Spy vs. Spy II: The Island Caper/Gameplay

Controls

 * Joystick or Direction Pad: Use the joystick or direction pad to direct your spy in four different directions. You can run left or right by pushing the stick or pad in either direction.  When you press up, you run "upstage" (away from the player), and you run "downstage" (toward the player) when you hold down.  You can also use the joystick to swim left or right, and you can rotate the joystick rapidly to pull yourself out of quicksand, but this will sap your energy.  Note that, unlike the previous game, the screen will scroll to the left and right.  You will only change views when you change which row of the island you are occupying.  You can see the pathways between rows either as trails through the trees above you, or breaks in the black line below you.
 * Fire button: The fire button has many uses. Compared to the first game, you must also hold the button down while pushing the joystick in a direction to perform certain actions.
 * Press it in front of an object (such as a coconut, or a portion of sand that something appears to be buried under) to examine the object. If any useable object is contained within, you will grab hold of it.  If the item can be held in your inventory, press the button while holding the object to store it.  If the object cannot be held, press the button to release it, and it will drop at your feet.
 * Press the button twice to activate your Trapulator device to make one of the LEDs blink. Use up or down to move the blinking LED to the item you wish to select, and press the button once more to activate your selection.  If you selected a trap, you must properly set the trap by holding the button and pulling down on the joystick.  See the traps sections for more information.
 * When you and the enemy spy occupy the same space, you may not do any of the above. However, pressing the button will allow you to draw your baton, which you can use to smash your opponent.  To hit your opponent, you must keep the button pressed, and push the joystick left and right to hit the opponent in the gut, or up and down to bash the opponent over the head.
 * Alternatively, you may use your gun if you are in possession of one. To use the gun, hold the fire button down, and push the joystick in any direction to fire the gun.  However, some of the bullets may be duds, and you may run out of ammo.  The gun will make a different higher pitched sound when it is out of ammo.
 * When attempting to connect two adjacent pieces of the missile, you must put one piece on the ground, hold the other piece, stand over the piece on the ground, hold the fire button down, and pull the joystick down. This will cause the connected missile to appear on the floor, which you must then pick up.  If you merely press the button, you will only drop the piece that you are holding.

Mission Objective
Each spy has the exact same mission. There are three pieces of a missile that each spy must collect for their side. They are hidden in various locations on a remote volcanic island. You must locate all three of them, connect them into one complete missile, and locate the escape submarine before your opponent does. You will have to run throughout the island, or islands, searching for the missile pieces. You can only hold one missile piece at a time unless you connect two or three of the pieces together. Don't try to find the submarine before you have the assembled, or you're likely to become shark food. Should the opponent get their hands on something you need, you have two choices: face them in hand to hand combat, or set a trap for them and knock them out of the game temporarily. But remember, you can also trip the traps that you set. And since both players' action are on the screen at the same time, your enemy might be spying on you! Use the map to get a feel for the layout of the island and where the pieces may be. The clock is ticking as soon as the game starts, and the volcano will erupt if you don't get off the island in time, so get going!

Getting started
Before you start, as the spies are parachuting to the island, there are a number of selections that you can make regarding the complexity of the game. Not all versions will have exactly the same set of selections. The following are the most common: In most cases, you can set all of these options with just the joystick, and press the fire button when you are ready to begin.

Levels
Regardless of level, there are three constants throughout the game:
 * There is only one gun on the island.
 * Shovels can only dig 8 pits before breaking.
 * Each spy has 5 uses of Napalm per game.

Winning the game
The only way to win the game is to beat your opponent to escape submarine with the fully assembled missile, before time runs out and the volcano on the island errupts. The three missile pieces are: You can only carry one solid missile piece at a time. The only way to carry more than one piece of the missile is to assemble it as you collect them. To assemble the missile, you must be holding one piece while standing on another piece on the ground. Then hold the fire button down while pulling the joystick down. A newly assembled missile piece will appear on the ground for you to collect. The only two pieces that you cannot connect are the two ends of the missile.

Once the missile is assembled, you must search for and locate the escape submarine, which may be stationed off either the east or west coast of the north-most row of the island. Swimming will slowly drain your health, and if you remain in the water too long, a green gilled Mud Sharks may appear to try and eat you. You can survive a few encounters with the shark, but you will also lose strength from drowning, so head back to the island as quickly as possible.