Spider-Man (1995 video game)

Spider-Man
Packaging for the Genesis version
Developer(s)	Western Technologies
Publisher(s)	Acclaim Entertainment
Composer(s)	Fletcher Beasley
Platform(s)	Genesis, Super NES
Release	1994 (SNES), 1995 (Genesis)
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single-player

Spider-Man is a side-scrolling action game developed by Western Technologies and published by Acclaim and LJN in 1994 and 1995, based on the 1994–1998 animated series of the same name. The game was released for the Genesis and the Super NES. The two versions of the game have the same basic story but have gameplay, level, and enemy differences.

This was the last Spider-Man game published by Acclaim and LJN; the license of Spider-Man Games was passed to Activision from 5 years later in 2000.

Gameplay

The game is a side-scrolling platformer. There are six levels in the SNES version: Laboratory, Construction Zone, Brooklyn Bridge, Coney Island, a showdown in J. Jonah Jameson's Penthouse, and Ravencroft Asylum, and five in the Genesis version: Laboratory, Coney Island and the Funhouse, The Deconstruction Zone, The Mean Streets of the City, and The Ravencroft Prison for the Insane.

Plot

The story is about four of Spider-Man's enemies escaping from Ravencroft prison: Dr. Octopus, the Green Goblin, Alistair Smythe and the Alien Spider Slayer. It's up to Spider-Man to stop them before they wreck New York City.

Reception

Next Generation reviewed the SNES version of the game, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "there's some attempt at depth – like a few hidden rooms and cameo appearances by a number of other Marvel bad guys like the Lizard, for instance – but Spider-Man: The Animated Series is strictly a by-the-numbers affair". A GamePro reviewer described the Super NES version as more of "a thinking game than an action caper" due to the player character's weak fighting skills and the limited number and variety of enemies. He concluded the game to be more for intermediate gamers than veteran gamers.

The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly panned the Genesis version, criticizing it for limited animation, poor sound, a lack of interesting player character abilities, and unappealing graphics with little color. They gave it an average score of 4.25 out of 10. A reviewer for Next Generation also panned the game, chiefly for its lack of originality. He gave it one out of five stars, commenting that "the graphics, sound, story, and the whole game are so horribly familiar and boring that this game isn't even worthy of the one star we give it". GamePro gave it a generally positive review, citing the numerous Marvel Comics characters who make guest appearances, the comic book style of the graphics, and the imaginative enemies. However, they shared EGM's opinion of the sound and also criticized that the controls are inaccurate.