Spy Hunter strategies?

Pleiades10

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I've been working on my Spy Hunter score at a friend's house, and my best so far is 72,920. My average is around 40,000.

Any tips for scoring higher?

So far, I know that scoring 18,000 points in the initial run before time runs out awards two spare cars, (which is easier said than done), and that the oil slick is best deployed in quick spurts in order to make it last longer.

I know that taking the first three lefts will get you to the boat house... and staying on the water as long as possible seems to be a nice way to rack up points with fewer hyperactive enemies after you.

I get into trouble when I have no oil slick or smoke screen and there's a switchblade chasing me. If I try to drop my speed to get behind him and shoot him, he still bumps into me and wastes my car. How do you guys handle that situation?

There's also that "random element" that tends to get me such as... after being dropped off on the side of the road by the weapons van, I pull to the left to get back on the highway and immediately get smacked off the road and loose a life due to some speeding putz that appeared out of nowhere. Frustrating.

So any Spy Hunter gurus wanna help a fella out?

Kyle :cool:
 
I've been working on my Spy Hunter score at a friend's house, and my best so far is 72,920. My average is around 40,000.

Any tips for scoring higher?

So far, I know that scoring 18,000 points in the initial run before time runs out awards two spare cars, (which is easier said than done), and that the oil slick is best deployed in quick spurts in order to make it last longer.

I know that taking the first three lefts will get you to the boat house... and staying on the water as long as possible seems to be a nice way to rack up points with fewer hyperactive enemies after you.

I get into trouble when I have no oil slick or smoke screen and there's a switchblade chasing me. If I try to drop my speed to get behind him and shoot him, he still bumps into me and wastes my car. How do you guys handle that situation?

There's also that "random element" that tends to get me such as... after being dropped off on the side of the road by the weapons van, I pull to the left to get back on the highway and immediately get smacked off the road and loose a life due to some speeding putz that appeared out of nowhere. Frustrating.

So any Spy Hunter gurus wanna help a fella out?

Kyle :cool:

This should be a good thread. I'm curious too since I don't score very well on this game.
 
I get into trouble when I have no oil slick or smoke screen and there's a switchblade chasing me. If I try to drop my speed to get behind him and shoot him, he still bumps into me and wastes my car. How do you guys handle that situation?

Speed up. Keep them behind you. You don't have to floor it and in fact doing so is dangerous. Very delicate handling of the accelerator is required. You don't want new enemies streaming down from the top so fast that you plow into them and die, but you don't want switchblades taking you out from behind, either, so balance your speed.

There's also that "random element" that tends to get me such as... after being dropped off on the side of the road by the weapons van, I pull to the left to get back on the highway and immediately get smacked off the road and loose a life due to some speeding putz that appeared out of nowhere. Frustrating.

Can't help you there. I love playing Spy Hunter, especially the sit-down version, but that is the one thing that puts me off of the game and prompts me to move on to something else. I've had games ended after an okay start by two deaths in rapid succession just like that. There must be a trick to avoiding it but I haven't figured it out yet. Not that I've spent a lot of time on it, as I don't have ready access to a Spy Hunter.
 
This doesn't completely solve the "merging into traffic" problem, but what I do is drive on the shoulder until I build up a bit of speed and then when it looks safe, I merge onto the main roadway. Not 100% effective but far better than just veering into the roadway immediately.
 
This doesn't completely solve the "merging into traffic" problem, but what I do is drive on the shoulder until I build up a bit of speed and then when it looks safe, I merge onto the main roadway. Not 100% effective but far better than just veering into the roadway immediately.

This is the method I use also.
 
its all about controlling your speed. Go as slow as possible without being overtaken from behind. If you get one switchblade behind you, speed up to avoid it. If you get two, let them get right behind you and they'll pop their blades out, and usually bump into each other and knock the blades off of one side of each. You can also very carefully bump live switchblades off the road, provided you use the very back end of your car and the front of theirs without dying, risky, but works as a last resort.
As far as getting back into traffic, keep your steering wheel turned to the right as you begin to accelerate, you'll stay on the median and not crash. You can also wait until you see some of the light blue and pink cars and merge between them.
While water is fun, its much more dangerous (imho). The first one's ok, but the next and further ones have that danged torpedo boat that will get you nearly every time, as the torpedo's hard to see, and harder to hear over the other sound effects. I'd advise staying out of the water as much as possible.
As far as which split to take, i always alternate - L, R, L, R, etc. This seems to work fairly well, but will lead you icy roads quicker than i'd like.
With icy roads, just drive. If something tries to bump you, accelerate around them. If you can get in a cluster of non-combatants, then do so.
 
Two more things, you get two weapons vans per level. Use one as soon as possible, and keep the other one in reserve until just before the next level starts. Don't shoot civilians ever. Machine guns could just as well be a single shot and work nearly as well. Use them sparingly and with precision.
 
I used to be good at this game as a kid but now I suck at it. It doesn't help that my only means to play it now is via mame with a steering wheel setup with buttons on it.

I mostly wanted to chime in to say I love threads like these and we need more of them!
 
only useful for getting back in traffic. Stay on the side too long on the arcade game, and the enforcer starts taking shots at you, followed by the heli dropping bombs on you.

What horrid port is that, btw? I'm surprised the trick actually works on a port.
 
only useful for getting back in traffic. Stay on the side too long on the arcade game, and the enforcer starts taking shots at you, followed by the heli dropping bombs on you.

What horrid port is that, btw? I'm surprised the trick actually works on a port.

I have done it in mame with success, and emulation on the psp. All I am saying is that it is the only thing I know. I die alot. But I still love the game.
 
Staying on the side until it's safe to enter is the way I come on the road every time.

If I'm at a spot in the road that curves and that's not possible then I use smoke to provide a guaranteed safe entry to the road. But as others said, it's only good for maybe 10 seconds before the enforcer shows up so use it but don't abuse it.

It's really very simple and it will completely prevent this frustration.
 
Every now and then you get a switchblade from behind going 100 mph and he takes you out...hate that!
 
I've found the trick is getting to the boat. Once I've done that I stay back and slow as possible. Guys tend to fly past you and you can see the mines coming a long ways away and easily avoid them. The only real threat is the occasional torpedo boat. I can usually get over 100k doing it this way and then just get bored and careless.
 
Every now and then you get a switchblade from behind going 100 mph and he takes you out...hate that!

Holy necro-post, Batman!

That's why you start on the side of the road as you come up to speed, then you edge out onto the road.
 
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