Spy Hunter is a 1983 vehicular combat video game developed and published by Bally Midway for arcades. The game draws inspiration from the James Bond films and was originally supposed to carry the James Bond brand. The object of the game is to drive down roads in the technologically advanced "Interceptor" car and destroy various enemy vehicles with a variety of onboard weapons. The game was produced in both sit-down and standard upright versions, with the latter being more common. The controls consist of a steering wheel in the form of a futuristic aircraft-style yoke with several special-purpose buttons, a two-position stick shift (offering "low" and "high" gears), and a pedal used for acceleration.

Spy Hunter was a commercial success in American arcades, where it was one of the top five highest-grossing arcade games of 1984 and 1985. It was ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit computers, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Apple II, ColecoVision, MS-DOS, Nintendo Entertainment System, and BBC Micro. Spy Hunter was followed by Spy Hunter II, which added a 3D view and two-player split-screen play, a pinball tie-in, and a successor series of games bearing the Spy Hunter name. In addition, the NES received a sequel titled Super Spy Hunter.

Spy Hunter is a vertical scrolling driving game with the player in the role of a spy driving an armed sportscar. The object of the game is to travel the freeway destroying as many enemy vehicles as possible while protecting civilian vehicles. The game uses a top-down perspective. Controls consist of a two-position gearshift lever, a floor-mounted accelerator pedal, and a steering yoke with five buttons, and the cabinet also includes a dashboard with status lights.

The game begins with the player driving the fictitious G-6155 Interceptor, using the yoke, pedal, and gearshift to steer and control speed. The car is equipped with a machine gun that has unlimited ammunition and can be fired by pressing and holding the corresponding button on the yoke.

Various enemy vehicles try to destroy the player's car or force it off the road, including a helicopter that drops bombs from overhead. A counter increments the score while the car is moving and on the road. Additional points are earned by destroying enemy vehicles using weapons or forcing them off the road. After an initial lead-in time during which the player has an unlimited supply of cars, the player must earn extra cars by reaching score thresholds. Destroying non-enemy cars halts the score counter for a short while, and no points are scored whenever the player's car is off the road. The car can be destroyed by a hard collision with another vehicle, if it is hit by an enemy weapon (including the craters blasted into the road by the helicopter's bombs), or by running far enough off the roadway (or waterway).

Following periodic forks in the road, the player can enter new regions with different terrain or weather conditions. The player can also acquire special weapons by entering a weapons van, which appears in each new territory and can be periodically summoned by pressing its button on the yoke when its dashboard light is flashing. Available special weapons consist of oil slicks, smoke screens, and surface-to-air missiles; each is controlled by a different button, and the dashboard lights indicate which ones are available at any given time. Special weapons have a limited ammunition supply and are lost whenever the player's car is destroyed.

At certain points, the player will have the option to convert the car into a speedboat for a brief time by driving through a boathouse; at others, the player will be forced to make the transition. Enemy boats can attack from in front or behind, and the helicopter can drop bombs from above. While in speedboat mode, the oil slick becomes a flamethrower, while the smoke screen and missiles remain unchanged.

The game has no ending, and play continues until the player has lost all cars.