Line #3 VideoGame/SpyHunter


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4	''Spy Hunter'' is an arcade driving game designed by Creator/GeorgeGomez and Tom Leon, and released by Creator/BallyMidway. It is unique in that it's one of the first to combine driving and shooting at the same time. You are in control of a car driving on a vertically scrolling road, fighting against a variety of vehicular and airborne enemies:
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6	* Tire slashers called "Switchblade" or "Never To Be Trusted"
7	* Armored vans called "The Road Lord" or "Bulletproof Bully"
8	* Sniper limousines called "The Enforcer" or "Double Barrel Action"
9	* Bomb-dropping helicopters called "The Mad Bomber" or "Master Of The Sky"
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11	Along with enemies, there are civilian vehicles on the road as well. Injuring a civilian causes you to temporarily stop scoring points. However, if you survive long enough, civilians stop appearing.
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13	In addition to your default machine guns, you can find and drive into a weapons van and get outfitted with additional weapons: oil slick, smoke screen, and ground-to-air missiles, each of which is useful against different enemies. Further in the game, you can take a side road to a boathouse and turn the car into a boat, taking the battle onto the water. Enemy boats called "Barrel Dumper" try to kill you by throwing floating charges in your path. A big boat called "Doctor Torpedo" fires torpedoes at you from behind or in front. The chopper also harasses you in the water. You can be forced into the water when a bridge is out.
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15	This game was followed with ''Spy Hunter II''. A Famicom game called ''Battle Formula'' was renamed ''Super Spy Hunter'' and released on the NES in 1992.
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17	In 2001, Midway released a 3D "enhanced remake" of the original game, developed by Creator/ParadigmEntertainment, for the Platform/PlayStation2, Platform/NintendoGameCube, and Platform/{{Xbox}}. It took a mission-based approach, with the player sabotaging bad guy operations around the globe with an even ''bigger'' supply of weapons than before. It was followed up with ''Spy Hunter 2'' and ''Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run'' (which was an AuthorsSavingThrow for a movie that remains stuck in DevelopmentHell).
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19	In 2012, Warner Bros. Interactive released a second reboot game for the Playstation Vita and the Nintendo 3DS.
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21	2021 saw the unannounced release of a comic book adaptation from Creator/DCComics,[[note]]Creator/WarnerBros owns the IP via WB Games, the successor to Midway[[/note]] pairing this game with the Creator/{{Atari}} arcade classic ''VideoGame/{{Paperboy}}'' as ''[=SpyHunter=]/Paperboy'', with no less than Creator/LarryHama writing it. Probably not unrelated, the original arcade version was packed in as a playable extra in ''VideoGame/GothamKnights2022''.
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23	'''Individual Games:'''
24	[[index]]
25	* VideoGame/SpyHunter1983
26	* VideoGame/SpyHunterII
27	* VideoGame/SuperSpyHunter
28	* VideoGame/SpyHunter2001
29	* VideoGame/SpyHunter2
30	* VideoGame/SpyHunterNowhereToRun
31	* VideoGame/SpyHunter2012
32	[[/index]]
33	----
34	!!The ''Spy Hunter'' games has the following common examples:
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36	* ContinuityReboot: The 2001 remake for the arcade game, and the 2012 remake for the 2001 remakes.
37	* DisposableVehicleSection: The Interceptor in the 2001 remake can eject sections and convert into a Secondary Escape Vehicle after taking enough damage; the one in the direct sequel to it can also convert on player command. The Interceptor from ''Nowhere to Run'' also has a Secondary Escape Vehicle mode.
38	* DrivingIntoATruck: How you get your power-ups in the arcade, and refill health and ammo in the 2001 game.
39	* MagneticWeapons: One of these is a late-game unlock for the 2001 game - it's a guided weapon that does incredible damage. In ''Spy Hunter 2'' it's restricted to a [[FixedForwardFacingWeapon forward]] arc but still powerful.
40	* MoreDakka:
41	** The only starting weapon in the arcade to take out enemy vehicles.
42	** ''2001'' starts you off with a pair of machine guns with capacity and caliber increases as progression unlocks.
43	** ''Super Spy Hunter'' gives your car a single [[FixedForwardFacingWeapon fixed forward gun]] and a roof turret, whose two guns are always symmetrically aligned. This ends up being better than it might sound as it gives you a selectable bullet pattern that can focus fire ahead, spray narrow or wide pattern, shoot to the sides, to the obliques or even straight to the rear. Then there is the control upgrade (red "C"), which automatically tracks enemies on the screen, giving you a constantly changing pattern that is surprisingly effective at sweeping the screen to clear mooks.
44	** In ''Spy Hunter 2'' the machine gun will eventually upgrade to a version that uses pulse lasers instead of bullets and you access a new weapon in the form of micromissile launchers which have higher damage but smaller magazine capacity than the machine guns. Also in 2-player co-op mode the second player controls a [[GatlingGood minigun]] turret on the roof of the Interceptor.
45	* OilSlick: Ever since the original. In the 3D games, they can even cause enemies behind you to ''explode'' for seemingly no reason!
46	* PinballSpinoff: Also by Creator/BallyMidway; [[Pinball/SpyHunter click here for tropes.]]
47	* SuperDrowningSkills:
48	** The first level of ''Super Spy Hunter'' has sections of shallow and deep water and jumps over them. Touch the deep water and you die instantly. This makes sense for a car driving game, until you reach level 5 and realize your car can take on a boat form.
49	** Also in Nowhere to Run. In one section, it is possible to end up racing against the clock due to a careless grenade explosion or someone shooting wildly, causing a dam you must cross on foot (Due to the bridge it's under being raised and preventing the Interceptor from passing) to start filling with water should it be damaged. Crossing it while it is still filling is safe, but allowing it to fully fill up will cause it to, for seemingly no reason, kill Alex on contact. This can also make the mission unwinnable and force you to reload to a checkpoint, should it fill up completely while Alex is still on the other side, separating him from the Interceptor.
50	* SpikedWheels:
51	** "Switchblade" enemies. The 2001 game gives them an aquatic cousin as well.
52	** You get a one-time-use of these when you get the blue "S" power-up in ''Super Spy Hunter''.
53	* StuffBlowingUp: Missile launchers, always guided in the arcade, guidance unlocked after the third mission of ''2001''. MacrossMissileMassacre ensues with the Swarm Missile Launcher in the 2001 game - now you fire ''four'' missiles at a time.
54	* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: You can shoot the truck that drops you off or the civilian cars. You lose points for doing this, though.
55	* WeaponizedCar: The player controls a car equipped with a variety of weapons, from machine guns to missile launchers.

Context VideoGame / SpyHunter