Spider-Man

The Good
I've always loved Spider-Man, so I figured that I'd love this game. I started with the training sections and it was a lot of fun to swing from building to building, then crawl up the walls. Spider-Man is well animated and the graphics for the city, are decent, if not outstanding. In the first couple of levels, it was a lot of fun to crawl on the ceiling and drop down on unsuspecting thugs, taking them out from behind. There are extra costumes to use (if you can unlock them), comic book covers to collect and a character viewer where you can see the 3D model for any character that you've encountered in the game and read a short bio. Stan Lee is on hand to do the narration.

The Bad
Sadly, all of the above is virtually ruined by the poor design choices made by the programmers and the numerous bugs in the Windows version.

The first problem is the controls. Spider-Man can only turn in set increments of about 45 degrees. This makes it nearly impossible to line up jumps properly, aim at enemies, or pick up items in a hurry. To compensate for this, the game auto-aims to some extent, however it often makes poor choices about what to aim at, or it fails to aim at anything in particular. There's also an aiming mode, where you can move a crosshair onto what you want to shoot, or where you want to swing to. Unfortunately, aiming mode is so slow and awkward to use (no mouse support) that you can only use it when not under attack. Different moves are often accomplished by using a combination of buttons. For example, to shoot impact webbing, you have to press forward and the web button at the same time. Unfortunately, where other games allow a split second between button presses, Spider-Man requires you to press them at EXACTLY the same time. Because of this, you will often end up doing something you didn't intend because you didn't get the timing right. It also means you can't do things like move and shoot at the same time. Finally, the movement controls are camera relative, meaning that Spider-Man moves relative to the camera and control directions will change when the camera moves.

Speaking of the camera, it only updates its position when you stop moving. Only then will it swing around behind Spider-Man. So, while in the heat of battle, you will often be trying to guide Spider-Man while looking at him from the rear, left, right and front, with the controls constantly changing based on the camera angle.

Then there's the save system, which only allows you to save at the end of a level. So a single mistake means you have to play the entire level over again. Apparently game designers consider endless repetition to be fun.

As if the above wasn't bad enough, the Windows version of Spider-Man is so poorly programmed that it has numerous bugs when run on a more modern system.

Bug #1: When you change any of the game options, it writes a config file called Spidey.cfg to the game's directory. This file then prevents the game from launching on modern systems. This means that you have to delete the CFG file and re-configure the options each time you play. This bug does not occur on older systems.

Bug #2: In the Catch Venom level, there is a cutscene in the middle of the level, after which, Venom and Spider-Man are supposed to swing to a building to continue the chase. On modern systems, Spider-Man falls to his death after the cutscene and the level ends in failure. If you set the resolution to 1280x1024, he survives the cutscene, but swings to the wrong building and then Venom gets away, ending the level in failure. Yes, you read that correctly, on modern systems, the game can't be completed without cheating because the developers made it possible to die in a cutscene!

Bug #3: After running the game once, then deleting the CFG file and running it a second time, the game often loads in slow-motion mode, where just the first of the four logo animations takes about ten minutes to display. Even if you skip the animations, it still takes about 2-3 minutes to get to the main menu and another 2-3 to select the Quit option and activate it. You need to reboot between sessions to avoid this.

Bug #4: Occasionally, the game stops responding to the controller, or it gets stuck moving in the last direction you pressed. Usually it recovers after a little bit, but by then you've failed the level and will have to start it over again.

Bug #5: On a later level called Stop the Presses, I experienced several crashes to the Desktop.

Lest you think I'm running Spider-Man on some super-modern uber-system, I have a 1.8Ghz system running Windows 98SE and a GeForce4 MX440 graphics card. Activision claims this system is too new to run the game without encountering the above bugs. When I asked them why games that are even older, like Half-Life, still run properly, they had no answer.

The Bottom Line
Spider-Man had the potential to be a great game, and indeed the first few levels are fun, even with the control and camera problems. Unfortunately after the beginning, the game becomes a chore to play. The lousy controls combined with the horrible camera system make fighting your way through the later levels extremely frustrating. If I hadn't bought this used for only $1.99, I'd feel ripped off.

The Good
Spider-man, as one of the most popular superheroes ever conceived has therefore had many videogames based on his exploits. Many were quick to call this incarnation of Spidey games the best. Yet MOST Spider-man games are pretty good. (I wonder how many people that claim that this “best” Spidey game, have actually played the other ones.-MM-) That includes Sega’s Spider-man arcade game, as well as their Spider-man vs. The Kingpin. So in this review I will not examine: is this the BEST Spidey game? It will be more on what makes it good/better/worse, than previous titles.

“Welcome, true believers.”-Common Spidey intro, Stan Lee-

In Spider-man, the infamous web head has been framed by a Spidey imposter! After he makes off with the newly re-formed Doctor Otto Octavias.(AKA Doctor Octopus.-MM-) Now the cops are out to capture Spidey. Meanwhile the city has been blanketed by a strange green fog. As Spider-man you must clear your name, while facing some of the web slingers greatest foes. And of course save New York City…again. This game is loaded with various levels all with different objectives. Some will involve fighting a super-villain, stopping a bank heist, or even crawling through dank sewers. One might think that a character like Spider-man that can do so many things would make for a game with confusing controls, and awkward mechanics. But like many of the web-heads other video game adventures, the controls are simple and easy to master. And also do a stellar job at emulating Spidey’s powers.

Fists Of Fury

For instance, “X” punches, while “B” kicks. Hitting these buttons repeatedly form combos. You can even mix punch/kick combos. “Y” is used to activate webbing. You can shoot web to tie up foes. Create web spikes, that increase Spider-man’s attack power. And my favorite grab a foe with your web line and then pull them back and into a wall.

As one would expect from a Spider-man game, you can also web swing. The 3D Spidey games do a better job overall of emulating Spider-man’s swinging. But like it’s 2D predecessors the basics are the same. That is to say that web swinging is easy to do. Something that some may take for granted, unless they have played games with bad superhero controls.(I.e. In Batman: Dark Tomorrow, using Batman’s grapple was an exercise in futility.-MM-)

You can also Zip line. A web technique that allows you to quickly web sling to another building, or up to the ceiling. This at the time was new to Spidey games, and is a most excellent feature.

Secret Agent Man

Spider-man also packs in tons of secrets. There are comic books to collect. Which are ingeniously hidden through out the game. Alternate costumes to unlock, when certain requirements are met. You can view character models in the 3D character viewer. The Playstation version had a unlockable mode called, “What If”. (“What If” comics featured alternate realities of the Marvel Universe. Such as, “What If, Spider-man killed the Lizard?”-MM-) And like the comic series of the same name, it was an alternate version of the game. It was nearly impossible to unlock. New to the Dreamcast version, some of the “What If” elements are already in the story mode.(Look for a cameo by Ghost Rider, among others.-MM-)

Graphically the DC version is superior in every way to that of the PSX, and N64.(You can actually see the web lines on Spidey’s suit!-MM-) Anyone that claims otherwise must be blind. Edges are clean, and lines run straight. Objects look more clear, and the view distance is greatly increased. Granted this game does not look as good as the Xbox Spider-man movie game. But it IS the best looking version of this particular Spidey game.

Sound wise the Dreamcast version excels as well. It is no secret that the Dreamcast had a much better sound card than that of the PSX and N64. The music sounds better, as do the voices and the sound effects. The voice overs themselves are a mixed bag. The voices of Black Cat, and Doc Ock are from the 90’s Spidey cartoon. And sound great in the roles still. It is a different Spider-man, and while not as good as the voice actor from the T.V. show the new Spidey does a good job. However many voices are poor. The thugs in particular. But some more major characters have poor voices as well. Such as Carnage.

The Bad
Evil Incarnations

Now that I have expressed the good, how about I go into the negative. As this game is not perfect. Firstly some levels are feel like filler. As if the design team needed to make the game longer than it was, and therefore added things that seem unnecessary. Yet that is not the worst of it some levels are just plain crap.

The save system is flawed at best. You can only save your progress after the certain levels. Not after every level as in better designed games. So you often end up playing parts over, or having to play longer than you wanted to. This may not bother everyone as much as it bothers me. But then again being mainly a PC gamer, I am used to save systems that allow you to save when ever you want.

There are also some weak plot points. I would spoil them if I gave them away. Allow me to just say this: Spider-man/Peter Parker is supposed to be a genius. Yet he does not see some things in the game clearly, which makes it look like he is in fact an idiot.

Why is the voice quality so mixed? You have some great voice overs, and then you have some terrible ones. Where is the consistency?

The Bottom Line
Overall this is a great Spider-man game. Not the BEST, but I don’t even know which one I would pick as my personal favorite. There are many versions of the game. Web head fans will want to play any version they can get there sticky hands on. If you have the means however I really recommend this version of the game. After all, who doesn’t want to play the best version of a game?

The Good
Despite coming out as late as 2000, Neversoft's Spider-Man is actually the first attempt to introduce the webslinger into fully 3D gaming - and it does a genuinely good job at giving you control over Spidey's powers. The web-swinging, while not exactly realistic, gives you some really nice mobility and the three web-related attacks add variety to the simple beat 'em up mechanics. The cherry on top is the wall- and ceiling-crawling, allowing you to make actual use of all three dimensions to navigate the levels, and often adding the stealth element of simply dropping on top of an unsuspecting enemy.

The overall design approach of alternating between web-swinging segments among New York's rooftops with tighter, more precisely designed interior levels does its job as well, providing the base for an interesting, varied experience.

The Bad
Unfortunately, as you proceed, the game turns out to be quite a bit more repetitive than it seemed at first, with many levels following the same design ideas, and severely lacking in enemy variety. The combat, despite the cool selection of web attacks, ultimately isn't varied enough either, feeling more like a simple beat 'em up than a genuine action-adventure experience.

Another weak point of the game is its camera system. While it technically does a good job of following the main character, his movement specifically while turning is so clunky and awkward that the camera suffers from it a lot. The first-person web aiming mode is slow and doesn't make up for a lack of regular camera controls (although, to be fair, the argument could be made that with a game this 3D-oriented controlling the camera with two buttons wouldn't have been enough, and the game had to work with analog stick-less PlayStation controllers).

The game also has a rather minor, but very noticeable fault in the graphics - while the gameplay engine, although based on Neversoft's earlier titles, looks genuinely good, the character models in the cutscenes are some of the worst the PSX has ever seen. The difference between the two, while of course not affecting how the game actually plays, can be really jarring.

The Bottom Line
Overall, Spider-Man 2000 is a decent first attempt at making a 3D Spider-Man game. It's not quite as creative as it could've been and definitely suffers from the heavily outdated hardware it was designed for, but it does deliver a pretty cool webslinger experience. 6/10

[played in emulator]