Spider-Man

The Good
The game does feature some nice, 8-bit animation, graphics, music and sound effects. It is not just a carbon copy of the initial Sega Genesis edition.

Here the game's intermission cut sequences have been drastically redesigned from the original Sega Genesis edition, including a nice little cameo from Doctor Strange.

Clearly, someone designing the game is familiar with the comic book characters, and was trying to give their some 8bit respect.

It was nice to see some creative easter eggs in the game (including the ability to put on the black Spider-Man costume from the Secret Wars comic book mini series).

The Bad
The Sega Master System controller itself was not well designed, which is a reason why the system was not terribly successful in the United States.

In this game, the method to switch between (for example) your camera or to journey back to your apartment gets cumbersome when you are also trying to quickly execute an offensive move.

Again, I realize that part of the problem is the controller itself, but be prepared for some level of frustration when your planned attack or web swing is mistaken by the game as a desire to make your inventory screen pop up.

The game -- even on the normal setting -- becomes very difficult early on. Some of this is due to the game play mechanics, but the game itself can be quite unforgiving.

For example, If you are not careful you can get stuck (fairly early on in Electro's level) by a series of flying lightning bolts which prevent Spider-Man from moving.

I realize that being a superhero is not supposed to be easy, but the Sega Genesis and Sega CD versions of Spider-Man were a bit more balanced in their levels of difficulty.

The Bottom Line
The game deserves above-average notice for its 8-bit audio and visual effects. The easter eggs and little changes to the story line also demonstrate a respect for gamers and comic book nerds in general.

If you can get past the dodgy game play mechanics, cheap hits and high level of difficulty, 'Spider-Man' can be an enjoyable platformer for the Sega Master System.