DESCRIPTION

Life is tough as a world-class spy, especially on the road. Enemies are everywhere, and they'll stop at nothing to destroy you. Fortunately, you've got an ultra-equipped spy mobile that comes standard with front-mounted machine guns and allows lots of deadly add-ons. It's kill or be killed in Spy Hunter.

Spy Hunter is one of the few Atari 2600 games that requires both controllers. It comes packaged with the Dual Control Module, which attaches two joysticks together and places both of the fire buttons next to each other.

The first joystick is used to steer your car, accelerate and brake. The fire button has two functions — it fires your front-mounted machine guns and anti-helicopter missiles (when you acquire them from a weapons van). The fire button on the second joystick releases either a smoke screen or an oil slick. Enemies and innocent bystanders are instantly destroyed when they are hit by any of your weapons. The stick of the second joystick is not used.

Upon starting Spy Hunter, the player is treated to the familiar Peter Gunn theme. A weapons van delivers your car onto the road, and off you go. The action is viewed from a top-down perspective.

The road contains several enemies to contend with, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The Road Lord has a bulletproof rear and must rammed, or destroyed with smoke or oil. Switch Blade has buzz saw hubcaps. The Enforcer tries to pull up next to you and fire a shotgun.

After driving for a while, you reach a river. Your car transforms into a boat, and the battle continues on water. Here, you must deal with Barrel Dumper, who drops oil barrels in your path, and Doctor Torpedo, who lives up to his reputation. Additionally, The Copter will menace you with bombs dropped from the sky. ~ Michael Schwartz/Joan Dykman, All Game Guide