Stealth games have always had a certain flair to them, especially when you look at how the genre has evolved over the years. Franchises like Hitman, Assassin’s Creed, and Metal Gear Solid come to mind when you think of modern stealth games, but there’s something special about the old-school approach where getting caught actually meant consequences.
Back then, stealth wasn’t just another mechanic slapped onto an action game. It was the whole point. Getting spotted could spell disaster, and taking out enemies wasn’t always the answer.
Enter Spy Drops Gaiden by Rainy Frog, a top-down stealth game that takes players back to the days of pixelated graphics, chiptune music, and missions where keeping a low profile is the name of the game.
Espionage but make it pixelated
Spy Drops Gaiden puts players in control of Special Agent Ripley as she navigates a series of high-pressure covert missions. Taking place after the first Spy Drops, also by Rainy Frog, Gaiden ditches its predecessor’s retro PS1-inspired aesthetic for something that feels even older.
While the previous game took inspiration from titles like Metal Gear and Syphon Filter, Gaiden takes things further back with a top-down perspective and a monochromatic, pixelated look. At first glance, you’d almost mistake it for a Game Boy game, complete with a detailed black-and-white presentation and a green background.
Players can change the background color, but there’s no denying the nostalgia factor here. Older gamers might immediately be reminded of the handheld games of their childhood, especially with the full-on chiptune soundtrack and retro sound effects accompanying the action.
Spy Drops Gaiden feels like a relic of the past flung into the future. But beneath that rustic exterior is a surprisingly solid gameplay loop that makes sneaking around a lot more interesting than you’d initially expect.
Spy games and you
Each level starts the same way. You’re dropped into an arbitrary location on the level and per location, you need to accomplish a certain set of objectives. For example, in the first of eight levels, your objective is to extract a scientist from the island base. Here’s the thing, though: as the media has always portrayed, when it comes to spy extractions, armies or counter-operatives are in your way. Normally, you could make do by going around every enemy and going straight for your objective, as in a full stealth game, but with espionage comes intelligence gathering.
One mechanic that makes players interact with hostile enemies is the use of Intel. Intel is an extracted resource that comes out of using dreamcatchers on unconscious enemies and to make them unconscious, you either knock their lights out with martial arts or tranquilize them. As I played throughout my casual session, I had this assumption that I could ignore every enemy and speed run the game that way, only to be met with passages requiring a minimum amount of intel to proceed. In a way, it does make Spy Drops Gaiden somewhat monotonous, but as you progress, something so simple could actually make things more challenging than you’d think.
It’s a crisis, but you sure got time
Apart from the usual objective-based missions, there’s even a level where you get to control a drone instead of Ripley. And just when you think you’ve got the game’s formula figured out, Spy Drops Gaiden throws a couple of bonus stages your way midway through the adventure.
Getting tired of being shot at while trying to sneak around? What if you could let loose and give those enemies a taste of their own medicine?
I kid you not, going from Metal Gear to Contra wasn’t on my list of things to expect, but it sure was a welcome surprise. And the fun doesn’t stop there. Later on, there’s even a rail-shooter bonus stage that feels reminiscent of classics like Time Crisis.
These little detours are a welcome change of pace from the usual stealth gameplay. They’re also a reminder that the developers aren’t just relying on the eight-bit aesthetic for nostalgia points. There’s a playful side to the experience that shines through whenever the game decides to switch things up.
Imagine having this on a handheld back in the ’90s. Kids would be hooked, and adults would probably be taking their devices away just to play it themselves.
Stress, eye strain and gitting gud
Despite being a fun, short ride that clocks in at around two to three hours, the overall experience can be frustrating, to say the least.
Stealth games aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, and Spy Drops Gaiden definitely has a learning curve. There were multiple instances where I had to start over because of a bug that caused an enemy to slip away while I was grabbing them. I couldn’t get out of the grab animation unless I died, and that came at the cost of a medikit. In the end, I’d sometimes have to start the mission all over again.
Now, I’m not going to pretend that my own skill issue didn’t contribute to some of my frustrations. But there’s a difference between getting caught because you messed up and having to restart because something went wrong with the game itself.
Thankfully, things do get better once you get into the groove of things and start understanding how to approach each mission.
What doesn’t necessarily get better, though, is the eye strain. There’s nothing wrong with taking a stylistic approach to a game, and Spy Drops Gaiden’s retro presentation is certainly part of its charm. However, staring at a pixelated green screen for extended periods can get tiring.
I’d have appreciated more options to make the visuals easier on the eyes, especially for players who want to finish the game in one sitting. The ability to change the background color is a nice touch, but more flexibility in how the game presents itself would have made the experience more comfortable.
It’s a shame because the gameplay has enough going for it that you’d want to keep playing. You just might need to give your eyes a break now and then.
Mission complete
Feeling like a love letter to the Metal Gear franchise with a few tricks of its own, Spy Drops Gaiden earns a solid 7/10.
At $4.99, it’s a short but enjoyable trip back to the days of old-school stealth games, with a few surprises that help keep its roughly two-to-three-hour runtime fresh. The learning curve can be steep, and the occasional bug and eye strain keep it from being an entirely smooth experience, but there’s a certain satisfaction in finally figuring out how to get through a mission without everything going sideways.
For the right audience, this is a fun little throwback, and I reckon it would feel right at home on a handheld. Just don’t expect a flawless stealth experience along the way.