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The black and the white spies in Spy Vs. Spy had to pit their wits against each other in a race around an office building to find some secret documents before making good their escape in an aeroplane.

Each spy had to set booby traps for his opponent such as a bucket of water above a door, or bomb in a drawer, to stop him getting the documents first.

It was all fairly tongue in cheek and very much in the tradition of the cartoon strip from Mad magazine on which it was based.

As a two-player game it was streaks ahead of anything that had gone before.

The good news is that the sequel will shortly be available and, as an added bonus, version one will be given away free on the 'B' side.

Spy II takes up the story where version I left off. Both spies got onto the plane but have to abandon it over a group of islands miles from anywhere.

The opening screen shows them descending, parachutes open, onto one of the islands.

The spies are searching for a missile left behind by the enemy. It is in three parts, hidden throughout the island. To locate it you will first need to find some other items: a map, compass and a shovel to dig it up.

As in Spy I you are racing against time as well as the other spy. But there is an added urgency on this island - it's got a volcano. When it goes off the whole screen shakes and the island fills with lava, ending the game for both spies. When you find the missile you have to defuse it and take it to your submarine to escape.

To stop your opponent getting the missile first there are a number of traps that you can set for him. These are just as much fun as they were in the first game, particularly the coconut bombs that you make using the gasoline from the wreckage of the aeroplane.

You also have a rope to set snares for your opponent - but watch out you don't step into it yourself as you will end up hanging from a tree if you do.

There is also a gun hidden somewhere on the island giving a major advantage to the spy who finds it first. The game has several play options. You can choose to play a multi-island game where the missile parts are hidden on several islands necessitating a swim in the shark-infested waters. You can also choose to have your get-away sub parked conveniently beside the island or, for the advanced player, have it appear at random somewhere in the waters surrounding the islands.

Spy II is a bigger game than the original. It uses the same split screen technique and trap selection device but the complexity and gameplay is much much more.

At £9.95 for Spy I and Spy II, this has got to be the best value new release of the year.