Spy Fox - Some Assembly Required
Ages 5 - 10

Once again the debonair secret agent is saving the world from mass destruction, this time from a giant dog robot created by the nefarious megalomaniac Napoleon Le Roach. There are the usual 007 spoofs - Miss Monkey Penny and Professor Quack with his wacky but operational spy gadgets. The voices are good, with Spy Fox sounding more like Inspector Gadget, and the background music is both supportive and not intrusive. The action takes place in a World's Fair so there is the fun of exploring unusual buildings and activities

The game follows the style of the Spy Fox and Pajama Sam games - collecting multiple clues and objects to reach a goal. For example (and I am giving a hint away), to get to the Dogbot controls you must have your hand scanned for validation and it turns out that it must be the hand of Napoleon Le Roach. If you remembered what spy gadgets were available, you would recall a Fingerprint Replicator Utensil Kit (where the fork lifts the print and transfers the print to the spoon). You then have to go back to the Mobile Command Center to obtain it, give the fork to Chef Dinah who needs a fork for La Roach's dinner service, the fork captures the print, you go back to the Dogbot, and use the print to get to the Dogbot controls. This formula is used throughout the game. There are additional activities to play outside of the game; a simple tension relieving game of shooting asteroids and spy tricks to do in the real world - invisible messages, lifting fingerprints from glasses, and passing secret messages in tennis balls.

While the game is rated for ages 5 - 10, this is not a game for children with attention deficit problems. To play this game, children must pay attention to the visual clues, engage in multiple discussions with the characters for hints, learn to navigate a fairly complex location plan and remember and put it all together to be able to foil the dastardly plan.

It's a good fun exercise for the brain - possibly more than kids get in some classes. A lot of careful work when into the game - all the clues are there - you just have to find them. And, Humongous is one of the few publishers that continue to make Mac games.

Genevieve 4/00