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Spy Fox in "Dry Cereal"
 Just imagine! No butter on toast; no ice cream; no cheddar cheese ... nothing but dry cereal. Alas, this is the dismal forecast because someone is filching milk from all over the land.
Somewhere over the Mediterranean Sea the jet-setting Spy Fox sits down to his rather special in-flight meal and is contacted by Monkey Penny with the latest development in the alarming case. Amalgamated Moo Juice Incorporated, no less, has just been relieved of the last of its milk, but this time the robbers have left a clue ... some smelly Feta cheese that has been traced back to the Greek Island of Acidophilus.
After a tricky landing on Acidophilus our hero learns of his first assignment, to rescue Howard Hugh Heifer Udderly 3rd, who was 'cow-napped' during the daring robbery. Mr Udderly just might have some information to aid in delivering the land from the dairy crisis.
In this Junior Adventure from Humongous the player must slip into Agent Fox's sparkling white tuxedo to direct the action. The search for Mr Udderly is short and sweet and, fortunately, he does spill the beans on the dastardly plans of William the Kid who has accumulated sufficient milk to build a 'dairy bomb' to flood the city with milk and discredit the cow world. But, as luck would have it, the courageous escapee has swallowed the 'key' that will disarm the bomb.
Find Mr Udderly, get that key from his innards, discover the secret location of the dairy bomb ... and disarm it ... all in a days work for Agent Fox in this thoroughly charming children's adventure. This one is aimed at children from 5 to 10 years so it is a little more difficult than other Humongous games in the Putt-Putt or the Freddi Fish series. In this one, as well as collecting items and using them to solve puzzles, there are a couple of more abstract problems such as visual clues for moving levers. It also incorporates conversation into the problem-solving by the use of speech balloons that sit in the inventory and allow the player to ask questions to gather information.
Of course, when I say the problems are more difficult or more abstract, I don't mean impossible ... it is a children's game :). The difficulty level is such that players at the younger end of the recommended age group will almost certainly need a helping hand. Even for the other end of the spectrum it will present a worthy challenge. If in doubt, there is lots of help around, as Agent Fox is most attentive and will point out clues when an object is selected. Not forgetting the spy's best friend, in this case a communication device with a direct link to Monkey Penny for those times when the going gets tough. The game also comes with a comprehensive hint directory, but I'd recommend using this only as a last resort.
Spy Fox is a wonderful new addition to the cast of Humongus characters and, hopefully, he'll go far. He's a masterful James Bond with maybe just a dash of Inspector Gadget, but he does have his own peculiar way of doing things. And speaking of James Bond (and of gadgets) I must mention the assortment of spy gadgets at our hero's disposal. These include a laser toothbrush, spy putty, suction cufflinks and, of course, X-ray gum. Eat your heart out, Maxwell Smart!
Once again this game is all point and click with a very easy-to-use interface that includes a pop-up inventory. The cursor changes from an outline to a solid pointer when there is something to be done, and then into an easily identifiable arrow when over a screen exit. As well as hooking up with Monkey Penny, the communication device allows for saving and loading games, and provides access to a bonus arcade romp included as a bit of light relief from the serious stuff of super spying.
Not that there's any need for light relief from Spy Fox. It's very amusing with some snappy dialogue and the full-screen cartoon graphics and voice acting are excellent. As for the music ... well ... I just loved the 60's Bond-style flavour. It's also very easy to install as it runs straight from the disk. Just pop it in and select 'go' from the start up screen, couldn't be simpler.
Spy Fox in "Dry Cereal" really is a very good game with a fun story involving lots of problem solving. It also has a number of extras including plenty of amusing animations waiting behind clickable graphics, the arcade game mentioned earlier, as well as a game of Go Fish incorporated in the gameplay that will surely extend playing time. (I won't tell you how long I lingered here:)). You want more? Well, there are multiple pathways through the game presenting different sets of problems, and the all-important 'key' to disarm the dairy bomb is a random affair. It might be an actual 'key' or it might be a punch card or a coloured diode, once more varying the gameplay and inviting you to play again and again.
Oh no, that only leaves one last point especially for hearing-impaired players. Sorry, no text captions. I dearly wish I could report otherwise.
Copyright © Rosemary Young 1998.
All rights reserved.
System requirements:
Windows
486-33MHz (or faster), 8MB RAM, Windows 3.1 or Windows 95, SVGA card (640x480, 256 colour video display), sound card, 2 speed (or faster) CD-ROM drive.Macintosh
68040 (25 MHz or faster), 8 MB RAM, 2 speed (or faster), 640x480, 256 colour video display, CD-ROM drive.
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