In the Hunt, known as Kaitei Daisensou (海底大戦争) in Japan, is a Sega Saturn horizontal shoot-'em-up developed by SIMS. Published in Japan by Imagineer in December 1995, it was later published in the United States and Europe by Kokopeli Digital Studios in June 1996. The game is a port of the titular 1993 Irem arcade game In the Hunt, and is developed by many of the same employees that would later work on Metal Slug.
An organization named the Dark Anarchy Society (D.A.S.) is attempting to launch a superweapon over a post-apocalyptic Earth, which has flooded due to the polar ice caps melting. To stop this, a submarine named the Granvia is deployed to stop the D.A.S. and protect what is left of the planet.
Gameplay
The game is a shoot-'em-up. It is side-scrolling but does not scroll automatically; the player can move forward freely but cannot backtrack. In each stage, the objective is to destroy enemies, avoid their projectiles, and defeat the end level boss before time runs out. The Granvia is moved in any direction with the D-pad. It is equipped with torpedoes, which move horizontally and are fired with , and missiles, which fire upwards and are launched with . Both weapons have unlimited ammunition and can be fired simultaneously with . The player can collect power-up items that change the torpedoes and missiles. The vertical missile attack varies depending on whether the Granvia is at the surface or deep in the water; it also drops bombs below the Granvia that are unaffected by power-ups.
The Granvia is destroyed after taking a hit from an enemy or if the player runs out of time. As long as the player has lives remaining, the Granvia respawns after a moment with temporary invulnerability and 30 seconds added to the timer but without any weapons upgrades. If the player runs out of lives, the game ends, but it can be continued as long as the player has credits remaining. The player can earn extra lives by collecting Treasure Balls throughout the game.
The game can be played with two players simultaneously, with each commanding a different submarine.
Weapons
Torpedoes
Starting Weapon
Fires a standard torpedo.
Hyper Torpedo
Fires a torpedo that bursts into clusters after traveling a distance, doing area damage.
Supersonic Wave Torpedo
Fires a torpedo that generates a large wave that sucks enemies into it.
Cracker
Fires a more powerful torpedo.
Missiles
Starting Weapon
Launches standard missiles underwater; shoots a wave-like aerial attack above the surface.
Missiles and Tracking Missiles
Launches more powerful missiles underwater; launches homing missiles that track targets above the surface.
Floating Mines and Machine Gun
Releases mines that float up to the surface underwater; fires rapid-fire machine gun above the surface.
Items
Submarine Item Carrier
Destroy to release an item.
Airplane Item Carrier
Destroy to drop an item.
Torpedo Item
Acquires a torpedo weapon. Cycles between red (Cracker), blue (Supersonic Wave Torpedo), and green (Hyper Torpedo).
Missile Item
Acquires a missile weapon. Cycles between A (Floating Mines and Machine Gun) and M (Missiles and Tracking Missiles).
Treasure Box
Destroy to release Treasure Balls.
Treasure Ball
Small balls are worth 1 star, and large balls are worth 5 stars. Collect 100 stars to gain an extra life.