Spy Fox 2: "Some Assembly Required" is an adventure game developed and published by Humongous Entertainment, part of their "Junior Adventure" line and the second entry in the Spy Fox series of games. The game follows the heroic Spy Fox as he races to stop a giant robot from destroying the World's Fair. The game was released for computers in September 1999.
| Spy Fox 2: "Some Assembly Required" | |
|---|---|
 CD cover | |
| Developer(s) | Humongous Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Humongous Entertainment[a] |
| Designer(s) | Lisa Wick Brad Carlton |
| Artist(s) | John Michaud (animator) |
| Composer(s) |
|
| Engine | SCUMM |
| Platform(s) | Mac OS, Windows, iOS, Android |
| Release | Windows, Macintosh
|
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Gameplay
edit"Some Assembly Required" features the same mechanics as Spy Fox in "Dry Cereal". The paths in this game vary just like in most other Humongous Entertainment games, but there are only two possible scenarios for how the tasks will play out, instead of each of the tasks being randomly selected for each playthrough.
Plot
edit
In the Alps, Spy Fox meets with Canadian Spy Corps Agent Gracefully, who gives him a trash bag retrieved from a company called S.M.E.L.L.Y. (the Society for Meaningless Evil, Larceny, Lying, and Yelling). Spy Fox is then pursued by S.M.E.L.L.Y. goons but manages to escape. He meets with the Chief of Spy Corps, revealing that the bag contains a box and instructions for a 1/1000 scale "Evil Dogbot" toy addressed to S.M.E.L.L.Y. leader Napoleon LeRoach. The Chief sends Fox to the World's Fair to investigate, with Monkey Penny and Professor Quack providing assistance from the Mobile Command Center. Using one of Professor Quack's gadgets, Spy Fox creates a false ID card to infiltrate LeRoach's restaurant and confront him.
In his restaurant, LeRoach explains to Spy Fox that he has used the likeness of the small Dogbot toy to build a giant Dogbot, disguising it as the centerpiece for the World's Fair. The people going through the turnstile are unknowingly winding the clockwork powering the Dogbot; when the millionth customer enters, the Dogbot will become operational and go on a destructive rampage. To ensure he could not be stopped, LeRoach hid the Dogbot's off switch, which would also require an activation code, and implemented a breath analyzer to prevent unauthorized access to the Dogbot's entrance in its Achilles' heel. LeRoach then imprisons Fox in the Dogbot's mouth, only for Spy Fox to escape.
Spy Fox works together with Agent Walter Wireless to receive the activation code from Agent Dottie Dash and learns the food necessary to bypass the breath analyzer, allowing him to sneak into the Dogbot and retrieve the off switch. Moments after placing it back on the control console and setting the code, the millionth customer walks through the turnstile and LeRoach activates the Dogbot, attacking the fair, only for Spy Fox to quickly deactivate it. With his scheme foiled, LeRoach escapes to the sewers. Afterwards, the Spy Chief presents Spy Fox with an award for defeating LeRoach, which the player can print out.
In an alternate ending, Spy Fox follows LeRoach into the sewers, where he discovers LeRoach's plot to launch a computer program that will burn a million pieces of toast from toasters hidden inside the Dogbot, creating a giant smoke cloud over the World's Fair before escaping to Fiji via a sewer pipe. Redirecting the pipe, Spy Fox flushes LeRoach down it, sending him through the pipe to a Spy Jail cell.
Reception
edit| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Review Corner |   [3] |
| The Electric Playground | 9.5/10[4] |
| Publication | Award |
|---|---|
| Review Corner | Award of Excellence[3] |
The Electric Playground named Spy Fox 2 the best computer adventure game of 1999.[5]
References
edit- ^ "Humongous Entertainment". 2000-05-19. Archived from the original on 2000-05-19. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
- ^ "Spy Fox 2: "Some Assembly Required"". Steam. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ^ a b "Spy Fox 2 - Review Corner". Archived from the original on October 28, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
Kid testers were thoroughly absorbed in the adventure, and were determined to solve the mystery and win the game. Even parents enjoyed the humor.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Bonnie James (December 19, 1999). "Freddi Fish 2: The case of the Haunted Schoolhouse - Electric Playground". Archived from the original on August 4, 1997. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
Spy Fox 2: Some Assembly Required is more fun than the newest PC graphics card, an episode of Get Smart and the latest Bond movie, combined.
- ^ Staff (March 2000). "EP Blister Awards 1999". The Electric Playground. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000.
- ^ The Steam release was co-published by Tommo and Night Dive Studios. The iOS release was published by Tommo.