Spider-Man
System:
Nintendo 64
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Edge of Reality/Neversoft
Released: November 2000
Genre: 3-D Platformer/Action
Capabilities: Controller, Rumble, & Expansion Pak Compatible
Review Date: March 21, 2001
The Game
Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of Spider-Man before. Well, I guess for all you foreigners who aren’t familiar with comics, Spider-Man is one of the biggest stars of the Marvel Comics group universe. He has been in countless comics, cartoons, toys, and just about anything else you can imagine. This game is published Activision, and developed by Neversoft, yes the Neversoft that made the Tony Hawk games. Well, Neversoft didn’t make this version, instead, Edge of Reality, the same people who ported over the two Tony Hawk games from PSX to N64, worked on porting the title to N64 as well. Usually, most comic games (with the exception of Capcom’s excellent Marvel fighting games) are a flop, anyone remember Batman Forever? Fantastic Four? Yeah, I thought so. So will this game promise us something different? Let’s get onto the review and find out.
Graphics
I got to admit, Edge of Reality did a great job on these visuals. Spider-Man looks exactly like he does out of the comic book, the same goes with his foes, and other heroes who make cameos in the game like Daredevil, Black Cat and Dr. Octavious who are all drawn out exactly like they look in the comics, but in 3-D polygons. The buildings are colorful and all, but look a little bit on the generic side. Everything moves at a great frame rate with all the action going on, with or without the expansion pak. The Expansion Pak does give all the visuals in the game a little polishing off, and makes everything look a bit more real. The game has great cinematic sequences at the beginning of every level, which makes you feel like you’re watching the cartoon show at home, plus some comic panels of the story going on between levels as well, which have marvelous drawings, and pinups of many covers of comics, which can be saved onto a controller pak. I only have a couple of minor complaints with the visuals, one being that the camera is a little bit tricky at times, and it causes you to make a wrong jump, and the other being that there is just too damn much fog in the game around the buildings, I don’t know if the developers did this on the purpose, but it distracts me from the game, and gets annoying right away.
Sound
The first thing you’ll notice right off the bat is Spider-Mans voice, which sounds exactly like it does off the cartoon show. The same goes with the other characters with voices in the game like Black Cat, and Venom. Probably the best part of the audio is right there. And Sider-Man creator, Stan Lee also introduces every level of the game, I’m not sure if it is really him, but it sure as heck sounds like him. The sound effects are nicely done, with all the kicks, punches, and web slings sounding just like they always do. The background music is fairly nice, but it only comes in on and off during key moments like fighting off a thug, or in a storyline, it’s brief, and happens all the time, to the point that it gets just plain out annoying.
Game play
The game controls fairly well. The same as any old platform game. Move around in free, 3-D movement with the control stick, jump with A, attack with your C buttons, web sling with the R Buttons from building to building. You can also do various types of moves like special kicks and web attacks by pressing certain button attacks, which is a nice feature. If you have a rumble pak, it will rumble to let you know that Spider-Man’s Spider Sense is going off, and a compass on the screen will point you where to go. And yes, you can jump on walls, a really good feature, but can get annoying at times, like if you move up against a tiny object like a plant, Spidey will try to climb it, and it looks silly, and get awfully annoying fast.
For game modes, we got the main single player mode, which consists of around twenty levels, most are pretty easy to beat on any of the three difficulties, and every few levels you encounter a boss you have to face which makes it a little more challenging. Mission objectives vary from beating bosses, to saving hostages, and buildings from exploding. Other modes are a cool training mode, where you can try your luck at maneuvering around or lasting against an infinite amount of thugs for a record time. There is also a gallery where you can view opening scene comic strips, and all the covers for all the levels in the game you accessed so far. That’s it for modes, too bad there wasn’t a multi player mode which would’ve been great.
Replay Value
The game is compatible with all the Nintendo 64 accessories like the Controller, Rumble, and Expansion Pak. The main single player missions will take a while to beat, and if you think it is too easy, try beating it on the other difficulties. The gallery and training modes will keep you occupied for a little while, but not much. This game seemed to be begging for a multi player mode, too bad it didn’t get added in by Activision. But after you beat the game, there really isn’t much to keep you playing.
In Brief
+: Characters look and sound exactly like they do off the cartoon show, Lots of Missions to beat
-: Some camera problems, too much fog, a multi player mode would’ve been nice
The Final Ratings Rundown
Graphics: 8.8
Sound: 8.3
Game play: 7.5
Replay Value: 5.1
Overall: 7.4
Rounded to fit GameFAQs Score: 7
Comments
Another great game by Neversoft/Edge of Reality. The single player missions are a blast to play. The training and gallery modes were a nice addition. Too bad the game didn’t have a multi player mode. Would’ve made this game a must to buy. So make sure to rent first before you buy, because once you beat the game, there isn’t much here to keep you playing.