Retro Spy Games - Spy Hunter, Spy vs Spy, Impossible Mission 

Spy Hunter is a popular 1983 arcade game developed and published by Bally Midway. This is a game which was ported to many home systems and became a big hit. The game places players in the role of a spy driving a high-tech G-6155 Interceptor sports car equipped with weapons and gadgets. The objective is to drive through various levels filled with enemy vehicles and obstacles, while taking out as many enemies vehicles as possible. Spy Hunter is based on the James Bond series and you have a car laden with Bond style gadgets such as oil slicks, smoke screens and missiles.

You car is unloaded at the start of the action from a Q branch style truck. The original arcade game designer George Gomez was inspired to design the game after listening to a James Bond film music compilation. He wanted to have the James Bond theme for the music and make this an official Bond game but they could not get the rights in the end. Instead they used the famous 'Spy Hunter' theme - which is really the theme to the Peter Gunn television series. Da-da-da-da-da-da-dee-da. It makes a catchy audio soundscape to accompany the car chase action. A few years before Spy Hunter, this theme was used extensively in the comedy film The Blues Brothers.

Top down car/racing games like Spy Hunter would become very familiar (sometimes to the point of exhaustion) to 80s and 90s gamers but Spy Hunter was one of the pioneers of this genre. The fact that you are not in a conventional motor sport race but a high-tech spy makes the game novel for the time and more fun than it might otherwise be. While the top down graphics of Spy Hunter seem primitive today the scrolling and action is well up to (groan) speed and this game deservedly ranks as one of the early arcade and home gaming classics. The car turns into a James Bond style boat when going over water during some levels.

There are numerous enemies to be battled during the journey in cars, boats and helicopters. The enemies are Road Lord (bullet-proof), Switch Blade (saws), The Enforcer (fires with a shot gun), Barrel Dumper (dumps a barrel in front of the player when in a boat), The Copter (drops bombs), Doctor Torpedo (fires torpedoes at the player's boat). A counter ticks down from 999 when the game first starts. In this time, the player has unlimited cars. Once this ends the player only has one extra life. Cars are awarded for a certain number of points. Points are earned by killing the enemies.

Spy Hunter was one of the most popular arcade machines of its time and many of the home ports were very good too. The spy themed art on the arcade machine machine was fantastic. Many years later in 2001, the was a remake titled SpyHunter for the Playstation. The remake wasn't bad and obviously a lot more advanced with more of a 3D perspective. Despite being entertaining the remake didn't have the charm, novelty and nostalgic pull of the original. By that time there had been a few too many car action games for a SpyHunter reboot to stand out from the pack.

The original Spy Hunter is showing its age today but it is a fun game and deserves its little spot in the gaming hall of fame. The game was so popular that Bally Midway released a Spy Hunter pinball machine in 1984, which featured the exact same artwork, internal soundboard, and Peter Gunn theme music.

Spy vs Spy is a comedic strategy game. In the game the player plays a spy who is trying to kill another spy using weapons and traps. One spy is dressed in white, the other in black. The game is split screen with each spy having their own scrolling section. The spies are in an embassy. The player has to collect items in a briefcase - passport, money, key and secret plans - and exit the building before the other or before their time runs out. After a player dies they come back to life but 30 seconds is taken off their timer. A limited number or traps can be used by each spy.

Solutions to the traps can be found. The spies can also engage in hand to hand combat. The game can be played by two players. For one player there are different difficulty levels which changes the number of rooms, number of traps and time available. The computer IQ can be changed. Spy vs Spy is an extremely fun strategy game. The split screen element is perfect for the game as the two spies battle it out using booby traps and even fight. There are lots of humorous touches with the character reactions to the onscreen action.

A memorable tune accompanies the action. The nature of this game lends itself most to the two player option. If you had to find a criticism you would say that the game isn't as much fun in single-player mode. There always seems to be a bug in the fighting too where the player on the right seems to win more often than not. This game has a learning curve and isn't something you can just pick up and play but learning to ambush the other spy and set traps is rewarding. You can also, if you are really sneaky, let your opponent pick up all the items and then ambush them.

The game is based on Mad Magazines Spy vs Spy cartoon. There were two sequels: Spy vs Spy II: The Island Caper in 1985, Spy vs Spy III: Arctic Antics - both (especially the second one) are as well regarded as the original. If you like games that require some strategy and cunning and also ones that are very tongue-in-cheek you should have some fun with this. Spy vs Spy was a huge seller on the C64 and its mix of humour and strategy made it a fairly beloved game in no time at all.

Spy vs Spy is arguably one of the most famous C64 games and nearly everyone interested in that machine will have heard of it and possibly even played it too. Retro gamers should have a look at this game if they haven't encountered it before and the first sequel (which had a novel new setting and improved graphics) is a must play too if you like the first game. This game was ported to the Atari and various other systems with great success. The fun concept of the game was a hit on more than one platform.

"Another visitor, stay a while, stay forever!" In this classic C64 platform game by Epyx, the player is a secret agent who must infiltrate the labyrinthine complex of Professor Elvin Atombender - who has been hacking computers vital to national security. The complex is made up of rooms with four levels accessible by lifts. Unfortunately for the spy they are defended by robots with a deadly electric ray weapon.

The player must search items in hidden in pieces of furniture and other items in different rooms to find puzzle pieces. The pieces must be put together to find a nine letter passcode for Atombender's control room so he can be stopped. The designer Dennis Caswell got the idea for Impossible Mission from the 1983 film War Games. War Games about a young computer hacker who hacks into the American supercomputer at NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command). The supercomputer is used to predict a nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

Caswell was inspired by the supercomputer and wanted to create a game where someone has to battle in a computer controlled complex. The game features an iconic piece of digitised speech at the start of the mission. Caswell said the voice actor was "hammy" but the over the top aspect of the voice acting was appropriate. Impossible Mission is one of the most famous C64 games and anyone who played it should have fond memories. It is strangely addictive manipulating the platforms so one can explore the rooms and avoid those pesky robots.

The most striking thing about this game is the smooth animation of the character you play as he runs through corridors and somersaults over robots. This animation was very impressive for the era. Impossible Mission is a beautifully designed game in which the 'hub' is a lift (elevator) which one must constantly return to in order to explore all the rooms in the underground complex. Using this lift and running through those corridors was satisfyingly atmospheric and gave the player a sense of freedom and exploration that you usually didn't get in games like this at the time.

Exploring the droid patrolled rooms is also very addictive and will occasionally test your ability to solve platform puzzles. The really great thing about Impossible Mission is that it felt like something completely new and fresh at the time - which was no mean feat given that this is essentially still very much a platform game. There was something stylish and legit about Mission Impossible which made it stand out from its peers and demand to be played. It wasn't just another platform game. It was ambitious and cinematic.

Impossible Mission got a sequel in 1988 - although the original creator wasn't involved. Impossible Mission II was not as famous as you might expect and seems to have a mixed reputation these days. It could be that the sequel simply didn't feel as fresh and novel as the original. Impossible Mission II gives you more of the same really (with a few graphical improvements) and is worth playing if you like the first game. All in all it is a solid enough sequel and the puzzles are tougher too (which might be a bonus or an annoyance depending on your own personal taste). In 1994 there was a sort of sequel/remake titled Impossible Mission 2025 which appeared on the Amiga and other systems. Impossible Mission 2025 is a dreadful looking game which completely loses all the charm and atmosphere of the classic Commodore 64 version.

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