Spy Vs Spy III: Arctic Antics
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING
Nick’s lesson in diminishing returns began at a very young age
» Commodore 64 » 1986 » First Star Software
Sequels can be difficult games to make. If a development studio makes an improved follow-up to a mediocre game, the applause it receives will be well-deserved. Perversely, it’s entirely possible that you could make a better game than our theoretical improved sequel and still come in for criticism, because your game failed to add any substantial ideas to the formula of its predecessor. If you are blessed enough to achieve greatness, you should expect the curse of heightened expectations to follow – and really, when was the last time a developer had a successful game and then declined to make a sequel?
The first time I really experienced the concept of diminishing returns with sequels came with Spy Vs Spy III: Arctic Antics. When I received my Commodore 64 as a hand-me-down from my cousins, this game came with it, and between the various sports titles and arcade conversions it seemed like one of the most exciting games in the box of tapes I had just acquired. I was aware of the original from its Master System conversion, and here was a sequel I’d never even heard of. As I struggled with an uncooperative tape deck, I wondered what surprises the game might hold when I could finally get it to load. But once it finally did, I discovered that the answer was ‘not many’. Apart from the introduction of scrolling areas, there wasn’t much to set the game apart from the original. The fundamental concept of setting traps and gathering items was still solid enough to ensure that I had plenty of fun with the game, but first impressions are hard to shake off and that initial feeling of disappointment has stuck with me.
Since then, I’ve seen plenty of series struggle to maintain player interest, but most of those took at least a few entries to reach their ideal form. But a rare few, like Lemmings and Crazy Taxi, manage to take a simple concept and absolutely nail it at the first attempt – and I guess you can count Spy Vs Spy among them.