|
Credits
Programming: Paul Margrave
Programming: Colin Boswell
Graphics: Anthony West
Music: Matt Furniss
Developer: Lloyd Baker
Official Blurb
James Bond and Soviet agent Anya Amasova form
an unlikely alliance in this the most famous
of Bond's escapades. Together they must investigate
the recent disappearance of two submarines -
one Russian and one British.
Microfilm evidence suggests that they have
been stolen by the power-mad Karl Stromberg.
You are dispatched to Sardinia to investigate
Stromberg's plans at his underwater fortress
Atlantis.
To assist you in your mission, Q has provided
his revolutionary Submarine Car which, when
kitted out, is armed to the teeth with a fantastic
array of weaponry.
History
"The Spy Who Loved Me" was released
in 1990 by a company named Domark - named after
it's founders whose names were Dominic and Mark.
The company no longer exists after it was bought
out along with United States Gold & Core
design and became part of the Eidos video game
company which still exists today. Developers
"The Kremlin" had no on-screen credit.
|
|
Above: Magazine advertisement
Above: C64 splash screen
|
MI6 Review
Domark published a number of James Bond 007 licensed
games during the late 1980's ("A View To A Kill"
(1985), "The Living Daylights" (1987), "Live
And Let Die" (1988), "Licence To Kill"
(1989)) and into the early 1990's with "James
Bond: The Duel" (1993)). 1990's "The Spy
Who Loved Me" was the last movie tie-in Bond
game published by Domark, although most of the film's
plot is ignored.
Fundamentally a top-down racing game, but with an
underwater twist, "The Spy Who Loved Me"
takes only the minimum details from the film required
to satisfy the licence. 007's Lotus Esprit appears
in both guises as the central "character"
of the game.
The game consists of levels focused on each vehicle:
Lotus Esprit (road), Lotus Esprit (underwater), speedboat,
and wet bike (jet-ski). The first part of the game
uses the Lotus in Sardinia, the middle section is
more of a shoot-em-up style top down scroller using
the Lotus underwater against Stromberg's troops, and
the final section utilises the speedboat and wet bike.
16-bit versions are treated to additional scenes where
XXX must defend Bond by shooting Stromberg's attacking
troops whist 007 explodes a nuclear charge, a mini
puzzle game where 007 must reprogram the targeting
computer by matching a series of symbols, and Bond
battling Jaws whilst Stromberg attempts to make a
run for it.
Controls let the game down. Keeping the vehicles
on the right track is overly difficult, and any number
of obstacles will cause the Lotus to swerve drastically
or cause serious damage to the car. As if there wasn't
enough to avoid already, non-Amstrad versions also
feature human an animal obstacles on the road which
you must dodge. The difficulty level seems easy at
first, but quickly becomes frustrating when a single
mistake can fail the entire mission. Level maps (displayed
minutely on the left-hand side of the screen) need
to be memorised to succeed.
On the one hand, "The Spy Who Loved Me"
(8-bit) should be praised for attempting to specialise
in a single gaming genre rather than opting for the
multi-genre games common for movie tie-ins. On the
other hand, the game fails to succeed in it's focus
as the driving experience is poor and with little
realism or arcade finesse - even for a game of it's
time. The 16-bit versions of the game have the bonus
of the non-driving scenes to add a little variety
to the bland vehicle sections. The saving grace of
the game is the music and high quality presentation
of certain versions (namely Amiga & Commodore
64) with a good soundtrack from Matt Furniss. Graphically,
the game varies wildly amongst the different platforms,
but as usual the C64 and Amiga are the superior 8-bit
and 16-bit platforms respectively.
Viewed within the era that "The Spy Who Loved
Me" was released, Domark's final movie tie-in
is a disappointment considering the quality that preceded
it with "Licence To Kill" (1989). A solely
James Bond driving game would not be attempted again
until "007 Racing" (2000) by EA Games, which
would also prove a let down. Maybe third time lucky?
Commodore 64 |
Commodore 64 |
Amstrad CPC |
|
Advertising (Magazine)
James Bond returns in a classic action-packed race
against time to save the world from the crazed and
power-mad Karl Stromberg.
Use your skills to end the threat of global domination
as you seek to outwit Stromberg's mercenaries and
prevent a nuclear war between East and West.
Exhilarating chase sequences on land and under the
sea involve Q's specially modified Lotus - souped
up and armed to the teeth.
With one-on-one arcade style shootouts, multilevel
action and top secret codes to crack, this is the
fastest paced and most exciting Bond thriller to date.
Don't miss out on The Spy Who Loved Me - a programming
tour de force!
ZX Spectrum |
ZX Spectrum |
Amstrad CPC |
|
Trivia
- The PC DOS version of the game suffered poor sales
and high returns, so much so that developers The Kremlin
recycled "The Spy Who Loved Me" 3.5"
floppy's as blank discs.
- The Spectrum 48K version features no music or sound
effects.
- Human and animal obstacles are missing from the
Amstrad CPC version.
- "Bad Show James" is displayed upon the
failure of a mission.
Manual - Q's Equipment List
All weapons are available from the Q-Truck, or as
packages which can be collected en route.
Lotus (On Land)
Offensive Weapons: Machine Gun, Missile Launcher and
Ground to Air Missiles
Rear Defences: Smoke Gun, Paint Jet and Vehicle Armour
Lotus (Underwater)
Offensive Weapons: Explosive Bolts (4 Way), Torpedo's
(8 Way) and Laser Gun
Rear Defences: Vehicle Armour
Speedboat
Offensive Weapon: Missile Launcher
Defensive Weapon: Smoke Gun
Wet Bike
Offensive Weapons: Machine Gun (4 Way), Laser Gun
and Micro Missiles
Defensive Weapon: Vehicle Armour
|
Scene 1: Bond and Anya collect
the car from Q at the harbour and drive to their
hotel. Take this opportunity to practice your
driving skills and learn how to handle the car.
There is a time limit - you have to get to the
hotel in time to catch a boat which will take
you to your meeting with Stromberg.
Use the car's terrific handling to avoid innocent
people and traffic as you hurtle along the twisting
roads to your destination. Drive over Q-Tokens
to buy extra weapons for use in later scenes.
Having picked up the speedboat Bond must travel
out to Stromberg's Atlantis, avoiding innocent
swimmers, wooden piers and Stromberg's agents
whose speedboats follow in hot pursuit
Scene 2: Having completed
their meeting with Stromberg, Bond and Anya
head back to their hotel. However, Stromberg's
suspicions are aroused and he orders them killed.
Drive into the Q-Truck to buy weapons and to
repair your car using the Q-Tokens you have
collected. James decides to have another look
at Atlantis - from underwater. You can only
get into this scene by obtaining underwater
capability from Q. Use the extra weapons provided
by Q to destroy large enemies.
Scene 3 (16-bit versions only):
Bond's visit to Atlantis confirms his suspicions
about Stromberg. An American nuclear submarine
is sent to destroy Atlantis; Bond joins Anya
on board. However, Stromberg is one step ahead
of the game and has the American sub captured
and hidden inside a huge hollow supertanker.
Bond escapes and releases the crews from the
British, Russian and American submarines. Together
they launch an attack only to find that Stromberg
is in the control room, safe behind armour plated
steel. Bond takes a detonator from the sub's
nuclear missile and climbs onto a security camera
in a death defying mission to blow a hole in
the shielding.
Defend Bond from the guards who rush out to
attack him. Watch out for the enemy divers in
the water - they will pop up anywhere. Remember,
you must keep Bond safe until the nuclear charge
explodes. Shoot magazines for extra ammunition.
Scene 4 (16-bit versions only):
Bond and the submarine crews rush into the control
room only to find that they are too late! Stromberg
has escaped, taking Anya with him as hostage.
His last action was to reprogram the British
and Russian subs with their deadly nuclear missiles
targeted on New York and Moscow. The resulting
explosions will plunge the world into nuclear
war while he hides beneath the waves in Atlantis.
Bond has only one chance - to reprogram the
targeting computer with the coordinates of the
submarines before they reach their launch sites:
Submarine # 1: 039 048 (Degrees)
Submarine # 2: 038 022 (Degrees)
Match the master sequence of symbols with the
symbols generated by your entered number sequence.
Be quick You have only one chance to stop Stromberg
and his plans for global domination.
Scene 5: The US Commander
has orders to destroy Atlantis even though Anya
is still hostage. Bond is given one hour to
rescue her. Using the specially modified Wet
Bike flown in by Q, he must destroy its outer
defences and enter Atlantis.
Q has air dropped packages onto the surface
for you to collect. Use these to destroy the
various craft which are determined to stop you
reaching your destination.
Scene 6 (16-bit versions only):
Bond runs down the corridors of Atlantis looking
for Anya. Here he encounters Stromberg's forces
and the enormous, bone-crunching henchman Jaws!
Hold off Stromberg's bodyguard until Stromberg
panics and makes a run for it! Watch out! The
near invincible Jaws has remained behind to
settle old scores.
|
|
Above: Amiga screenshots
|
Walk Through
Scene 1 (Part 1) - Lotus Esprit
& Boat
This level is a piece of cake. Simply
drive along at a controllable speed. If
you drive too fast, you will most likely
go off the road and will be damaged very
quickly. After about three minutes of
driving along enjoying the view you will
come to a dock with a shack in the middle
at the end of the dock. Drive into the
dock and you will emerge with a boat.
This part of the level might be difficult
to beginners if you don't pay attention.
Do you see those red spots on the water?
That's the direction you should take.
If you do not take the direction indicated
by the red dots, you will most likely
come to a dead end, crash into the dock,
and die. Once you get to the darkened
part of the level, slow down or you might
crash into the end of the level.
Scene 1 (Part 2) - Lotus Esprit
This level can be slightly challenging
at times if you don't take the right routes.
First of all, let's cover the Q Truck.
What's the Q Truck you ask? Do you see
those coins on the ground in this level
and do you remember the coins from the
last level? Good. You can buy things from
the Q Truck such as Armor, Lasers, and
other Bondian items. One thing you will
need to complete this level is the Submarine
tool that will convert your Lotus Esprit
into a submarine when necessary. To enter
the Q Truck simply drive behind it and
a ramp will eventually extend out. Drive
up the ramp and you will enter the Q Truck.
Sometimes, it can be a bit difficult on
the Amiga version. When you are in the
Q Truck there is a map of the level on
the left part of the screen. On the map,
you are a flashing white dot. When you
are driving along, it is recommended to
take the path to the left whenever possible
because usually it is easier to avoid
enemies and because it leads to the end
of the level. You will probably have to
enter the Q Truck many times because the
enemies usually like to play Bumper Cars
with you. When an attacking helicopter
passes over you, you will be extremely
close to finishing the level. Keep to
the left and eventually you will see a
path that says JETTY. Drive along the
road and eventually you will land in the
water. If you do not take the jetty path
then the level starts from the beginning
again. You will need the submarine capability
otherwise you will crash. Before you submerge
into the water, it is best to stock up
on weapons in the Q Truck.
|
|
Controls
Keys:
Q - Up / Accelerate
A - Down / Brake
O - Left
P - Right
Space - Fire / Enter
H - Hold/Pause
Joystick:
Up - Up / Accelerate
Back - Down / Brake
Left - Left
Right - Right
Fire - Fire / Enter
Hold down the fire key to operate the
vehicle's defence systems.
Cheats
Start the game, stop the car and type
"MISS MONEYPENNY". You should now have
infinite lives and cash. Pressing [F10]
will allow you to skip levels. (Amiga)
On level 2 try to buy the most expensive
items in Q's armoured truck and make
a note of the map on the left-hand side
of the screen.
|
Scene 2 - Underwater with Lotus
This level is a bit difficult at first
but you'll beat it eventually. There are
two enemies that are worth noting in this
level. The first enemy is something like
a yellow submarine that fires green balls
at you. A good tip is slowing down and
shooting it in the back to destroy it.
After you shoot it enough, it will explode.
In this level, there is no Q Truck but
there are black dots in the water. These
black dots will replenish things. So,
say if you see a black dot with a red
A on it, then it will replenish your armor.
You'll eventually get to the end of the
level where you have to fight a level
boss. This guy isn't that bad if you know
what you're doing. First, get rid of the
moving turrets, and then shoot the stationary
turrets as fast as possible. Good luck.
Scene 3 - No Vehicle (Shoot 'Em
Up Level)
This is actually the only level in the
classic James Bond games where you actually
don't control James Bond! Instead, you
control XXX who is attempting to protect
Bond. So that's your task in this level.
This level might be hard for a beginner
but keep at it because eventually you'll
beat it. There are lots of enemies that
randomly pop up around this level. There
are the enemies in red that run on the
catwalk. When the enemies in red touch
the object that James Bond is on, you
will lose the level. Enemies also spawn
in three different other places. Do you
see the submarine at the bottom of the
screen? One enemy will occasionally pop
out of there and try to shoot Bond. The
other two enemies spawn to the left and
right of the submarine in the water. Often,
something will fly out of an enemy after
you have shot him. This is ammo and is
very important in the mission. When you
are out of ammo, you will most likely
lose the level. Good luck.
Scene 4 - No Vehicle (Codes Level)
This level is actually very simple. But,
you have to do things fast if you want
to complete this level. For this level,
you will need three codes. One code is
for the "Entry Override". When
you crack the Entry Override code, you
can then send coordinates to Stromberg's
two submarines that will then destroy
each other with the two coordinates you
give them. The first code for the entry
override is a 5-digit code. Have fun guessing
it! Actually the code is 00081! Now, you
will be allowed to control the submarine's
two coordinates. Stromberg One's coordinates
to destroy the other submarine is 039
048. Now, the computer will ask you for
the coordinates for the second submarine
named Stromberg Two. The code for the
last submarine is 038 022. That was easy
wasn't it?
Scene 5 - Boat
This level is similar to the Water mission
on Scene 1, except it has harder enemies
and no docks. There are basically two
enemies you will have to watch out for
in this level. The first enemy is Stromberg's
soldiers dressed in red on a water boat.
Don't worry, they are extremely easy to
defeat and usually take one or sometimes
two shots to kill. The other enemy is
a hassle. This enemy is a destroyer that
will fire torpedoes, water mines, and
it will fire its defensive gun at you.
These guys seem to be pretty tough, but
you won't run into a lot of them. When
a destroyer appears on the screen I would
recommend waiting until the stern (the
back of the ship) is on your screen. Then,
move your boat so it faces the back of
the ship, and fire as fast as you can.
Remember the slightly dark part of the
Water section of Scene 1? The same thing
is here at the end of this level. When
you get there, slow down so you don't
crash and you will proceed to the last
level.
Scene 6 - No Vehicle (Atlantis
Level)
Remember Scene 3 when you played as XXX
protecting James Bond? This level is similar
but it is a lot easier to beat. Enemies
in red will occasionally pop out of the
eight or so corridors in the hallway that
you are in. Don't worry, it doesn't take
a few extra shots to kill them, they're
just like the baddies in Level 4 but they
are just a bit stronger. In this last
level, you will encounter Jaws and Stromberg.
When Jaws appears on the screen, he cannot
be harmed anywhere unless you shoot him
in his metal teeth. Once you have shot
Jaws he will not appear for the rest of
the level. Continue to kill soldiers in
red and eventually Stromberg will appear
on the screen holding Anya Amasova (Agent
XXX) hostage. It usually doesn't take
a whole lot of ammo to kill Stromberg
although sometimes he can take a lot of
punishment. When shooting him, be careful
not to shoot Anya because she can be killed
very easily. If you accidentally shoot
Anya, Stromberg will move extremely fast
and it will be difficult to defeat him.
This game actually has two endings. One
is if Anya survives, and the other is
if Anya dies. Once you have defeated Stromberg
and have Anya standing there (Probably
in front of an enemy - don't bother with
the enemy standing behind her) kill a
few more red soldiers and eventually you
will beat "The Spy Who Loved Me"!
Congratulations! |
|
Many thanks to "Lethal Weapon"
|
