Tis the season and all for tons and tons of new game releases. I don't know many people who have the funds or time to really keep up with the holiday gaming system. There was enough just on one system to keep just about any gamer happy, what the hell do you do when you own more than one plus a portable? So, even though there are all kinds of new games out there, I just can't pass up a decent sale. While doing some Christmas shopping my wife picked up Spy Hunter and said those magic words, "Hey... this is only $15."

Being the fossil that I am, I immediately began seeing those wavy lines that always denote a flashback scene in a hokey TV show. There I was, back in 1983, in the local bowling alley, plunking in quarters to a sit down version of the original game while humming along to the Peter Gunn theme. If there was ever a game that was in need of a rebirth, it was definitely Spy Hunter. You just can't go wrong with the basics. You are a spy, you have a cool car and you need to blow shit up. Sign me up!

Upon boot up, you are treated to a opening splash video to get you into the mood as well as an updated version of the Peter Gunn theme which won't exactly beat out the Art of Noise version in my book, but I suppose it gets the point across. Whatever the case, you know what you are playing and that's all that matters. The game features a lot more story than the original title, and it makes a lot of references to 'back in 1983' which really tickled the nostalgia bones. I don't know, but for some reason it just really worked for me.

The details about the this title are pretty straight forward. I doubt anyone would expect this title to be the best looking game out there nor should you think it was the worst. Spy Hunter certainly looks decent enough. The car model is detailed and looks like it's straight out of a Bond movie. Your car will morph at times, changing from boat mode to land mode and to a smaller craft when you take on enough damage. Very cool effects which certainly fit the mood of the game. Most of the enemy craft look decent enough, although some are obviously less detailed than your G-6155 Interceptor. The scenery is varied as you hop around the globe completing your objectives, however I just felt that some of the levels looked a little bland or washed out in a way. They just were not as vibrant as we have come to expect from some of the top tier racing games out there. The levels don't look bad, mind you, however they're just middle of the road compared to what is out there. There were also some instances of choppy animation when the action got fast, not very nice when the game doesn't seem to be taxing the system's hardware, but it didn't really ruin the game in any way.

I rather enjoyed the sounds in the game. I liked the morphing car sound effects, the gunfire, missiles launching, tracking beacons, etc etc. Plenty of explosions helped to round out the mix and I'm a sucker for the Peter Gunn theme. The rest of the music is pretty average, consisting of semi- electronica as well as some sort of heavy rock by some band called Saliva that Midway sees fit to pimp in this game. Overall, enjoyable and, even though they are pimping a band, the music doesn't become overbearing at any point.

I have some complaints about the way the game is laid out though. In each level, there is generally a primary objective and several secondary objectives. That itself is fine, but you need to complete a bunch of objectives in order to access the rest of the levels. Sometimes you might have to replay a whole bunch of times just to get enough objectives to move along in the story. I'm not a big fan of this style of forced replayability. If they wanted to add those secondary objectives as a means to unlock hidden bonuses and extras, that would be fine... but requiring them just to move along in the game just doesn't sit well with me. Maybe that's a minor nit pick, but it just bugs me. In addition to that, I found some issues in the targeting system in the game. For the most part it worked well, but there were times when the level was just off and it was a pain to re-adjust it. For instance, in one of the early levels you were racing through some canals in the boat mode and you had to pick off some target that were on the sidewalks. Usually it wasn't a big deal to pick off the targets from a distance but if you got too close and didn't destroy it yet, you basically had to back up or turn around and take another crack at it. Again, minor annoyance but an annoyance nonetheless.

I really enjoy the action of this game. In addition to the standard weapons of old, you also upgrade you guns and missiles throughout the game and even upgrade to rail guns later on as well as having defensive contraptions like oil slicks and smoke screens. Not only does it remind me of the classic Spy Hunter, complete with driving into the weapon trucks for upgrades, but I'm also reminded of another classic arcade game that I used to love, Roadblasters. I guess I just have a weakness for slick car combat, and Spy Hunter is definitely an update what will fill that order, especially for the low price it is selling for right now.

There is really not much more to say about Spy Hunter. I think it would have reviewed a lot worse at the original $50 price tag, but at $15 it's certainly a good gaming bargain. Who is this game for? Well, if you like quick arcade vehicle shoot 'em ups, then I can't really see you being dissapointed in the update to Spy Hunter, especially given the budget price. Spy Hunter is on the good side of average and would make a nice stocking stuffer or just a little early Christmas present for yourself.