Classic Game Room HD - SPY HUNTER for Atari 2600 review

[whammy850]

I can't believe I never noticed that striking resemblance to the Mach 5.

[jci10]

Don't tell me that was a 1990 Video Toaster effect at 0:25 ??!?!

[SeekerLancer]

Despite the rudimentary graphics this is actually a better port of the arcade than the NES version. It's amazingly well done and very fun. A lot of the arcade classics really suffered badly in their 2600 conversions but they really nailed this one. Too bad it's pretty hard to find it's definitely one I want to add to my personal collection someday.

[sglider]

I'm amazed that they have the helicopter and even the boat levels in this, impressive for '77 tech.

[monkeygoesBANG]

chinchin? isn't that penis in japanese?

[TronPachioftheDynamo]

I'll never play anything less than NES.

[DGTelevsionNetwork]

Forget this! Just get the midway ps2 version!

[ATARI800XLfan]

Not surprising it was a good game, it was developed by SEGA after all.

[ATARI800XLfan]

Not supprising it was a good game, it was developed by SEGA after all.

[zitzblitz123]

oldddddddddddddddddddddddddddd­dddd

[TheTKCreborn]

Used to love Spy Hunter. The NES version though :P

[TogoProductions]

Blues Brothers :D

[NeverEndingInc]

Its spritle and chim-chim not trixie and chim-chim!

[Ken10Ethan8]

The Mock 5?

[Zylo587]

@Ken10Ethan8 mach 5

speed racer?

[Ken10Ethan8]

@Zylo587 That was a joke!

[Yoshii49]

i thought it was sprital and chim chim hiding in the trunk.

[bazfanv2]

You cant compare the Atari against an Arcade cab.BUT. You can compare Atari to loads of fun.

[quaxk]

this is the Peter Gunn theme, of which  art of noise made an awesome cover in the 80's, look it up :)

[jandillingh]

there is also a version for the colecovision that one is really cool

[aerialdude]

nothing beats the arcade. thats why i got midway arcade treasures for the gamecube. it comes with the arcade version of this game which is much better.

[zombiemod]

The Spy Hunter graphics actually look hires, which is very impressive for the 2600; it just goes to show that atari games didn't have to have chunky sprites, and that you could fit a lot into ~4K. Kudos to the programmer

[imdefensive]

i have spy hunter for the ps2

[BRGxRandomHero]

i played this in real life, you go around looking for cops

[pazks723]

i always played this on the nes

[dpsinoh]

Mark, the Atari 8-Bit version of Robotron 2084 came with the plastic tray for two 2600 controllers

[jupreindeer]

I am blown away that they even got the theme, car, gadgets, boat, split road, etc. to fit inside a 2600 cart. These things have a tiny amount of ROM, after all. Something like 2 to 16k, norm. Can't fit one chapter of most books inside that virtual space.

[NinjaGhostScorpion]

This was on the 2600? I never knew.

[IgnatzKolisch]

The music is by Henry Mancini. You probably are also familiar with his 'The Pink Panther' theme. This here is 'Peter Gunn Theme', as at least one person pointed out before.

Odd bit of trivia, but the ultra-famous all-time-great movie composer John Williams was in that orchestra and performed on the piano under Mancini recording music for that show 'Peter Gunn'.

[DrSzalony]

No, the NES version ROKED!

[schoolgirlshortdress]

the colecovision version was the best....

[nutherefurlong]

Funny that this version has a few more features than the later version for the Atari 8-Bit

[krantzbucks]

@nutherefurlong I had the 8 bit version on my atari 800 and it wasn't missing anything. It came with the 2 controller setup. Had the smoke screen, oil slick and rocket launchers, bullet proof bullies, gangster side shooters, helicopters, the switch to boat (which was optional).What was missing?

[nutherefurlong]

@krantzbucks I think what I was referring to was the way the weapons deploy, and that you get a readout at the bottom that shows you all the weapons you currently have. Smoke screen and oil slick in the 8-bit had the same width, while the smoke here is in a cone like in the arcade, hitting a wider field. The boathouse transition also seems different (and seems a lot less picky than the 8-bit version I used to play, since that one was much narrower.).

[dclefevre]

yeah.. you can compare the 2600 directly to the arcade which will be a comparison that the 2600 will always lose... however given the 2600 limitations this has to be an amazing port... easily one of the top 5 conversions. In the latter years the programmers sure figured out some amazing tricks.

[Tryzon]

The NES version of Spy Hunter is wonderful.

[Tryzon]

Spy Hunter theme! One of the less sung classic game tunes. I had a version of the game on PS2 & GBA, and both had the same sweet music, although I think it was more fast-paced, which matched the speedy driving action better.

[crazyzach5]

The spy hunter theme is actually the Peter Gunn theme. Also this one is slower than the new one and the original arcade because it is less sophisticated.

[Tryzon]

I don't know my trivia much when it comes to arcade games, so many thanks for enlightening me.

[crazyzach5]

You are quite welcome my friend.

[WyreWizard]

Umm, you're a little wrong about Speed Racer. Trixie was Speed's GF. She didn't hide in the trunk of the Mach 5. She was always either in the audience or with the Pit Crew. Those who hid in the trunk of the Mach 5 were Speed's obnoxious little brother Spridle and his chimp partner, Chim Chim.

[JayArgonaut]

I didn't even know that Spy Hunter came out on the 2600. Interesting point about the dual controllers as the C64 version had exactly the same feature - you could use the first joystick for driving and firing and then your second stick for dumping oil slicks and cloudbursts.

[morgangamer22]

cool

[CarlstonSolar]

Oh, yes the plastic tray, it would hold both controlers right next to each other. basicly you could achive the same effect with popsickle sticks and duct tape...

[JustyHakubi]

Speed Racer came out in the late 60's as an anime in Japan. So yeah I would say yeah that predates Nolan Bushnell by a few years. Although Peter Gunn does predate Speed Racer. That series came out in the late 50's. However I doubt the the film noire detective Peter Gunn ever engaged in a James Bond type car chase.

[Kain5th]

I think the one on the NES was the best home console version.

[gamein60seconds]

The 5200 was my fave, but only if played with a CX40 stick lol. Then again the Nes did have Super Spy hunter which was class :)

[kevin12567]

Pretty impressive for the 2600...it has just about every feature - enemy cars, weapons, boat stage, even the helicopter! Do you know how big (how many Kbytes) this game was? Did it use a technique similar to River Raid to generate the road?

[Herbarius]

It certainly looks a lot like in River Raid. However this doesn't really say anything, as on the 2600 there propably were only so many ways to do roads/rivers like that anyway.

[plurp7]

As much of an Atari veteran I'd like to think of myself... I simply had NO idea this was ever ported to the 2600.

I own the cartridge for the Atari 400 computer - a great port might I add.

long live Atari anyways.

[yournotjohn]

Spridle and Chim Chim, not trixie and chim chim, bro...

[gdement]

When I heard you mention 2600 Spy Hunter in a previous video, I could hardly believe you were serious. It looks better than I imagined, I'm actually impressed with how this came out.

The most primitive version I ever played was on my Apple II, but this one takes the cake. At least the Apple has 2 buttons. :)

[ScrewAttackEurope]

The Peter Gunn theme!!!

[you256666]

COOL