Spy Hunter, 1985 Coleco Ind. Inc./Michael Price/Jesse Kapili (20 From Colecovision #6)
17Outstanding port of the arcade original by Bally/Midway from 1983, and released in early 1985 (the same year that Colecovision was discontinued). Reminiscent of auto chase scenes from James Bond films (and Spy Hunter was originally intended to have the James Bond license but it was too pricey), you drive a sporty car through highways and avoid enemy vehicles, trying to limit damage to civilian vehicles, and acquiring new weapons from the weapons van. To start with you have a timer which allows you infinite lives, and once the timer expires you get one extra life (and another every 30K). You might be able to score an extra life if you covered extra ground (i.e., lay on the speed) but it's very risky. Enemy vehicles include a bulletproof car that tries to bash you off the road, a car with blades coming out of the hubcaps that makes you blowout and skid off the road (you lose one car), a limo with a gun-toting driver, a chopper that drops bombs on the road (causing you to crash), and boats that try to sink you in the water scene-- yep, there is a water scene! At some points in the game you can turn off the road to the water scene and you'll now be in a boat (and you can later turn back onto the road). On the road or sea your basic infinite weapon is the machine gun (rapid fire), but on the road you can also get oil slicks (VERY useful for enemies approaching from behind), smoke screen (also effective on enemies behind you, but it uses up quicker), and missiles to take out the chopper (you only have 3). The music from the tv series Peter Gunn used in the arcade is very faithfully recreated here, as is the awesome gameplay. A very late addition to the CV library but not one to be missed!