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Developer
Paradigm
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Publisher
Midway
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Genre
Driving
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Anticipation
Medium/High
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Return to the 80's, when ties were skinny, the hair was big, and the spies were in the arcades.
For old arcade vets like myself, SpyHunter needs no introduction. For all of you young wipper-snappers, you need to sit down and get a-learnin' about one the all time classic games. SpyHunter's premise was a simple one. You are a spy, and your job is to stop the bad guys. You have at your disposal one mean bad guy killing machine in the form of the spy mobile. You have the standard machine guns, oil slicks, and missiles that come with all of your run of the mill spy cars. And that was basically it, as that's was all that was needed. Oh yeah you had the catchy Peter Gunn theme playing in the background. So that was about 15 years ago.
Flash forward to today - Midway made a wise decision to revisit some of their most popular franchises with a complete remake. Where the original was a primarily 2D top down affair, the current version has players taking a car through the 3D world of spies and guns.
The PS2 version of SpyHunter was released last year with little to no fanfare which was a shame because Midway really did a great job of updating the game with out eliminating what made SpyHunter fun to begin with. Another problem the PS2 version had was that it was lost among some of the stellar hits that were released last year for the Playstation 2. SpyHunter featured an impressive 3D engine that should translate nicely over to the Xbox.
The story has been updated a bit since the last time we saw SpyHunter. The Nostra Corporation is out to unleash all kinds of havoc on the world and only you (as the SpyHunter) is equipped to stop them. You're driving the powerful G-6155 Interceptor, which utilizes a combined arsenal of offensive and defensive weapons. The G-6155 is capable of transforming into a jet-powered speedboat, jet watercraft or a motorcycle to escape and evade the Nostra henchmen and assassins.
Midway did a great job of reviving the SpyHunter series and bringing it to the modern 3D gaming world. The game will feature several locations from around the world such as the canals of Venice, Germany, France, the Florida Keys and the Panama Canal. Unlike the original arcade game SpyHunter the new revamped SpyHunter is features mission objectives that you need to achieve to advance to the next level. The PS2 version featured 14 levels as will the upcoming Xbox version of the game. However we can confirm that Midway will also include the original arcade SpyHunter along with the new updated 2002 version of SpyHunter, something PS2 owners didn't get, and doesn't look as if the GameCube owner will either.
The screenshots that are available don't do the game justice at all. We know it will look better than this. We just wish we could convey that better. SpyHunter will also feature multiplayer action, but only for 2 players, which is a shame. The Xbox version will also feature Saliva's music video of The SpyHunter theme as well as bonus FMV and music tracks. All together, this looks like a good port of a great update to an arcade classic.
Mike Regan
Often drives around town listening to the Peter Gunn theme.
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