Bond Takes to the Arcades… Sort Of

While the James BondThe world's most famous secret agent, James Bond has starred not only in dozens of books but also one of the most famous, and certainly the longest running, film franchises of all time. games saw a number of game releases for PCs and consoles, it hadn’t actually made the move into arcades. At least not officially. Data East, who made a number of classic arcade titles, like Bad Dudes and RoboCop, did put out a James Bond title into arcades… just not one with a license. Released in 1989 under the name Sly Spy, this game is a James Bond title in all but name, a quarter muncher that let you live out your fantasies as an ass-kicking secret agent. You just needed to do it without calling yourself “Bond”.

Honestly, the game has less to do with the James Bond franchise as it fits into the mold of most of Data East’s arcade output. It features big dudes walking around, taking out endless hoards of nameless bad guys while progressing from left to right. The whole goal is just to kill everyone in front of you while working your way to the end of the stage, and then do it all again in the next, and the next, until you’ve beaten everything the game has to offer. It’s a classic of the arcade format, which is why Data East, and so many others, made games just like this.

In fact, you could draw a line from this game back to one of the first beat-em-up titles of the general, Kung-Fu Master. There you moved from one end of the stage to the other while countless enemies came at you. You had to defeat them all before they got to you as even a single touch would do damage. Our spy, Sly, has the same issue, and the enemies are just as relentless, showing that no matter who made the game, whether Data East here or Irem there, the basic format was pretty well locked in stone at this point. Data East simply added an unlicensed skin on top.

In Sly Spy you play as the titular spy, Sly, who is called in to Washington D.C. after the President of the United States and the First Lady are kidnapped by terrorists. It’s all part of the machinations of the Council of World Domination (CWD), who plan to invade the city and then take over the world. Only one man, Sly, can stop them, and he parachutes into the city to take them head on, by gun and by fist, until every single terrorist that gets in his way is eliminated. Anything to secure peace in the world.

At its core, Sly Spy is a run-and-fun shooter. Your character moves from one end of the stage to the other (usually left to right) shooting at anything that comes his way, be it basic terrorists, fatter guys lugging barrels, punks, dogs, tigers, sharks, and more. Most of these enemies die to a single gunshot, although some can take multiple to put down. There’s a lot of shooting, and a lot of walking, that you’ll have to do to reach the end of each stage, let alone the end of the game.

Be careful as your gun only has so many bullets. If you run out your agent will drop their gun and go hand-to-hand, turning Sly Spy into a beat-em-up. Your agent has three moves he can do – a high kick, a low kick, and a jump kick – all based on his position on the stage. The gun is certainly more effective, but if you haven’t collected enough bullets to keep your gun rolling, then you might find yourself forced into fisticuffs. You’ll be at a disadvantage then, though, so mind your bullets and don’t go blasting unnecessarily.

Thankfully bullets drop pretty regularly in the game, and your total collected ammo persists from one stage to the next. That means if you’re smart and keep your shooting under control, you can easily head into the end game with hundreds of bullets to your name with little worry. Smart management early on can make the end game much easier, which is good since that end game can be pretty tough, especially with Data East pulling out some pretty dirty tricks by the end of it.

Sly Spy features varied stage layouts, which makes this feel like a little more than a simple Kung-Fu Master clone. There’s a few sections with higher and lower areas to explore, and plenty of light platforming to do, although none of it will leave you feeling like you have to put your character’s life on the line. It helps keep everything varied and interesting without you feeling like the game is super repetitive, even as it keeps throwing the same kinds of enemies at you over and over again.

The stages also help to keep things lively. There are a few stages that break the format, starting with the opening scene where Sly parachutes in, falling down the screen while battling other parachuting enemies. The second full stage is a motorcycle sequence, while two additional stages are set in underwater areas. This variety lets you experience a number of different shooting style stages, preventing everything from feeling like a boring slog as you do everything on repeat. I appreciated the full variety of the game.

The James Bond nods also add a little something, even if they’re unofficial. A few of the bosses are directly lifted from the film series, with the likes of Jaws (The Spy Who Loved Me), Oddjob (Goldfinger), and a remote controlled shark (who, in fairness, comes from the off-brand Never Say Never Again and not the official EON films) appearing. We also have the famed “golden gun”, which you can collect the pieces of and then use (in a limited capacity). It’s a very powerful gun that kills anything in its path. It’s great.

With that said, the last stage is kind of a slog despite all the flavor added into the game. It’s another platforming stage, and the enemy density is turned all the way up. The waves are relentless and it can be very difficult to get through without losing a life. And then, once you get to the end of the stage you have to contend with a boss gauntlet of everyone you already fought before, making the end of the game feel like a retread. Right when it all picks up and should reach a crescendo, it falls apart just a little.

Still, there really is a lot to like about this game. Data East knew what they were doing when it came to arcade beat-em-ups and Sly Spy showed all their skill and craft. It’s not perfect but it had a spark of something truly fun within it. And though it isn’t official it is a fun, if silly, James Bond title that gets to the heart of the character’s action. Certainly it’s better than many of the official James Bond games out there, making it a great addition to any collection, official or otherwise (and there were home editions released so collecting it isn’t impossible).