Spider-Man

The Good
I played the Nintendo version of this game first and was impressed, but not flattered. BOY did that change when I picked this up ! NOT ONLY does this version have cinematics , better sounding voice acting , and the same actors from the TV show , but it has lots of voice work from STAN THE MAN LEE ! It does not get cooler when Stan is describing the characters in the view mode with is famous humor and wisecracks.

First as always, I'll get right on the graphics. They have one edge over the other versions, in that they are sharper, and have little fuzz. This game uses the Tony Hawk game engine and I have to say this must have been some feat , or miracle of programming to turn a skateboarding game into a third person action game. The buildings, the characters, and the cutscenes all are very well done. Special mention should go to the purple monsters which move almost real goo. Something I didn't the Playstation was capable of. Spider Man himself is obviously going to be the best looking character in the game, and he is. Except that he has no web lines on suit. Not even in the cinematics!

The sound is quite good with a lot of memorable tracks, and Spidey's always humorous one liners. All the voice actors from the cartoon ( which I used to watch ) are all here. They are actually more convincing in the game than they are in the show! Stan Lee provides lots of commentary for the game. Example, when a new set of levels starts, like the basement levels he tells of the looming danger ! And, as mentioned earlier, describes the characters in the view mode. A last note note on the sound, I feel you should know my favorite line in the whole game is the following, " Leave him alone chuckles!" " Butt out web head." "Spider Man ? I ask for the police, and I get this! "

The controls are limited in their positives so I'll discuss them in the bad section.

The last positive note is there are TONS of unlock-ables. And even though some are useless, They are still too irresistible to pass up ! Unlockable comic covers made explicitly for the game, AND almost all the greatest Spider Man covers of the past are there for gawking ! Different costumes that give you special powers are also a nice touch. Your skills a little rusty ? Well check out the practice modes for training or for records. Still not satisfied? Play all your favorite levels again with the level select. Plus there is a cheat that allows you to play the game again with minor changes. Example is in one of the early levels, when you must rescue people, there is a empty room that if you step on the floor, he'll disco dance ! A little stupid, but funny ! And want to see all your favorite hero's and villains ? Take a look at the character viewer.

The Bad
THE CONTROLS ARE TOTAL CRAP ! Seriously ! They fight you so much that you'll often find that you'll fall off things only to receive instant death from the endless bottom ! And the camera isn't much help either. It always follows Spider Man true, but you'll be getting a good look at his side a lot whenever you have to turn around. It is far too slow and you have little con-troll over it ! And the aiming system, unless you are sitting still, is worthless. And some loading screens are very drab.

The Bottom Line
If you'r a diehard Spider Man fan totally get this game ! If you never read Spider Man, SHAME ON YOU ! Then go get this game ! For every other gamer, get it ! You'll love it ! And to dismiss myself properly, I leave you with a, EXCELSIOR !

The Good
Spider-Man is one of the best games based off of Marvel Comics' legendary web-slinger. It stays true to the original comics with a surprisingly decent storyline and great gameplay. Although the port to PC is fairly infamous for featuring a few almost game-breaking bugs, it remains an excellent game.

The plot begins with Peter Parker attending a science expo given by the "reformed" Otto Octavius (Dr. Octopus), when an impostor Spider-Man takes out the security guards and steals Octavius' new piece of technology. Parker also bumps into Eddie Brock (Venom), making things even more chaotic. Parker, the real Spider-Man, exits and puts on his costume to search for the perpetrator, but gets an unexpected report from Black Cat that a nearby bank is being robbed and the criminals are taking those inside hostage. From here, things get start to get interesting. The story is told with surprisingly well-acted cutscenes, most of which are entertaining to watch. Spidey creator Stan Lee also narrates, and does a decent job.

Before getting to the gameplay, it should be mentioned that the developers added a lot of nice extras to the game. You can unlock costumes for Spider-Man, such as the famous Symbiote suit, each of which has special features making gameplay under those costumes a bit different. Also included is a character viewer (allowing you to view and read about characters featured in the game) and the "Comic Collection", where you can view the covers and info for influential Spider-Man comics (unlocked by finding them in the game's levels). You can also view the cutscenes and storyboards for each one, but not before you complete the level before each scene.

Aside from the campaign, which I'll get to next, there is a training mode with five different scenarios to refine your gameplay skill: "Time Attack", where you attempt to kill as many enemies as you can within 60 or 120 seconds, "Survival Mode", where you try to survive as long as possible with an endless wave of foes approaching, "Speed Training", where you try to web-swing to the end of the area as quickly as possible, "Target Practice", where you shoot your web at famous villains while trying to avoid shooting your friends, and "Item Collection" featuring two gameplay modes with the goal of collecting as many medallions as possible within a set amount of time. These objectives may work to hone your playing skills, but probably won't keep your interest for very long.

Finally, there is the main campaign. It stays very true to the comics, with a fairly accurate recreation of Spidey's New York. The villains also replicate those seen in the comics - the generic thugs aren't far from something that would be seen in the Spider-Man universe, and main foes such as Venom and Scorpion are replicated well. Other Marvel characters such as Daredevil make cameo appearances, and the Fantastic Four's headquarters even makes a showing.

The gameplay is enjoyable and, in typical Spider-Man fashion, features a lot of web-slinging and wall-crawling, as well as punching, kicking, and jumping. Spider-Man can use his web to do different things to attack: he can shoot a web, hurl a ball of webbing, or make a dome of webbing around himself for protection and then break out of it to attack nearby enemies. You can also cover your hands in the white stuff, doing extra damage with punches. Webbing can also be used from swinging to another location (obviously) and to zip-line to whatever is above, such as the ceiling on the inside of a building. You also must collect health to survive and web cartridges to keep a steady amount of webbing along the way. Another item is the rarely seen Spider-Armor, special armor that turns Spidey black and white and adds an extra layer of health.

Graphics and sound are solid. The visuals are pretty well done for 2001, but could have been better. The audio consists of some pretty good music and sound effects which aren't outstanding but get the job done. As I said earlier, the voice acting is well done and the characters sound as they should, with Stan Lee doing some respectable narration.

The Bad
Now, here's what you've all been waiting for: the "almost game-breaking bugs" I noted earlier. There are two: when you reach the Daily Bugle building to fight Scorpion, there is an in-game cutscene where Spider-Man breaks through the window to enter. However, he will fall below and the game returns to the cutscene before. After another in-game cutscene in the game in the level "Catch Venom" where you have to chase Venom to his hideout, Spider-Man falls to his death. Unfortunately, using a level skip code is the easiest way to combat these bugs. Thankfully, these should be the only two levels you might have to skip.

The default controls are awful. However, you can change them, so it isn't much of a problem. Also, the camera only updates its movement after Spidey stops moving. This could create issues for some, but it never really affected the game for me to be honest.

The Bottom Line
Overall, Spider-Man is an entertaining diversion for fans of the web-slinger. It proves worthy of bearing Spidey's name, and despite the bugs in the PC version, it remains a great game.

The Good
The graphics are great and the movie viewers are excellent. The gameplay is so simple, that you don't need to read the manual. The AI is good and sounds are incredible. With over 4 diffrent uses for web, diffrent kinds of web, over 5 diffrent enemies, a slew of super villians like venom and carnage, you can't go wrong.

The Bad
Nothing.

The Bottom Line
Buy it. I don't care if you hate Spider-man. Buy it. You will be hard pressed to find a better action\adventure game for the playstation.