Classic of the Month - Spy Hunter

Manufacturer:	Bally Midway
Developer:	Bally Midway
Genre:	Vertical scrolling shoot 'em up
Board:	Bespoke
Year:	1983

Dum-dum-dum-dum-dedede-dum-dum  dum-dum-dum-dum-dedede-dum-dum woah-wow woah-wowow. Wow wow wow wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wow wow wow wow wow. I almost feel like I could end this month's CotM right there, because anybody who played this spy game will know precisely where I'm coming from. Arcade games are full of funky, addictive little ditties, but Spy Hunter brought the A-game with its chip tunes version of Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn Theme".

The game itself was undoubtedly inspired by every car chase in every spy and cop film going. The game presented the car chases from a top-down, vertically scrolling view. Your mission was to chase down enemy agents in the G-6155 Inceptor, a spy car worthy of James Bond himself. The car on the cabinet artwork was based on the  Mercedes-Benz CW311/Isdera Imperator 108i and looked every bit like the kind of futuristic super car a Hollywood spy would drive. Unfortunately the sprite in the game did not match the artwork at all, but this was 1983, so I'll give Bally Midway a break — this time.

The similarities between the G-6155 and the CW311/Imperator are undeniable.

The enemies came at you in a variety of cars, some just ramming you, others armed with guns and spiked wheels and a whole lot more. Thankfully, the G-6155 can be kitted out with all classic spy car weapons. To begin with you just get machine guns, but periodically the button in the middle of the steering wheel would flashing, informing you that you could call the Weapons Van for a random upgrade. This could be a smoke screen, an oil slick or missiles even missiles. Both the upright cabinet (pictured right) and the cockpit version featured a button for each weapon, so you could stockpile them if you wanted. In fact not only was there a button for each weapon and one to call the Weapons Van, there was also an accelerator, a gear stick and of course a steering wheel. All of which actually made Spy Hunter one of the more complex machines around in 1983. It was fast too; only the best reflexes could cope with driving in high gear.

As you raced up the screen there would be branching pathways, leading to different environments. Eventually you would see sliproads leading to boat shacks. Drive through them and your car would transform into a jet boat (or rather the car sprite would swap while you were in the shed). You'd then have to do battle on the water, until the shore led to another shed that would transform you back into a car.

Between the brilliant cabinet art, the music and, of course, the G-6155 itself, it was an evocative game to play and more than worthy of being called a classic.

MTW