Didja miss Part 1? Well, here's the rest! This part's a little longer, since more modern games are more complicated and demand more complicated write-ups. I've also got my usual special "0" entry at the very end for favorite "bad" video game! So plug in the controller again cuz here we go!
26. Spider-Man (Playstation, August 2000)
Surf the web, surf the web!
Shut UP, Brock!
The progenitor of the modern Spider-Man game- some would even go so far as saying the bedrock of modern superhero video games in general. Certainly all Spider-Man games from this point on take their cues from this one, all the way up to the Insomniac Games series.
This game arrived at a time when my interest in superhero comics was starting to wane, and delivered a more satisfying Spider-Man experience than most of what I had read or seen for a couple years at that point. Sure, the graphics don’t quite hold up (the later Dreamcast release shines them up a bit) but for the time, they were spectacular, perhaps amazing.
The gameplay still holds up and kinda feels a bit ahead of its time even now. They basically perfected web-swinging traversal for Spider-Man in this game, and every game since has merely tweaked and fine-tuned it. Combat is fun and pretty much a breeze, aside from some wonky camera moments that are few and far between. Spider-Man feels as agile and powerful and versatile as he should be, and that’s mostly why this game is still held in such high regard.
The plot and voice-acting are a little suspect in places, but in retrospect I’m now willing to overlook some silly nonsense compared to what has come after this point in Spider-Man history. At the end of the day this is MY Spider-Man- an experienced young adult who has matured enough to be taken seriously by his peers, and happily married to Mary Jane.
Venom’s role in this game is pretty emblematic of his erratic portrayals in the 90s. He goes from Spidey’s deadliest foe who kidnaps Mary Jane in one level to Spidey’s comedy sidekick for the rest of the game once their “misunderstanding” has been hashed out. "Oh, that crazy Eddie Brock and his attempting to drown my wife, what wacky adventures will we have next??" Also, the Punisher joining Spidey, Daredevil, and Captain America in what seems to be a regular weekly game of Go Fish at the end will always be bizarrely funny.
