Spy Hunter (Arcade) Playthrough longplay retro video game

[@NeumsFor9]

You know you're good at Spy Hunter when you get to the crazier synthesizer refrains of the Peter Gunn theme.

[@charlesajones77]

I had actually never heard that part before :P

[@ultimatedouchebag6760]

too bad this shitty game doesnt have an ending.

[@Lightblue2222]

​@Ultimate Douchebag no early 80s arcade game has an ending. The game always gives you more until it becomes too hard. This was to keep you coming back. If arcade games had an ending people would beat it and never play it again.. is what designers figured.

[@anthonypublic332]

LIVED for those moments. When the jazz solo kicked in.

[@Curtoonstv]

@@Lightblue2222True, video games originally were a social and competitive thing like board games, no ending unless you want it to end. Since online gaming came about, social gatherings playing video games is non existent. Still, traveling to many arcade spots around the world is on my bucket list.

[@Captain_Crayzay]

The sit down arcade version was absolutely Epic! Watching this took me way back to some long past memories. Thank you🎉

[@christophereuginebeatty7950]

this is why the 80's ruled. Because of great games like these truly iconic classics. 🙂👍👍❤️

[@kyle47922]

That is why I miss the 80s.

[@hutt0048]

Nice to see someone who is actually good at this game. I maybe get to the boat once out of every 5 or 6 tries. Forget about getting past it

[@jax9769]

I used to stay on the boat for a long time. I d pass the exit ramp many times

[@thehound1359]

Yea. This game was ridiculously hard in the arcade.

[@trueblu8]

Yep. Me too.

[@trueblu8]

Yeah. This game was cool, but hard as hell!

[@djwizard9410]

Im 43 years old and I'm still mad that I couldn't beat this game!😎 2023

[@richardlandrum1966]

In the 80s my parents lugged me along on a trip to lake Tahoe. I was maybe 7 or 8. The whole trip for them was about the casinos, so they dropped me at an arcade/kennel in the casino each day before going off to play. After day 1, I had a single quarter left. I held that quarter as tight as I could leaving the casino, eating dinner, while sleeping and during breakfast. It was my lucky quarter, and with it I was going to beat spy hunter. Walking through the casino to the arcade/kennel my dad says, "what you got there?" I open my hand, and proudly exclaim "it's my lucky quarter" He snatched the quarter and drops it in a slot machine on the other side of the velvet rope. Horrified at the betrayal I absolutely lose my sh** and throw a tantrum right there (completely out of character, I wasn't that kind of child) The slot machine pays out 5 dollars in quarters........it took 4.75 to beat the game 💪 Been a long time since I told that story.

[@MrProy33]

I miss that Swenson's ice cream in tyr Harrah's arcsde!

[@trueblu8]

This game was so cool, but ridiculously hard, especially for a little kid!

[@alfredorosado1]

There was no real ending for this game. Hours and hours of driving.

[@javimartiarena4476]

Yeah this game looks compelling just by watching it

[@davidmartin3280]

This game was so epic in the arcade! Many o' quarters of mine got lost into this machine and the thing is...I still suck at it! :D At least now I could play it on one of the William's Arcade Hits discs on the Playstation and not lose a small fortune! Ah...who am I kidding. There was something about seeing this at an arcade and that cabinet. I'd still blow through a few stacks of quarters to play this arcade again! :D

[@xavierharding8938]

We use to play off road, golden axe, wwf wrestlefest, those were the days !

[@bmwrules28]

The driver seat version was the best. Late 80’s I remember the game at Chuck E Cheese and thought NES version would be the “same” Not even close 😆

[@dlewis8405]

I seem to recall this game was found in some arcades as a stand up console but in others it was a fully enclosed unit with pedals and a shifter. The latter version was truly awesome, especially with speakers behind your head for full effect.

[@ninelivecat]

I remember the cockpit cabinet being more common in larger arcades it had the same controls as the upright cabinet there was only one pedal

[@STARSHIPTROOP]

the sit-down had speakers right behind your head

[@alphabetaxenonzzzcat]

Yep - I played that version in an arcade on Ilfracombe seafront in the 1980s.

[@jasonrackawack9369]

My 8 year old self in the 80s playing on the sit down version of Spy Hunter in a Showbiz Pizza at my friends birthday party, and doing really really well at it with a group of friends watching is probably the coolest I have been or ever will be in this life.....😂🤣😅 Pole Position was pretty fun too!

[@D-Fens_1632]

1632!

[@Gunwitch666]

That "Peter Gunn" theme....I remember bopping my head to this at the local 7-Eleven while playing everyday after school!

[@truegod99]

My father owned an arcade. This game consumed my young life. I scored 999998 before the score restarted.

[@Sally10268]

Luckyyyyyyyy kid !

[@michaelminervini1908]

my best score was 963,000, took 2 hours

[@nastynate2379]

You LIE

[@vindas777]

I used to pump endless quarters into this machine just so I could hear the music! The parts at 4:06, 7:41, 10:03, and 15:38 are incredible and they never seem to repeat, seems like it's unique every time you play. I've always been amazed at this part of the game. Awesome driving and thank you for posting this, much appreciated!

[@joemasters2270]

I wasn't aware there was no sound until 1:25. I'm sitting here going crazy on my laptop 😆

[@PuffDaddyLungFish]

Excellent play. Almost looks like this was played until boredom caught up and caused sudden mistakes to finally end the game. Back in the 1980's arcades, I don't remember missiles taking so long to appear. Over 14 minutes to appear.

[@mikeg.3688]

It depends on the roads you take.

[@rogergeyer9851]

I suspect they had different settings / difficulty levels for the game. It seems to me that the icy roads started after the first speedboat action when I played, unlike it taking MUCH longer to show up here, for example. Between the icy roads, the helicopter dropping bombs, and a lot of the nasty black bad guy cars, it was just too difficult, IMO.

[@FletchBrendanGood]

and then when he finally gets the missiles, the way the helicopter finally gets taken out for the first time feels... anticlimactic

[@luisreyes1963]

That's some driving there. Great job.

[@paul16451]

Driving off the broken bridge was actually one thing I've never seen in this game.

[@naglma]

I got 380K (arcade) (I think, somewhere around there) (Emporium Wicker Park - Chicago, IL) Secrets: 1) don't use the gas peddle (usually) - only shift up and down to change speed (do it A LOT - like constantly ALL the time). VERY rarely do I have both hands on the steering wheel. One on the wheel at the gun trigger and one on the gear shift. 2) on the boat stage, stay in high gear, but use the gas peddle to edge off your speed, because low gear is too slow and high is too fast. You can cruise through the level at about 2/3 high gear 3) on the ice stage if you don't have oil and and are following AND followed by only blade cars, you can stay in between them by edging your speed up and down. 4) it's ALL about points, so get them 5) if you crash, judge the cars coming from the rear and pull SLOWLY off the side of the road - avoid the double death phenomenon. (ANY person who has played knows what I'm talking about) AND Most important - play on a fully functional machine (preferably a stand up box) OH, there is another 6) If you can fill up the screen with max cars and they are all friendly, then you can coast in low gear and no more cars will come out. If you are in low gear, then slower friendlies will go off the bottom of the screen BUT will still be present. (you can actually have only your car on screen and coast through a level like this. This also works for enemy cars on the other side of the road. and another 7) Always take the left path if possible, and always follow the left half of the screen on the boats stage if possible. and another 8) at the first split in the road, go left. Then get close to the left edge (not on it) and go as fast as you can. It's a great way to rack up points, and all cars will pass on the right (feigning attempts to knock you off the road, but none will hit) and hence another 9) At the beginning, you get unlimited lives and a timer. At the end of the timer you get get additional lives according to how many points you got during the timer session. I think it's like 1 for 10k and 2 for 18k. (if you got 20k during the timer session, then you are on track to doing very well) Now get out there folks and show me what you can do. Oh, yeah, after about 200K, no more free cars. Before that I think it's every 20k, then 40k, then 60k (I may be wrong with those numbers, but there is a point where you will not receive any more extra cars.) (have you ever seen a game of Spyhunter with 7 evil cars and a helicopter on the screen at the same time?) I played this game for about 2 or 3 years, and I'm the best I've ever seen play it - by far.

[@michaelminervini1908]

You forgot about jumping the bridge out to avoid the water.

[@crystallake6198]

This game and Gauntlet were epic.

[@deoglemnaco7025]

I myself was a covert agent for many years and I must say that this game is quite realistic.

[@DefendYoungstown]

These cabinets had the craziest subwoofers installed. No matter how big the arcade was, you could _always_ hear that bass when someone started playing or went on a good run.

[@Rubberduck-tx2bh]

LOVED this game as a kid. Spent hours in the Wawa playing this right next to Karate Champ, eating junk food & drinking soda the entire time. Found a stand up machine as an adult in my nearby deli & played an entire hour on 1 quarter. My left heel was killing me at the end, & it was always icy. Oil weapon was the best. Putting out little dabs at a time to make it last to the next Weapon Van. 1 trick in the water as a boat: I always drove in Low Gear because of less control for maneuvering. If you shift into High on the tan islands, you shot forward like a ramp. Also, I would seek the "safety" of water when possible when icy. You can skip 1st off ramp & it turns back to normal weather.

[@magneto8002]

I still have this game for PS2.

[@dslartoo]

Damn, I thought I was pretty good at this game, but apparently I was incorrect. THIS is someone who's pretty damned good at this game. Nice work.

[@scuzzlebucket3042]

PSA: Don't smoke a bowl and rummage through YT. You'll end up watching things like this 😂😂😂

[@toddripcity7878]

Nice playing, its been over 35 years and never made it to the boat, lol, so sad

[@thehound1359]

This and double dragon were the first arcade games I ever played.

[@juant3969]

Loved double dragon

[@Alaninbroomfield]

I love 8-bit music. I remember this game, it was always out-of-order because the steering wheel-thingy was always broken from wear & tear. This happened a few different times at different places. None of these games were around very long because I presume the owners got sick of constantly fixing them.

[@scottl.1568]

I loved that such a high-tech car only had two gears: "25 mph" and "SPEED OF LIGHT"😅

[@tizodd6]

Omg, as a kid I never even knew the boat was a thing😂 I was always dead before that point. I still loved the game though lmao

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

Teen titans go parodied this with Cyborg.😂 He knocked an Asian guy off the road And he came back in a helicopter.

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

Trust me a lot of people never made It to the boat part.😂 To busy dying in the road over Aannnnnnd over again.

[@juant3969]

This game is legendary. I remember that I was determined to get to the other levels. I was addicted to this classic. Still remember the theme music and the weapons such as oil slick, smoke screen and more. This game was awesome

[@jhengis1971]

Love this game. Used to play the full sit-down console. There is a hack with the broken bridge to not have the limo come back. When you get him to follow you and take the right to the broken bridge. Go slow so the limo is following you but keep steering wheel all the way to the right so your constantly rubbing against th bridge while driving. You will actually cross the broken bridge and the limo will fall into the water. After that the limo will never appear again.

[@seanjones9902]

One of my favorites of all time, this and Joust. Hours of playing!!

[@jax9769]

Great job man. Anything over 100k is a good score. 224k was my highest ever at an arcade many years ago

[@LonnieLawless]

The game that never ends.

[@NeumsFor9]

My neighbor two doors down.....his dad owned a vending company. We used to go collecting the money from each of the games. It was an event, man. Every Friday.....you want to go collecting (and play video games for nothing)? Hell yeah man! Then, twice a year, his dad would bring 4 games into his garage, and kids from the neighborhood would be coming over.....lol. I would get to the 6th Mr Sandman in punch out. In this game play, I couldn't believe how long it took to get to missiles. WTF man......lol.

[@VroomAndPew]

Man, this game, Gunsmoke and Excitebike took so many of my quarters. lol

[@pn9359]

I think this spy’s cover is blown.

[@glbernini0]

I spent every quarter I could find in the sit down version of this game back in high school!

[@Yxalitis]

I played this game to death in my youth. However, there is a trick to it. You need to wait for a "Bridge Out" call you supply truck (which after you exit, as long as you stay on the edge of the road, allows you to cross the empty gap).. nd wait for an Enforcer to show up. Once he's there, cross the bridge. and from then on: No more enforcers and no more Dr. Torpedo, making water sections a cake walk.

[@deancossins8557]

Christ I remember trying to load that up on my Atari by cassette 😂😂😂😂

[@ImWithTeamTrinity]

I remember seeing this when I was 7, loved it! Had a big steering wheel and everything.

[@philipdefibaugh5683]

My favorite part of the game is ditching the car for the powerboat in the sea.

[@knottsafterdark]

The music sounds SO much better at the arcade game kiosk than it sounds on a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)!

[@Bagledog5000]

I don't remember missiles taking so long to come up when I played this game age ago, maybe my arcade was just a little bit kinder on the settings. Nice game though.

[@richardbrown8269]

I absolutely love this video game when I was a kid

[@toyotaboyhatman]

never knew there was boats until now, what a walkthrough. I would have been so pissed at some of those deaths, especially the last one. He literally shot the car, barely dinged him and his car catches on fire.

[@peterkrug2327]

1:28 Actual gameplay starts here.

[@robertthomas5736]

That is The Theme Song From The TV Series Peter Gunn

[@momarock4434]

Que recuerdos en los salones de juegos 🎮! I❤80's

[@uhavemooface]

I have played this so many times when I was a kid. I was trying to look for this just a bit ago and I knew it had the word spy in it but couldn't think of the full name. This game was so much fun.

[@joshthemediocre7824]

I got this game when it came out, had it until i sold everything like 15 years ago, but never even made it to the water. This is so fun to go back and see all the stuff i missed by always sucking at this game. It is a hard one.

[@Brocuzgodlocdunfamdogson]

My older cousin used to try telling me that you could play as the 18 wheeler and it had missiles that could shoot down the helicopter. Of course I believed him. Rest in peace cuzo. See you on the other side.

[@robertthomas5736]

I Learned How to Drive, While Working in an Arcade called Gold Mine Amusements,in Canoga Park, California When I was 17 Playing Spy Hunter

[@cardboardempire]

I used to play this on my Apple II clone. Good times. Conan the Barbarian, Ghostbusters, The Coveted Mirror. So many great gamea.

[@inceptional]

I swear I remember playing a version of this in the arcade were you could attach horns to the front of the car, but I have been able to see anything of it since.

[@elty69]

Never got past the 1st 2 min of this game 😂😂

[@kyle47922]

Omg I loved that game.

[@seandupuis7376]

Always one of my go to games in the arcade

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

Played this in the midway compilation. Even got the theme on CD.

[@K-o-R]

The attract mode apparently fails to mention the part where _you can turn into a boat!_ Taking down the helicopter is so satisfying.

[@Glycenide]

Was there ever a finale for this?

[@deebrown4877]

Always loved this game!!

[@scottl.1568]

Fuckin' good old days 🫡

[@recursiveidentity]

The fatal flaw of this game was the acceleration is too quick...

[@Nathantodd2012]

I am 47 years old. I am jealous on a level which no man ever should be in regards to a video game. I rarely got passed the boat stage. If i did, I was thrilled. Is there someting wrong with me?

[@jrag1000]

Remember this in the arcades the Bass was always blaring

[@TheSuperSpeeder]

Apparently we ALL ruled the 80s. I played this at a place called the Burger Chief...

[@Demiurge13]

you know, I coulda sworn that one of the trucks gave missiles to take out the helicopters. Or was that only on the nintendo version?

[@tsal2]

I believe if you take a left at the fork in the road three times you get the anti-aircraft missiles. (Or was it two lefts, then a right?) And even then they only give you three shots IIRC.

[@Esoteric_Nature]

Great playing. I probably would use the Weapons Van more strategically. Enter on the far left of the screen and call for a 2nd use but who am I to offer suggestions when I could rarely ever hit 100,000.

[@TeddGCM]

Great memories....I was never this good though

[@n9wff]

Never figured out why you need oil on a icy road to spin them out. Then again, this was 1982-1983.

[@johnlaspisa2711]

Were you using the actual arcade or were you using MAME? Some sick driving!!! Were you using the original steering wheel with the buttons on the wheel?

[@palaceofwisdom9448]

I vastly prefer the NES version for its incredibly tight controls. It was deeply humbling to play the arcade version for the first time in years after that.

[@NoSlow78]

When I first started driving and had to do maintenance on my car. I thought I just had to add more oil to the engine and not drain/replace it. I added like 3 quarts too much.... I smoke-screened a major street and felt like I was SpyHunter.

[@michaelminervini1908]

You had to get 18000 points before the timer ran out to get 2 cars to start with There was cool trick to "jump" the bridge out to avoid the boats.

[@titomontes9670]

I cannot recall how many quarters I spent on this game, but it was a lot.

[@timothylegg]

And I still don't know if there is an end

[@pn9359]

The man on the cover art appears to be Alan Partridge

[@kainigwon5433]

The goddamn game that never ends!

[@dancook7334]

I Loved this game as a Teen ! I remember being an asshole & kept oil slicking the semi making it wreck...Good times ! LOL

[@TomBailey]

The easiest way to the boat was (at the forks) right, left, right!

[@Guitarista78]

Crazy driving. I guess there is no end..

[@DarthFrodo]

If you timed it accurately, as you entered the red supply truck, you could fire your machine guns and the truck would burst into flames. The truck would pull to the side of the road and still give you the power-up!

[@obadel5092]

You had to be really good to make it to icy roads in those times the arcade employee started to give the stink eye for it because you're staying in the macine for a long time for a quarter 😂

[@Thereal4real-vv1gq]

Remember playing this and double dragon st walton video shop in Chesterfield back in the mid to late 80s..after school.. happy days..

[@tomkelly00]

what happeened at 6:21? to make him crash?

[@bryanchamp6979]

You made me car sick

[@Koexistence13]

The colecovision port wasnt horrible. The warning lights on the actual stand up and auxiliary buttons were vool

[@tedmarynowski3881]

Played it. Loved it

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

Use to have this on NES. Like when your car slide on one side Of the screen it comes from the other Side.😂

[@willifufu2635]

I was the best n the world at Spy Hunter

[@robertthomas5736]

I Used to Play This, When I Worked in The Arcade Near The Food Court of The Topanga Canyon Mall, in Canoga Park, California, When I was 17 Years Young

[@Will_Power_NYC]

There is no sound until the 1:21 mark in the video.

[@crazedvole]

I used to be pretty good at that game, but I think the best I ever did was about 130,000. But it was the highest score for a long time.

[@Studeb]

Why is there a score on the helicopter when you can't shoot it? Is it just for surviving it?

[@Studeb]

Spoke too soon.

[@robertthomas5736]

The Red Semi Trucks are The Special Weapons

[@tawon1984]

I liked this as a kid but I preferred Bump & Jump 👍

[@Ben82077]

Hated the other cars in the way - especially the motorcycles.

[@denniscarver-rh5xp]

played this on Commodore 64 in the early 80's

[@AaronDelp]

So that’s how you play this game!! 😂

[@news4you284]

SpyHunter

[@nothosaur]

where can i buy this? I can't find it on Steam.

[@mikesiver1950]

Oh the hours I wiled away as a teenager playing this game. Fond memories.