Spider-Man

• Release Date: November 22, 2000
• Genre: Action
• Style: Third-Person 3D Action
• Similar Games: Superman (Nintendo 64), Looney Tunes: Duck Dodgers Starring Daffy Duck (Nintendo 64), Saban's Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue (Nintendo 64)

Game Description

Marvel Comics' friendly neighborhood wall-crawler makes his 3D debut with Spider-Man for the Nintendo 64. Bitten by a radioactive spider, Peter Parker (a.ka. Spider-Man) has super-human strength, the reflexes and agility of a spider, the ability to stick to walls and most other surfaces and Spider-Sense, which is an internal sensor that warns him of pending danger. He used his scientific skills to formulate a webbing substance, which he shoots from a device affixed to his wrists.

In this game, patterned closely after the comics, Peter Parker was attending a science exposition given by the now benevolent Dr. Otto Octavius (formerly known as Dr. Octopus) when all hell broke loose. Someone dressed in a Spider-Man costume stormed the building, took out the guards and stole the doctor's new technology. Now, the police and everyone in New York City assume the superhero is a thieving swine.

Adding to the confusion is Eddie Brock, the human half of the symbiotic supervillain named Venom; his attendance at the exposition is baffling. As Spider-Man, you must get to the bottom of the mysterious happenings, clear your name and make New York City safe (relatively speaking) once again.

You control the arachnid superhero as he swings through the city, going in and on top of buildings and pummeling bad guys and other supervillians. Just like Spider-Man's comic book crusades, you can run, jump, punch, kick, stick to surfaces and shoot webs. Your webs enable you to swing through the city and yank, pull and trap enemies; you can also use the webbing to create spiked gloves, projectiles and a shield dome. Additionally, you can use combinations of punching, kicking and webbing for a more fierce and effective attack.

Missions in Spider-Man include infiltrating a bank for a search-and-rescue, saving Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson's bacon from the deadly Scorpion, chasing Venom (who has kidnapped your girl) through the city and dodging bullets from well-intentioned police. You'll run across fellow superheroes such as Black Cat, Captain America and Daredevil and battle Marvel villains such as Mysterio, Rhino and Carnage. There are eight levels in all. Keep an eye out for the Fantastic Four headquarters, which shares the city skyline with such familiar structures as the Statue of Liberty.

Throughout the game, you can pick up web and health cartridges and armor. Helper icons appear as aids for less experienced players. Walking into one of these will give you helpful information such as how to use your webbing and how to solve certain puzzles. You can also find special alternative costumes that will help you overcome difficult adversaries. A Spider-Compass positioned at the bottom right of the screen will help you find your way through certain sections of the various levels, and Spider-Sense, issued forth via vibration function on the controller, emits when danger is nearby.

If you're not ready for the demands of being a professional superhero, you can enter a Practice mode that offers the following training sessions: Time Attack, Survival Mode, Speed Training, Target Practice and Item Collection. In the standard game, you can choose from four skill levels -- Kid, Easy, Normal and Hard.

Review: Overall

"With great power comes great responsibility." This now famous quote is synonymous with Stan Lee's comic book legend, Spider-Man. Created in the 1960s, the Spider-Man franchise has spun off several comic book series, television shows, animated series and a movie. Fortunately most of the web-slinging properties have retained the idea of Peter Parker balancing two lives: one as a superhero, and the other as a man balancing a job, romance, friendships and marriage. Thankfully, through the use of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater engine, Activision has finally given gamers and hardcore Spider-Man fans an action/adventure game that is a must-have title.

An imposter posing as Spider-Man has stolen a piece of technology Dr. Otto Octavious was showcasing at an electronics conference. Gamers take control of the web-slinging hero and will have to face off against familiar enemies such as Venom, Scorpion, Rhino and others. Because he's also a wanted man, he'll need to deal with both J. Jonah Jameson and the NYPD.

Spider-Man's controls are masterfully done, making you feel as if you are actually swinging from New York skyscraper to skyscraper. Webbing has several functions in addition to normal swinging: you can lasso enemies, shoot web balls, create hard shells on your hands for enhanced damage, and even encase Spidey in a protective shield. Crawling up walls and ceilings is easy to accomplish, and the camera almost always positions itself in the most optimal position for gameplay.

Most gamers looking to buy the Nintendo 64 version are going to want to know the differences between it and the PlayStation game, and there is quite a substantial list of differences. Both titles are presented like a comic book issue or an episode of the Marvel cartoon, but the graphics on the Nintendo 64 version successfully outdo those seen on the original PlayStation version. Unfortunately, the great CGI scenes that advanced the story are absent in this version due to the limited space on the Nintendo 64 cartridge.

In their place is a comic book like rendition featuring still pictures of the PlayStation CGI. All of the voices present on its CD counterpart are present, including Spider-Man and company's in-game dialogue and voice work and the sporadic narrative by Stan Lee, Yet once again, the memory limitations of the cartridge-based format degrade the quality of the voice work and the music.

Also absent from this version is the "What If" mode that's based on the popular Marvel comic book series. The "What If" comic books explore the altered realities if the outcome of a battle or event ended up being slightly different (for example, what if Hulk killed Wolverine or what if the Punisher shot Spider-Man in their first encounter?). The "What If" version of play could be accessed via a special code and would allow gamers to replay the game with slight differences in boss characters and visuals. This extended the gameplay considerably, and it is sadly missing from the Nintendo 64 version.

While the game mechanics are intact, making this just as fun as the other console versions, it's important to weigh in the differences when deciding between the two. Although the Nintendo 64 version has better graphics, some features were sacrificed in its transition to cartridge form. Many die-hard Spidey fans will probably be happier with the PlayStation version, or those wanting the best of both worlds may want to wait for the Dreamcast version instead, which looks to take the strengths of both games and enhance them considerably.

Review: Enjoyment

This is not only a great action/adventure game, but it's one of the best comic book games to date.

Review: Graphics

A nice boost from the PlayStation's graphics, which help replicate the comic book world.

Review: Sound

Stan Lee's commentary as well as the superhero/supervillain voicework made it to this version, but the quality has suffered from compression. The music has also been altered and isn't as fluid as its CD counterpart.

Review: Replay Value

Sadly there's no "What If" mode, but all of the other extras from the {!PS} version have made it to this version, including the locked costumes and comic books.

Review: Documentation

The black-and-white manual offers gameplay tips, a complete list of {%Spider-Man}'s moves, and an explanation of the modes of play.

Production Credits

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