Spiderman  

by Activision  Reviewed by: Mike David  

Overview

With great power, comes great responsibility. These were the words burned into Peter Parker after failing to stop a criminal who later murdered his Uncle Ben; thus began the career of one of the world's foremost superheroes. When I first received this game to review, I must tell you, I was excited. Not only am I a fan of Spiderman, but I had been hearing good things about the game. As I fired Spiderman up in my Playstation I was immediately drawn into the Marvel Universe.

There is a virtual who's who of characters in the game, both good and bad. The cast included The Human Torch, Daredevil, The Black Cat, Lizardman, The Rhino, Doc Octopus, Carnage and Venom to name but a few. Having Stan Lee (the creator of Spiderman and countless others) involved in the game was a stroke of genius. Mr. Lee provides narration and a certain quality which told me this was not just another superhero game. Anybody care to remember Superman for the N64? 

The story begins as the newly reformed Doc Octopus is giving a lecture on his latest scientific invention -- Spiderman shows up, steals the invention and causes all sorts of panic. Now normally a person would wonder why Spiderman is causing all this trouble, problem is, Peter Parker and Eddie Brock (Venom) are in the audience covering the story for the Daily Bugle. So there you start, somebody has stolen the invention and pinned the crime on Spiderman. What happens next is one very good game... read on true believers!

Gameplay

Spiderman is a fast paced, full blown action game with lots of neat surprises. Spidey dukes it out with terrorists, mutant henchmen, bank robbers, lizardmen and many recognizable bosses. Now so far you would think that I thought this game was pretty darn good and, don't get me wrong, it is a good game, but it's only fair that I also tell you about some problems I had. First, Spidey is a quick superhero, jumping up and down, dodging bad guys. Problem is, Spidey is too fast for the camera to stay with, sometimes you can actually send Spiderman off the screen and lose your bearings, causing you to die -- this will happen often when you fight Venom. Secondly, if I hear "I'll get you, Venom!" one more time I'm gonna go nuts. Yes, this high quality game falls victim to repeating phrases. And last, why would it take a superhero who can lift huge objects (safes, really big bombs, manhole covers), three punches to knock out a bank robber? Mutants? Probably. Lizardmen? Surely. But bank robbers? Never. Now that I got the nit-picking out of the way, it's on to the goods (which far outweigh the bad). The game is primarily viewed with a 3/4 view ala Tomb Raider. On one level you are swinging rooftop to rooftop in New York (look for the Fantastic Four's Freedom Plaza, it's cool) taking out mutants who are looking for you.  Next you are crawling though the ductwork of a major bank thwarting bank robbers' plans to kill hostages and blow the building up. Another level has you running from the police department as you scale skyscrapers and construction sites while dodging gunfire and rockets. This game hardly lets you rest. If it isn't lizardmen trying to knock you into New York's sewers, then it's the Rhino attempting to make you his hood ornament.

As you progress through the game you will find various items. Web cartridges refill Spidey's webbing, health icons replace health and comic books replace...?????? Comic books? Yes, comic books are hidden throughout the game and once collected they can be opened to reveal real history in the Spiderman saga that has spanned over 30 years. But the end-all be-all of hidden icons is the costumes. In the real Spiderman comic, Spidey has worn at least six different costumes. When found they allow for different gameplay. For example, find the alien simbiote costume that Spiderman got in the mid 80's and Spidey will be all black like Venom (who later got the costume) and never need web cartridges, since the alien regenerates them. Other costumes only allow Spiderman to carry two cartridges instead of the normal 10. This is for those who like a challenge. On another "web" note, Spiderman can use his webbing for other uses. Put some on his hands and he punches harder. Surrounded by bad guys? Use the webbing to make a dome. Throw some impact webbing (courtesy of the Scarlet Spider) at a group of mutants and it makes em' gooey. Finally, what the devil is the Spidey armor? I have never seen it in the comics but I'll be boogered if you don't find it in the game. Wearing it allows Spiderman to take more damage for a period of time. Controls were easy enough for the basics, downright frustrating for some of his special moves. Just know that if you jump in the air and quickly hit the kick button, it will knock the crap out of all non-essential characters.

Graphics & Audio

Spiderman has better than average graphics but nothing too terribly spectacular. Characters are blocky looking and framerate does come into play (see above) but the overall feeling is: who cares? This is a Playstation game and it's reached its fullest potential. 

The game overall looks and sounds good. What should be noted is the voice acting. Seven actors voiced 22 characters in the game and they did a bang-up job, minus the repeating phrases. The music was also pretty cool in a retro sort of way. Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can. Wasn't that on the 70's TV show? The game was made by Neversoft, a division of Activision. Good job guys! It also has an "Everyone" rating so parent and child can kick some supervillain butt together.

Bottom Line

What can I say about this game? It's the best superhero game on the market, it's really a lot of fun to play and it manages to walk the fence perfectly between overly serious and stupid/goofy. Since playing this game I have charged myself with a mission: With great video games comes great reviewing responsibility -- and this is a great game.

Review Posted On 8 November 2000.