I'm kind of surprised nobody has reviewed this yet.
Super Spy Hunter is an overhead racing/shooting hybrid from Sunsoft- the same company that brought us the visually impressive Batman and Gremlins 2 NES games around the same time that this released. To be expected, the soundtrack packs that Sunsoft flair and there are some neat effects to represent scaling in one particular stage that has you jumping off ramps to land on tracks that are "lower".
Game play wise, it's kind of a mixed bag. Realizing that your overall speed is relative to your position on screen in the car segments (with the level scrolling faster the further up you are) takes a while to get used to, as does the way your "options" work. Generally, the game does a good job of warning you when there's a turn or when you might need to stop and slow down to traverse more challenging obstacles. For instance, on stage one, you'll need to stop in order to drive along a row of shifting semi-trucks to avoid falling to your death. Once you get used to it, however, the game is a fun ride.
That is, until its back half.
Like almost every other game with a short run time from this era, the game goes from being moderately challenging to unforgiving and in this case it's as soon as you reach stage 5. While it should have been the most exciting and interesting stage of the six seeing as you go from a boat to a car to a whole ass plane, it's an absolute nightmare to play. The boat section is littered with insta-kill bombs, the power-up trucks never seem to give you what you need no matter how careful you are, and the game's "I can't believe it's not Raiden" moment is virtually impossible without full power-ups. Since the game operates by shm'up logic, you lose them upon death (which comes quickly with the insta-kill stuff and clunky boat controls). This stage alone is reason enough to not want to revisit the game after beating it this weekend.
Stage 6, fortunately, returns to what the game does best with overhead car sections but it is still brutally difficult thanks to the addition of the worst trope ever- a boss rush. You need to kill three bosses in a row, and two of them have insta-kill lasers on top of being absolute bullet sponges even if you're fully powered up. If it weren't for the fact that the game has unlimited continues, it would be on the same level as Battletoads.
I'd say it's worth demoing just to see the cool gimmicks presented in stages 1 to 4 at the very least, but it's far from the best game Sunsoft put out on the NES. I think it would be the perfect project for a ROM hacker (balancing patch) or a potential remaster seeing as Sunsoft is looking to make a comeback with upcoming games like Ufouria 2.
Super Spy Hunter is an overhead racing/shooting hybrid from Sunsoft- the same company that brought us the visually impressive Batman and Gremlins 2 NES games around the same time that this released. To be expected, the soundtrack packs that Sunsoft flair and there are some neat effects to represent scaling in one particular stage that has you jumping off ramps to land on tracks that are "lower".
Game play wise, it's kind of a mixed bag. Realizing that your overall speed is relative to your position on screen in the car segments (with the level scrolling faster the further up you are) takes a while to get used to, as does the way your "options" work. Generally, the game does a good job of warning you when there's a turn or when you might need to stop and slow down to traverse more challenging obstacles. For instance, on stage one, you'll need to stop in order to drive along a row of shifting semi-trucks to avoid falling to your death. Once you get used to it, however, the game is a fun ride.
That is, until its back half.
Like almost every other game with a short run time from this era, the game goes from being moderately challenging to unforgiving and in this case it's as soon as you reach stage 5. While it should have been the most exciting and interesting stage of the six seeing as you go from a boat to a car to a whole ass plane, it's an absolute nightmare to play. The boat section is littered with insta-kill bombs, the power-up trucks never seem to give you what you need no matter how careful you are, and the game's "I can't believe it's not Raiden" moment is virtually impossible without full power-ups. Since the game operates by shm'up logic, you lose them upon death (which comes quickly with the insta-kill stuff and clunky boat controls). This stage alone is reason enough to not want to revisit the game after beating it this weekend.
Stage 6, fortunately, returns to what the game does best with overhead car sections but it is still brutally difficult thanks to the addition of the worst trope ever- a boss rush. You need to kill three bosses in a row, and two of them have insta-kill lasers on top of being absolute bullet sponges even if you're fully powered up. If it weren't for the fact that the game has unlimited continues, it would be on the same level as Battletoads.
I'd say it's worth demoing just to see the cool gimmicks presented in stages 1 to 4 at the very least, but it's far from the best game Sunsoft put out on the NES. I think it would be the perfect project for a ROM hacker (balancing patch) or a potential remaster seeing as Sunsoft is looking to make a comeback with upcoming games like Ufouria 2.