Spy Hunter
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| Spy Hunter

It’s funny how certain pieces of music become indelibly linked with forms of media they weren’t originally written for.

For example, Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells evokes images of the legendry horror flick The Exorcist and for many people it’s impossible to listen to The Who’s Who Are You without thinking of the opening titles for US crime drama CSI.

Similarly, when the strains of the Peter Gunn theme hit our ears we’re forced to picture a heavily-armed 2D sport car racing up the screen, spewing bullets into the vehicles of evil-doers.

The tune - which was originally written for a 1950s cop show - is now irrevocably linked with Midway’s 1983 arcade classic Spy Hunter.

This mobile phone adaptation of the coin-op original attempts to cram the high octane thrills of spills into your humble mobile phone handset, and for the most part is a rip-roaring success.

The objective of the game is to take down as many enemy agents as possible whilst avoiding innocent road-users. Your trusty G-6155 Interceptor is the road-going equivalent of a Swiss Army knife, and is capable of all manner of neat tricks.

By default the vehicle has twin machine guns mounted to its front. These can be used to take out rival cars but it requires a sustained assault to do fatal damage.

A more effective way of dealing with bad guys is to shunt them off the road, but naturally this is a little trickier - get it wrong and you’ll end up wrapped around a tree yourself.

Additional offensive options can be gained by docking with the friendly weapons van which appears periodically throughout each level. Doing so will grant you with one of three different bonus items: oil slicks, smoke attacks and a missile launcher. Once one of these has been equipped, pressing the left-hand softkey will use the item in question.

Whilst battling it out with your road-based adversaries it’s vital that you keep an eye out for other cars. Accidently taking out an innocent person will result in your points total being suspended for a short space of time - and when you consider that you earn extra lives by racking up as many points as possible, this can have serious consequences on your progress.

Occasionally you’ll come across rivers that you have to cross. Thankfully, this doesn’t spell the end of your covert quest as the G-6155 Interceptor is capable of transforming into a speedboat, allowing you to continue your fight for justice on water.

When you reach the other side of the river, your boat switches back to its original configuration (I can’t imagine the secret service you work for has to use the carwash all that much).

Thanks to the technical prowess now contained within your average mobile phone, this conversion is incredibly faithful to the coin-op original in terms of looks, and the famous Peter Gunn theme tune sounds similarly authentic.

However, if you’re after something a little more modern you’ll be pleased to know that an ‘enhanced’ version of the game - which takes its visual cues from the more recent entries in the series - is also available.

This version plays almost identically to the original, but there are slight differences such as enemy units that can fire diagonally as well as horizontally. There are also several progress-based achievements to unlock, which rewards prolonged play.

Naturally, the biggest variation between the two versions is the graphics - the enhanced port looks fantastic, with highly detailed cars, improved roadside scenery and even transparent clouds that hover gracefully over the road.

Both editions offer equal enjoyment, although the breakneck speed of the game can cause problems. Split-second reactions are required to avoid innocent bystanders and take out rival cars, and to be honest the typical mobile phone keypad just can’t offer that degree of control.

Having to control your speed with two buttons, your turns with another two buttons and your special weapons with a further button makes its difficult to manage the action when things get tough. Sometimes it feels like having a few additional fingers would be a benefit.

Nevertheless, Spy Hunter is a true vintage classic in as much as it requires dedication and perseverance to get anywhere. Your first few goes will undoubtedly end in failure, but if you stick with it you’ll find that you get a little further each time.

The developer has done a respectable job of capturing the look and feel of the arcade classic, and were it not for control niggles we’d have no issue in shouting from the rooftops about how brilliant this is.

It could be argued that Spy Hunter is a game that unquestionably belongs at the back of your local chippy, where the traditional steering wheel interface offers the most control.

However, in spite of this - and thanks to the fact that most of the arcade machines in your local fish and chips repository are likely to be pretty battered (no pun intended) these days - this mobile edition is a worthy substitute.

Spy Hunter

A faithful recreation of a true arcade classic combined with an enhanced remake, the mobile iteration of Spy Hunter is ever-so-slightly stymied by ill-fitting controls. However, fans of the original – not to mention those who value good old-fashioned gameplay - will be shaken and stirred
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Damien  McFerran
Damien McFerran
Damien's mum hoped he would grow out of playing silly video games and gain respectable employment. Perhaps become a teacher or a scientist, that kind of thing. Needless to say she now weeps openly whenever anyone asks how her son's getting on these days.