Developer:Sunsoft Publisher: Sunsoft Release: 09/87 Genre: Racing
Spy Hunter was one of a few NES titles everyone in my neighborhood seemed to own. In those early years Super Mario Bros, Contra, Double Dragon, Spy Hunter and for some god forsaken reason Jaws were the go to titles. To be completely honest even though we would play Spy Hunter for hours I don’t think we even liked the game. Revisiting it now my feelings remain the same as they did back in 1987; Spy Hunter is good for a quick fix but not substantial enough to hold your attention.
It is easy to see why Spy Hunter was a smash in the arcade in 1983. With its obvious James Bond influence and elaborate cabinet that mimics the cockpit of the pretend Aston Martin it allowed players to live out their spy dreams. As such it would receive ports to every major format at the time, even the obscure ones like the Amstrad CPC. The NES version would arrive in 1987 and that is the problem. In 1983 Spy Hunter was surprising and unlike anything on the market. But four years later there were other games that did its shtick better like Road Blasters or other combat games with more meat on the bone. The game benefited from releasing in the NES’ early years otherwise it would have been quickly forgotten.
Spy Hunter is all about speed. Your slick car can blaze through the road at high speed and the game encourages it. Your score builds up quicker the faster you drive. However the does its novel best to make this a less than ideal endeavor. In your path are environmental hazards, nigh invincible cars, motorcycles, and helicopters that drop bombs. You are not defenseless however. You have unlimited bullets and if you can dock with the red van will receive one of three weapons: missiles for those pesky helicopters, oil slicks or a smoke screen. The goal is to see how long you can last and how high of a score you can achieve. To a degree that is the problem.
There is no question that Spy Hunter is thrilling, at least for a few minutes. Blaring down the highway at high speed with that slick Peter Gunn theme in your ear, weaving through traffic (such as it is) while dodging rival cars and helicopters is exciting. But you will quickly realize you will have seen everything it has to offer at that point. With no levels, bosses, clear stage progression or objectives you drive endlessly, killing the same four enemies that utilize the same pattern for the length of the experience. There is no penalty for driving slow other than your points accruing at a slower pace. You can drive at a medium clip which is better at dealing with the random chaos and game the system, so to speak. The only bit of excitement comes from piloting the speed boat. The game’s simplicity bites it in the ass.
It is funny looking back it now. We would all take turns at Spy Hunter to try and see the end. It never occurred to us that the game would loop endlessly like most arcade games of the day. We just assumed we were not good enough to reach the game’s conclusion. I blame our short attention spans on the fact we did not notice the scenery was repeating. Considering the game’s rough difficulty any given run usually only lasts a few minutes at best. There is nothing wrong with a game designed to chase high scores. But it has to be interesting first. Without the features and situational buttons of the arcade unit Spy Hunter becomes a boring and simplistic experience.
In Closing
Spy Hunter on the NES is a faithful adaptation of the arcade classic but suffers from the limitations of early console hardware. While the gameplay is fast and fun its repetitive nature and lack of visual variety makes it feel dated. The gameplay loop is not interesting enough to hold your attention for long. This was a problem even at release and is only more evident now. Spy Hunter makes an excellent arcade experience as you can see all it has to offer for a quarter. But as a home release it is lacking.
