Games That Time Forgot: Spider-Man (2000)

11/2/2009 9:05 AM | 4 Comments | Page 1 of 1

There were Spider-Man games before Neversoft's 2000 release Spider-Man. Most of them resembled the cookie-cutter brawlers of the day, with Spider-Man simply standing in for the street-tough protagonists, walking awkwardly down urban environments and punching and kicking anything that moved.

There have been plenty of Spider-Man games since Neversoft's 2000 release. Most of them resemble Neversoft's 2000 release.

It's easy to see why. This was Spider-Man's version of Batman: Arkham Asylum, the first game to really capture the abilities and atmosphere that make him an interesting character. Yes, a fair share of the game is devoted to simply walking around and beating up street thugs on similar-looking rooftops, endlessly repeating annoying one-liners. But even this combat is infused with Spidey's over-the-top web-based powers, including an exploding web shield, a projectile web-shooter and even fist-thickening web gloves. That all these functions are elegantly mapped to a single button (with d-pad support) makes the player feel all the more like a superhero.

Just getting around the world of Neversoft's Spider-Man makes the player feel like they have superpowers. Running and jumping to get to the next area -- that's for normal people. Swinging in gentle arcs from rooftop to rooftop against an expansive sky -- that's how a superhero does it! It's hard to overstate the sheer joy to be had in simply exploring the game's rooftop jungle this way: swinging between buildings, clinging to the sides, and climbing to explore a vertical world rarely seen in games up to that point. So what if the city streets below are obscured by a foggy yellow mist? Wandering aimlessly around Neversoft's playground in the sky is more fun than prowling the streets of many sandbox games.

Spidey's unique abilities extend indoors as well. A quick shot of the web gets Spidey up to the ceiling, which suddenly goes transparent as a quick camera change lets the player survey the scene without being seen. From here, it's a simple matter to rain down web-based nets from afar, or leap down and get the jump on unsuspecting thugs. Add in a well-executed Spidey sense to let the player know when enemies are hiding around corners, and it's hard not to feel a little godlike in the stealthy sections of the game. These spider-abilities are integrated into the gameplay so well, it's a wonder practically every Spider-Man game before had ignored them, and it's not surprising most afterwards didn't.

Of course, a Spider-Man game doesn't just come with Spidey's super-heroics, but also the comic book that created him. Here Neversoft strikes a perfect balance between reverence and irreverence. It's easy to dismiss the comic-inspired cut scenes that break up the action as a thin motivation for Spidey to go beat up the next bad guy. But Neversoft takes them seriously, with quality vocal performances and a cinematographer's eye for camera angles that make the cheesy storylines interesting to watch, at least. And it's hard to care about the overall cheesy-ness when Stan Lee himself so earnestly welcomes you as a "true believer" and explains the motivations and backstories behind his beloved characters.

And besides, it's this over-the-top, super-powered, comic-book feel that makes Neversoft's Spider-Man what it is. The game succeeds where so many other superhero licenses fail, because it makes you feel like a real superhero -- not just some guy dressed up in a superhero suit. It uses its license to expand the gameplay of a tired genre, not just to sell more copies based on the cover art. I wish more licensed-game makers would do the same.

Check out more Games That Time Forgot.