When I saw an advertisement for Totally Spies: Cyber Mission in JB Hi-Fi a couple of months back, I was excited to see a favourite childhood TV show still popular enough to warrant its own video game. Published by Microids, Cyber Mission joins six other Totally Spies games released in the early 2000s across GameBoy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation 2.
Totally Lost
For those unfamiliar, Totally Spies is a popular French animated TV show about three teenage girls in high school from Beverly Hills who double as secret agents for the World Organization of Human Protection (WOOHP). I was a huge fan of the show with its fashionable but functional gadgets and humorous storylines. It was essentially a teenage version of Charlie’s Angels.
Cyber Mission features a new storyline based on the new Totally Spies season that aired earlier this year in France. As I hadn’t played any of the previous games, I was eager to experience Cyber Mission and see how they brought the show’s iconic gadgets to life. However, I soon learned that nostalgia, while pleasant, doesn’t always lead to a good gaming experience. And it certainly isn’t enough to compensate for a poorly executed game.
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To be completely honest, I only made it about halfway through the game because it was killing the vibe for me to the point that I considered tossing my Switch. The characters have been revamped a bit, resembling a more Sailor Moon-like style with their large eyes, but nothing too extreme. The objective is to complete missions using the spies’ gadgets and their intelligence, whether in their personal lives or during their missions, which is straightforward and reminiscent of the TV show.
Hello Spies!
My first issue with the story is they’ve replaced Jerry (the equivalent of Charlie, if we’re comparing it to Charlie’s Angels) with his daughter, and introduced a tech guy to assist with gadgets (which Jerry used to do himself). I loved Jerry — he was essentially the dad of the show. If Microids aimed to leverage the nostalgia factor, removing a beloved character was not the right approach. I understand this change correlates with the storyline progression in the seventh season, but I was extremely disappointed.
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Additionally, season seven is set in Singapore, which provides a slight change of scenery, but it still resembles the Beverly Hills backdrop of the show. There’s even a side character named Glitterstar (not sure if that’s meant to be a joke since some Asian names are unique), who offers the spies bubble tea. She speaks with an American accent and doesn’t appear particularly Asian, so I was sceptical about the supposed Singapore setting.
In Cyber Mission, there are five missions, each with two submissions. Some of these submissions felt incredibly lengthy, especially when you find yourself repeating the same actions over and over. Additionally, you cannot save your progress whenever you want; the game determines where you will resume after quitting. I encountered this issue and became frustrated to discover that I had returned to the beginning of some submissions.
Solo Sadness
The game is not meant for solo play. I was disappointed because I don’t think my husband is particularly interested in playing this one with me. If you plan to pick Cyber Mission up, I recommend finding two other people to play with, otherwise, you might find yourself stuck in a repetitive cycle. Sometimes you get lucky, and the other characters follow you when you don’t need to be stealthy.
Microids emphasised that multiplayer is key to enjoying the game, but I wonder why they don’t make this option more prominent. The multiplayer feature is a small option that only appears in the bottom left of the screen when selecting characters. You can also only choose between Normal or Difficult for game difficulty, which I found odd for a children’s game.
If you remember the game Hitman, Cyber Mission is basically a kid-friendly version but with minimal combat. Instead of attacking, you’re sneaking around trying to avoid enemies or sneaking up on them to freeze them with your freeze gun, or pulling levers and pressing buttons. Clover has a bubble gun that can stun enemies temporarily, if the aim support lets you hit them. To my disappointment, Sam doesn’t have two weapons like the other two spies do, which frustrated me because she was my avatar of choice being my favourite.
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Ghastly Gadgets
Each spy has different weapons with distinct abilities, but they’re quite basic. I’ve already mentioned the bubble gun (which lagged between shots and aiming was sub-zero) and the freeze ray, but there are also shoes that allow you to sneak silently, a lipstick laser (used only to open doors), and Sam’s tracking device, which reveals footprints and clues. I expected more variety — similar to the show — with different mechanics and level designs that would offer a more engaging gameplay experience rather than the repetitive tasks served up in the game.
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Enemies are triggered oddly too. Sometimes they don’t notice me sneaking past, while other times they are overly sensitive. This inconsistency was frustrating, especially while playing solo. Additionally, the spies took too long to respond to actions, which often led to me getting caught by enemies. It was illogical; they could hear my footsteps but not the sound of a locker opening. How ironic…
No Nostalgia
I tried to remind myself that this game is probably not intended for a woman my age who enjoys cosy games — or is it? Were Microids potentially trying to attract the older female demographic that used to love Totally Spies? If so, they missed the mark. But honestly, I can’t see tweens or teens enjoying this experience for long either, particularly with the subpar graphics.
Suffice to say, I will not be continuing this game anytime soon, nor will I watch season seven when it becomes available in English. It’s clear that I’ve moved on, and I believe Microids should have left Alex, Clover, and Sam to enjoy their eternal youth in the past.
If you’re so inclined to try, Totally Spies: Cyber Mission is available now on PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch ($59 for physical copies from Big W and JB Hi-Fi), Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S for $59.95, and PS4 / PS5 for $54.95.
A copy of Totally Spies: Cyber Mission was supplied to Quest Daily by the publisher.
