If you never played the original SpyHunter, the premise was simple; you drove around in the ultimate spy car blasting enemy vehicles as you went. Armed with machine guns and oil slick dispensers, you blew away enemy vehicles as they scrolled down the screen towards you. Throughout the game, you could pick up new weapons for your car or even transform the car into other vehicles such as a boat. It was all very simple, and we all liked it that way.

In this new version of SpyHunter, the game goes from a 2D blaster to a  3D racing adventure. While everyone loves a good 3D game, I found the graphics so dissapointing in this version of SpyHunter, that I started to long for the original game. Which brings me to my first point.

Graphics
So we start with the graphics. You would think that with all the graphics processing power of the next generation consoles that SpyHunter would be fantastically beautiful, but sadly it's not. It's pretty obvious that they developed the game for the Playstation 2, then later ported it over to the other platforms. Colors are dull, edges are jagged, shapes are often too chunky. It's sad to see almost no difference graphically between the three versions. While the PS2 is the oldest console of the bunch, there's still some graphical horsepower in there, but it's not tapped at all. On the Xbox and GameCube the graphics are mediocre, and that's being kind. Perhaps they were going for a more retro feel to the graphics, but they really could've at least done some work with the framerate  (30fps which dips at times).

Xbox Image (Click for larger view)

Gameplay
The gameplay in SpyHunter reflects the style of the arcade original. You race around in your G-6155 Interceptor spy vehicle blasting away at anything in sight while performing various assigned tasks. Weapons can be upgraded by pulling into the weapons truck, which appears at various times in the game. Your vehicle can switch between different modes; car; boat and motorcycle. Each modes has different advantages and uses, though you'll mostly find yourself in plain old car mode.

The game zips along throught its 14 missions much like it did in the arcade, with non-stop action from start to finish. There are very few slow spots in the action, so you have to always keep your eyes open and your trigger finger ready. Certain missions will require that you don't just shoot, but you also have to pick up communication link devices or fire global positioning trackers into specific targets. 

While SpyHunter might lack much depth to the gameplay, the simplicity allows you to enjoy the action. It just doesn't get any simpler than driving, blasting and picking up weapons.

Xbox Image (Click for larger view)

Sound
SpyHunter comes with some of the most unremarkable sound around. Just a bunch of plain old tire squeals, gunshots, metal clanks, and that tired Peter Gunn theme. While you may like that song now, a few hours of SpyHunter will make you hate it with a capital H. You can only take so much of that song, and with no option to change the soundtrack you'll soon tire of that repetitive beat. Don't expect any magic from SpyHunter's soundtrack and sound engine on any of the three platforms.

Replayability
14 relatively short missions do not make for a very replayable game. Once you're done with SpyHunter, well, you're done with it. The linear nature of the game just doesn't lend itself well to making a replayable game. One added bonus of the Xbox version is a playable copy of the original arcade version of SpyHunter which ups the replay value of the game just a touch more on the Xbox.

When you put it all together, SpyHunter isn't a bad game, but it's not a great one either. It's one of those titles you pick up for nostalgia's sake, play through the missions, and then shelve it.