Spy Hunter PSVita First Impressions.

Spy Hunter on the PS Vita is a 3D racing/shooter hybrid. Fans of the first two PlayStation 2 entries will find it familiar, as it closely follows the same formula, albeit with some enhancements.

Spy Hunter still features its trademark transforming vehicle, automatically switching between car, boat, buggy, and more.

The series dates all the way back to 1983 and has appeared on nearly every 8-bit and 16-bit system. The Amiga never received an official version, but fans might remember an unofficial take called Major Motion.

Between 1983 and 1988, the original game saw numerous ports—mostly on 8-bit platforms. The screenshot above is from the classic 30-year-old original, which is bound to make some of you feel pretty nostalgic!

The series later received a reboot on PlayStation 2 with Spy Hunter, Spy Hunter II, and Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run. The first two titles were fantastic, while the third one didn’t quite live up to expectations.

The iconic music in the Spy Hunter games has always been the classic Peter Gunn theme, and it’s just as recognisable here.

The game also features familiar power-ups that longtime fans will immediately recognise: Machine Gun, Flash Blinder, Flamer, and Shocker. I haven’t played enough yet to know if other classic power-ups—like the Oil Slick—are included.

The PlayStation Vita is a very capable handheld, packed with features like GPS, gyroscope, dual touchscreens, and two cameras. While you wouldn’t normally use these in a driving game, the developers have managed to incorporate some of them in a decent way.

Stuff like creating a driver’s license with the camera, activating vehicle scanning mode (to identify enemies) with a touch screen and so on.

The graphics in the game are well below par—probably even under today’s PSP standards—but, for the most part, it doesn’t interfere too much with gameplay, even if it does look a bit rough around the edges.

Sound and music are just okay. The main Peter Gunn theme is still great, but the rest of the soundtrack is mostly simple blips and bloops.

This isn’t a Vita-exclusive title—it’s also available on the Nintendo 3DS, which likely explains why the graphics and audio feel so underwhelming at times. Even the cutscenes look rough, as you can see in the screenshot below.

The gameplay is smooth and well-designed, but at times it can be extremely challenging—and downright frustrating.

There’s a good range of PlayStation Trophies as well as in-game achievements, which is a nice touch for those who enjoy tracking stats and progress through the detailed in-game screen.

My first impressions are a mixed bag. The concept is solid, and as a fan of the PS2 entries, I really didn’t want to give up on this one. So far, I’m glad I stuck with it.

I have yet to try the multiplayer (online) as i am just too damn busy playing single-player stuff, anyway, i will let you guys know if it’s any good.

Sadly, i did not manage to record a good-looking video today, but i will try to do that shortly.

EDIT 2017: the upgrade system is another nice bit, easy to use and pretty okay for such a semi-ok game.

I got the platinum trophy eventually, which means i played this quite a lot when i first got into it.

EDIT 2017: The Amiga version looks like this, i added it because it is mentioned earlier in the article. The screenshots are taken from Hall Of Light. The scan below is taken from my own collection.