Spy Fox is back–saving the world, of course–in this third installment of a humorous adventure series that is both challenging and terrific fun. Children lead secret agent Spy Fox on a mission to thwart a money-hungry poodle’s "diabolical" plans, drawing upon their logic skills every step of the way.
This adventure finds Spy having just infiltrated the "bad guys’ space." From the get-go, children need to don their thinking caps. They’ll have to put together a rocket-powered origami skateboard first before receiving an introduction to the plot of the game and the program’s bad guy–in this case, a cosmetics mogul gone bad. Poodles Galore, whose giant aerosol can is endlessly blasting the ozone layer, is motivated by visions of customers flocking to buy her sunscreen. A top-secret message found in a tube of lipstick reveals that Plato Pushpin, a renowned expert in cosmetic rocketry, has the knowledge to put an end to this madness but has been abducted. Once he has been found, children need to lead Spy Fox on a hunt for the important ingredients–one of which can be prickly pear pizza–for Plato’s congeal pill that will set things right again.
The Spy Corps Mobile Command Center houses all the spy gadgets that Professor Quack has made, and Spy’s beeping Spy Watch alerts the agent to important updates from Monkey Penny. The spy gadgets are goofy, as always, with the Grappling Granny doll (whose teeth shoot out and clamp onto anything wooden) common to each of the program’s game paths. The Sticky Stun Bun leaves bad guys "stuck" in their tracks for a while, and a special Spy Ear allows Spy Fox to hear conversations behind solid glass. The game’s challenges are always hilarious. For example, Spy must pass through a crazy contraption known as a "hair security scanner," and players have to pay attention to clues to determine the hair of the day in order to lead Spy Fox successfully through.
Spy Fox is so suave (not!), the jokes are corny, and the crime is far-out. Kids love hearing the spy lingo (they get to be involved with "infiltrating" premises, getting debriefings, stumbling upon informants, etc.)–perfect for the upper-elementary set! Besides, parents will find the animal counterparts of familiar James Bond characters hilarious–from Monkey Penny and the gadget-maker Professor Quack to Poodles Galore. Kids get a chance to interrogate characters, poke around where they aren’t supposed to, and show off their cleverness by uncovering and interpreting clues.
The humor found in the program has a little something for everyone. True, some of the jokes–especially the spoof elements–go over kids’ heads, but they’ll capture the interest of, and probably a few chuckles from, their parents. As well, the program is filled with just the kind of bad puns that most 8-to-10-year-olds can’t get enough of (such as Spy’s "you’re looking sharp" said to a porcupine informant cleverly disguised as a cactus). The dialogue is similar to that found in old Get Smart episodes.
Spy Fox fans will be very satisfied with this sequel, while initiates could easily start with any of the three titles in the series. The original Spy Fox program (Spy Fox in Dry Cereal), however, is probably the most difficult to solve. Humongous has wisely upped the recommended age group for this title (previous ones read 5—10, and this one is 7+). The level of challenge, however, remains largely unchanged–it’s just that previous programs in the series were best for 7 and up anyways. Keep in mind, though, that most children under about 10 will need help from time to time.
Our 10-year-old tester was ecstatic firing up this program–Spy Fox has been a huge favorite–and he wasn’t disappointed. His solitary gripe with the game remains the same–he finds it a hassle that Spy can carry only a limited number of gadgets at one time. Of course, we adults know this feature only serves to make kids plan ahead, discouraging them from resorting to random trial and error with the gadgets in order to solve problems. Besides, it doesn’t truly detract from the fun. This title drew a crowd of children of all ages around the computer, as Humongous adventures always seem to do. For all its wackiness, a responsible message is tucked into the game, and it even sparked a spontaneous discussion about the importance of the ozone layer among our group of testers!
