Players control a secret agent through eight different stages of varying gamelay. At the start of the game, players shoot enemies horizontally while sky-diving. The second half of the first, third, fifth, sixth and eighth stages are played in a
run and gun format similar to
Namco's
Rolling Thunder and its sequels, but it lacks the ability to jump between the top and bottom floors while grabbing rails. Also, when out of ammo or attacked by a boss with one hit, Sly Spy drops his firearm while the game becomes a
beat'em up in
2D platform manner, much like
Shinobi. Players can make Sly Spy do three different kicks: high kicks, low kicks and jump kicks. The second stage shows Sly Spy riding on his motorcycle with a built-in machine gun, which makes this stage a combination of run-and-gun and
vehicular combat games. The fourth and seventh stages are in marine-based,
side-scrolling shooter format. Minor enemies drop several different items when defeated, such as extra ammo, cans of
Coca-Cola-esque soda and machine guns. Sometimes, enemies will drop a
jetpack on land or a
DPV while underwater to make transportation easier. Enemies also drop parts of the ultimate weapon in the game called the Golden Gun, which functions nearly the same way as the Cobra Gun in Data East's 1988
RoboCop arcade game and the
Heavy Barrel energy cannon from the
arcade game of the same name. It is also shaped like a
rifle instead of a
pistol; when the Golden Gun is equipped along with either the motorcycle or a DPV, their built-in firearms will shoot the same energy bolts shot from the Golden Gun itself. ==Ports==