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-THQ Wireless (2005) -played on a Sanyo 8200
A good spy can’t perform a successful mission without groovy theme music.
It would be a reasonable assumption that Spy Hunter would translate well to a mobile platform. It’s basically a simple overhead shooter with a car so it should be easy to pull off, right? I'm sorry to say that the only thing that translated well was the graphics. As well they should since the original’s aren’t particularly advanced. The graphics do a very nice job of representing the classic and everything appears as it should. It's too bad that the rest of the game is not the Spy Hunter we used to love, but a butchered imposter. The controls are the main killer of this once great game. The car is very difficult to control with the keypad and attempting to travel diagonally to follow the road is even more so. The navigation arrows can be used instead, but you still need to use the other numerical keys to trigger any of the weapons. There’s no one-handing this game. The oil slicks, smoke screens and missiles are present, but you probably won’t live long enough to get to try any of them out. The super spy car gets wrecked way too easily, seemingly all by itself at times. For example, I would be driving part way on the shoulder of the road, not even close to the trees, and the car would suddenly explode. Other times I would bump into another car, mind you I was not even traveling at full throttle, and both of us would die. Also, shifting the speed from low to high didn’t always work. I would shift to high gear and somehow slowed down or even stopped. It’s sad that a game that should have been fairly easy to translate on a phone is so bad, especially when it’s a classic like Spy Hunter. The sounds are nothing of note and the “Theme from Peter Gunn” is unfortunately absent. Can you even call this Spy Hunter without the theme? If you need to play the original Spy Hunter play the arcade version or pick up the first volume of Midway Arcade Treasures. If you need some Spy Hunter action on the go then get the recent Spy Hunter/Super Sprint two-pack for the GBA. Avoid this mobile version like the classy secret agent man you are.
-Shawn
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