____|_____|
| R3 | | |
| B | R1 |
|_X4__|_____|_____|
LEVEL 5
FLOOR 1
_____ _____ _____ _____
| F2 | | | | |
| L | L | | L | R2 |
|__ __|_____|_____ _____ _ _|__ __|__ __|
| | R2 | | | | | |
| R3 | |
|__ __|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|__ __|
| | | |R1 R3| R3 |
| | | B L W X1|
|_____|_____| |_____|_____|
FLOOR 2
_____ _____ _____ _____
| | | | | |
| L | L S | | L F1 |
|__ __|__ __|_____ _____|__ __|__ __|
| | | R2 | | | | |
| | R1 R3 | | X4 | R3 |
|__ __|__ __|_____| |_____|_____|__ __|
| | | | X2 | |
| R3 X3 | | L |
|_____|_____| |_____|_____|
LEVEL 6
FLOOR 1
_____ _____ _____ _ _
| | | | | |
| S | | F1 |
|__ __|_____| |_____|__ __|
| | | | | |
| L | | L | |
|_____|__ __| |__ __|__ __|
| R3 | | | | R3 |
|W X3 | | B |
|__ __|_____| |_____|__ __|
| | | | | |
| L | | L | |
|_____|__ __| |__ __|__ __|
| | | | | |
| | | X1 |
|_____|_____| |_____|_____|
FLOOR 2
_____ _____ _____ _____
| | | | | |
| L X4 | | X2 L |
|__ __|_____| |_____|__ __|
| | | |
| | | |
|_____|_____ _____ _____|_____|
| | | | | |
| L F2 L |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
LEVEL 7
FLOOR 1
_____ _ _ _____
| | | |
| X4 |
_____ _____|_____|__ __|_____|_____ _____
| | | R2 | | R3 | | R3 |
| L | | W L B L |
|__ __|_____|_____|__ __|_____|_____|__ __|
| |\\\\\|\\\\\| |\\\\\|\\\\\| |
| |\\\\\|\\\\\| S |\\\\\|\\\\\| |
|__ __|_____|_____|__ __|_____|_____|__ __|
| | | | | R1 | | |
| | L | |
|_____|_____|__ __|_____|__ __|_____|_____|
| | | |
| F1 |
|_____|_____|_____|
FLOOR 2
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
| | | | | | R2 | X1 |
| X2 L L R3 | L |
|__ __|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|__ __|
| |\\\\\|\\\\\| R1 |\\\\\|\\\\\| |
| |\\\\\|\\\\\| X3 |\\\\\|\\\\\| |
|__ __|_____|_____|__ __|_____|_____|__ __|
| | | | | | | |
| R3 F2 | L |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
LEVEL 8
FLOOR 1
_ _ _____ _____ _____ _____
| | | | | |
| | F1 |
|__ __|__ __|_____|_____|__ __|
| | | | | |
| R2 | L | L | |
|_____|_____|__ __|__ __|__ __|
| | | | | R3 |
| X2 | x W X1|
|__ __|_____|__ __|__ __|__ __|
| | | R3 | | |
| x B | |
|_____|__ __|__ __|_____|__ __|
| | | | | |
| X3 | R2 | |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
FLOOR 2
_____ _____ _____
| | | |
| | L | L |
|__ __|__ __|__ __|
| | | |
| X4 R3 |
|_____|_____|__ __|
| | | |
| S R1 F2 |
|_____|_____|_____|
VII. Walkthrough
*****************
First of all, a note about the walkthroughs. They are general guidelines only
and provide the quickest way to gain an advantage over your opponent. Thus, I
will not tell you how to get every item, as it is all there in the maps and at
least one of them will probably be moved by the time you get around to getting
it. So basically, I'm telling you the quickest way to get a weapon
(preferably the knife, obviously) and/or the suitcase. Once you have that,
the general tips will be more useful to you. Because of the nature of the game
and the unpredictability of your opponent, the walkthrough may become quite
worthless as the game progresses. Keep this in mind.
LEVEL 1 Advantage: Even
WHITE: From the room you start in, quickly go left. Grab the club in the white
dresser on the right. Now go up and then right twice. The suitcase, along
with the exit, is here, so grab the suitcase. You can now concentrate on the
items, which are located in the other two top rooms and the bottom right one.
BLACK: Basically, the same thing. Go down and grab the club before the white
spy gets it. From there, grab the suitcase and then pick up the items.
LEVEL 2 Advantage: White
WHITE: First of all, seal the door to your left with a water bucket. This will
make life easier. Next, grab the passport that is in your starting room. Then
go right and then up to find the dagger. By now, the black spy will probably
have the suitcase, so you are going to have to take it from him. The door you
sealed will make it easier for you to do this. Every room is open to every
other one here, so make sure he doesn't maneuver around you (you can seal off
another door if you'd like, but it would probably make life harder for you to
escape). Once you hunt him down and beat him, collect all the items quickly
before he revives and starts to complicate your life.
BLACK: You've got it tough here. First, grab the suitcase (move left and then
down), and then the item one room below it. If the white player has not found
the dagger, make a mad dash for it (ignore him if he comes to pick a fight) by
moving all the way to the right and then up one floor. If he does have it, you
have to stay away from him. If he's ignoring you, grab the club in the middle
of the level. If you can't get to it and escape without getting caught, ignore
it. Instead, work your way around the other spy, setting booby traps whenever
necessary. If he gets an item, hide the suitcase and booby trap it. Good
luck.
LEVEL 3: Advantage: White
WHITE: All too easy. Notice that you effectively start one room ahead of the
black spy. Nice, isn't it? Quickly go down one room and grab the club. Now
race back up and hunt the black spy down. He can only go up and then left a
few spaces, so it should be fairly easy to catch him. Note that the first
ladder room has a time bomb in it, which should slow him down. This is only if
your opponent does not know the layout of this level and stuff. If you fear
that he does (the computer player doesn't count), ignore that step. Now, no
matter what skill level your opponent is on, go up the second ladder you come
to. Grab the suitcase in the room and then follow the doors to get the knife.
Now that you have the suitcase and the knife, pick up the other items at your
leisure, watching out for booby traps. In fact, if you know your opponent has
read this FAQ, bring an umbrella with you when you go hunting for the knife (as
he will just block you off).
BLACK: Your actions here depend entirely on the white spy. If he comes in to
attack you, make quick work of him and then follow the white walkthrough. If
he goes down, move as fast as you can up to the second staircase and grab the
knife. If he moves up, move right then down to grab the club. Now follow him.
If he goes up the first flight of stairs, grab the knife by going up the second
flight. If he goes up the second flight, resort to booby traps. Place water
on the door between the two ladder rooms and the door at the bottom of white's
starting screen. If he forgot to bring an umbrella, he's stuck. Once he
explodes, grab the suitcase from him (watch to see if he booby traps it),
quickly gather up some items, and escape while avoiding the white spy at all
costs.
Level 4 Advantage: Black
WHITE: If playing against someone inexperienced or the computer, you need to
hurry in order to get the upper hand. Quickly move up 2, left 4, up 1, and
left 2. Grab the dagger in this room. By this time, the black spy should be
catching up to you, so kill him just for fun. Now go right once so that you
are in the room with the exit and go down twice. Grab the suitcase. Now that
you are armed and ready, pick up the items. There are two on each side of the
building. Just remember that there is absolutely nothing in the rooms to the
left of white's starting position, so don't go there.
Against people who know this level, you will have problems. Chances are, he
will get both weapons and possibly the suitcase. Since you will be creamed if
you go after it, ignore it. Instead, let him get the suitcase. Once he goes
that way, go to the room with the exit in it and seal the bottom door. He's
dead now, so go grab an item while waiting for him to decide what to do.
Watch him, as he may booby trap the suitcase. Now that you have the suitcase,
pick up the rest of the items while avoiding the black spy. Lots of booby
traps will be a necessity. Good luck.
BLACK: This is painfully obvious. Go up once, grab the club, go left, up 2,
right 1, and then up to get the dagger. Now either kill the white spy or chase
him off so he doesn't trap you in the suitcase room. Then go down and grab the
suitcase. At this point, just watch what the other spy does and take note of
all booby traps he places. This should be easy, but don't be careless.
Level 5: Advantage: Even
BOTH: No need for a separate walkthrough here, as it's basically the same
thing. Your goal here is to get the other spy to walk down the second ladder
first. If you're white, you can hope the black spy goes up his ladder first to
look around. If you both read this FAQ, this can be a pretty boring game. In
any case, just run around the area you have, fighting the other spy if he's not
moving in the general direction of the other ladder. Finally, once he goes
down the ladder, he will be met by a time bomb. Boom. Now follow his remains
to the top left corner room to get the dagger. Chase your enemy down and kill
him, and use your extra time to go up the ladder in that corner, grab the item
and suitcase, and go back down before he can get a time bomb in there. Hmmm,
this one was pretty short.
Level 6: Advantage: White
WHITE: You should have a fairly easy time with this one. First go down and
right, then up the ladder. Move two floors to the right, avoid the time bomb,
and grab the dagger. Now go back downstairs, back to your initial room, and
grab the item. Wind your way up to the top left room and get the suitcase,
then go up the stairs you just passed. Move to the right to pick up the second
item. Go back down, and then up the ladder that you went up initially. Keep
moving to the right until you see another ladder. You are now in black's
territory, so be careful here. Grab the final two items and escape. Of
course, if you don't think your opponent is all that great, you can grab the
suitcase and items first to save time. However, that's slightly risky. In any
case, note that there's no remedies for bombs and springs here. If your the
other spy does do something mean like planting a bomb on an item, kill him
before setting the trap off. That way, he'll have less time to recover and
gain the upper hand.
BLACK: Start off by going after the dagger as well. If your opponent is
smart, however, he will always beat you to it, so watch white's screen to see
if he's going after it to. If you do get there first, grab it and proceed to
beat up the poor white spy. Then follow the rest of white's walkthrough. If
not, then it's booby trap time. Don't bother with doors this time. Instead,
booby trap one of the two items (make sure you know where they are) on your
side of the building. Avoid the white spy until he unleashes the trap.
Continue this strategy whenever it becomes apparent that the white spy will get
any item. Your only hope is to kill him enough until you can grab everything
and leave. With a little luck, you should be able to pull it off.
Level 7: Advantage: White
WHITE: As usual, you can quickly gain the upper hand. There are no time bombs
in the ladder rooms, so don't be afraid to go up and down the ladders.
Thus, start off by going up the ladder in your starting room. Loop all the way
around the top floor by going all the way to the left, down two, and then one
room to the right. There you will find the dagger. Now that you are armed and
ready for battle, continue on your set course until you get to the last room.
Pick up the item here. By now, the black spy is bound to be cooking something
up, so be careful. Go back down the first ladder you come to. From there,
move to the left, then down, then right, and finally up one room. There's the
suitcase, right in the middle of the level. If the black spy hasn't been
around, go down, left, down, and right to pick up the club as well. From here,
it's a simple matter of picking up the rest of the items. But watch out, as
the paths are long and winding, and it's easy to get trapped by a booby trapped
door. Follow the other spy's screen closely, and make note of all remedies you
pass.
BLACK: If the white spy does not go up the ladder immediately and instead goes
into the next room, move left. Either beat up the white spy or run past him
and move into his initial room. From there, just follow the white spy's
walkthrough, and you should do fine. If he does immediately go up the ladder,
then you have problems. Head up your own ladder, move down and then left, and
go down the ladder you find. From here, head down and left to get the club,
then left, up, right, up to find the suitcase. Playing against an intermediate
player, you should have a chance here. Stall the white spy while picking up
the rest of the items. They are scattered all over the place, so be careful.
LEVEL 8: Advantage: White
White: As usual, you can get a quick lead here. Move left through the one way
door and then up one. Watch out for the time bomb, and then go up the ladder.
Move down two spaces to get the dagger, and then two to the left for the
suitcase. That was easy, right? Well, it's not over yet. If the black spy is
smart, you will have to commit suicide. There's a time bomb in the other
ladder room, so if he doesn't set it off you will have to. Booby trap the
suitcase beforehand (go with a bomb, as both remedies are easily accessible to
the black spy and only the water bucket is to you). After committing suicide,
watch what he does. Charge after him if he gets the suitcase, and watch him
warily while picking up items if he doesn't. Now then, onto items. There are
two on the black spy's side of the level, one on yours (the starting place,
incidentally), and one upstairs. Make sure you grab both of the ones on
black's side at the same time. It is very easy to get trapped upstairs, as you
will want to avoid crossing sides as much as possible. After you grab the
suitcase, make sure to kill the black spy. Quickly grab the two items, go back
to your side, grab the final items and leave.
Black: Doesn't this guy ever get a break? Actually, you are only one floor
behind the white spy, so you should be able to get the upper hand quickly if he
is an amateur. If the white spy moves either up or down in the beginning,
charge up (remember the time bomb), up the ladder, then down, right, and down
to get the dagger. You should have an easy time mopping up the rest of the
items then, as he will have no leg to stand on. If he does move straight for
the ladder (by going left and up), then do not go into your ladder room. If
you do, just reset the time bomb in it. Now, sit and wait until he comes down
the ladder. You might as well pick up an item while waiting, presumably the
one that's further away. Make sure you watch his screen to check for booby
traps. Once he kills himself, grab the suitcase, go back down your flight of
stairs, and grab the other item. If you're feeling risky, try to get past the
other spy to grab the last item or two. If not, and you don't mind a
stalemate, time bomb your ladder again. If he does go down it, you win. If he
doesn't, well, a stalemate's nice. He may not like you anymore though.
VIII. General Tips
*******************
1) First of all, basic strategy. There are three main objectives that you can
go for in this game. You can aim for the items and a quick win, the weapons,
or just booby trap stuff. As you can see from my walkthrough, I consider the
weapons to be the strongest one. Why? Because the others can be overridden.
Your items can be taken, booby traps can be defused, but you will always win in
a fight if you have the stronger weapon. Since you will fight at least once in
99% of the games you play, this just seems like the logical option. With the
dagger, you can always kill your opponent directly if he has the upper hand.
2) If you choose to booby trap, which should you use? Time bombs are only
effective if your opponent isn't paying attention. The exception, of course,
is ladder rooms. Place these at the lower level of the ladder rooms and, if he
comes down the ladder, he is dead. Very effective, but very cheap. Bombs and
springs are identical. Don't bother booby trapping everything, as it is only a
waste of time. Instead, booby trap chests where items are. If the other spy
didn't notice them, he is in for quite a surprise. Water buckets are also
useful early on in the game. Chances are, nobody will be closing the doors
behind them. Thus, later on when the level is fully explored, a closed door
will stick out like a sore thumb. On the other hand, it may take your opponent
some time to find an umbrella, so it may very well be worth it if you need some
breathing room. Early on, however, they are particularly deadly.
2a) So you chose to booby trap with the bomb or spring? Which do you choose?
Well, as I stated, both are virtually identical. Thus, choose the one whose
remedy is harder to find. However, if you're booby trapping an item, you may
want to make sure the remedy is somewhere, as you may need to get the item
eventually. One thing is for sure: don't consistently use the same booby-trap.
There's no reason that the other spy should get off easily because he knows you
too well. In any case, set it quikly. Don't leave your booby traps out where
your opponent can see them. If you do it quickly enough, chances are your
opponent will not know which one you chose, and will have to guess. Just make
sure you know, of course.
3) If there is one tip that must be drilled into your head, it is this.
Always keep an eye on the opponent's screen. Always keep tabs on what he is
doing, where he is going, what items he has, whether or not he's placed booby
traps, etc. All of this information is vital to your success, and I suggest
constantly glancing down at the other half of the screen. This will make your
life much easier.
4) Maps. This one's quick. Blue dots are items, yellow dots are booby traps.
Don't be too reliant on the map though. Items may be hidden by booby traps.
Also, time still runs as you look at the map, thus allowing the other spy to do
other stuff while you're contemplating. The converse is true. In fact, it's
quite useful to study your opponent's map while he has it up rather than bring
yours up. After all, they are the same thing. In single player mode, however,
there is a way around this. Just pause the game when you have your map up.
Granted, you can do this in multiplayer as well, but your opponent might get
rather upset.
5) In the later levels, there are many booby traps already placed. You should
especially be suspicious about going down a ladder you did not come up. I
mentioned the only major problem in the walkthrough section, so there shouldn't
be any problems. Just be careful.
IX. Contact Information
************************
Questions? Comments? Complaints? Suggestions? Errors? Anything else?
Email me at
[email protected] Thanks.
