
<MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/thearmchairem-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com">	Platform Dreamcast Genre Action Publisher Activision Developer Treyarch ESRB E (Everyone) Released Q2 2001

- Good sound and music - Varied gameplay - It's fun

- Lackluster graphics - Poor voice acting - Too easy

Review: Spiderman (N64) Review: Spiderman (PC) Review: Spiderman II (Playstation)
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Spider-Man

Score: 8.1/10

It’s disconcerting how a port of a game always feels a little bit deflated when compared to the first version of the game to hit the streets. Even if the new version of the game is exactly the same right down to the polygon count, or if it is actually an improvement over the original it just doesn’t feel as good. It’s too bad that once a game enters public consciousness full force it gets eaten up and enjoyed until plays have had their fill. After this, when the game makes its way onto other platforms, the game already feels as though it has begun to wear its welcome. The Dreamcast version of Spider-Man exhibits this to a degree. It is by far the best version of Spider-Man to be released, but since it has already appeared on the Playstation and N64 some of the oomph is lost. Also hurting the game is that, while a noticeable step up from the Playstation and N64 versions, from an aesthetic standpoint it doesn’t measure up as well against other Dreamcast games. Nonetheless it is still a reasonably fun game.

Looking at the quality of the graphics in the game it becomes quite obvious that it is a port. This is because the visuals look like a polished, cleaned up rendition of the visuals in the past versions of the game. While Spider-Man looks smoother and tidier than the other versions, it doesn’t measure up to other Dreamcast games. There isn’t enough detail, the characters look stale by comparison, and the lighting effects lack that graphical pop one expects from a next gen system like the Dreamcast. Thankfully the game does move along at a nice, crisp frame rate and the cameras work well so that you can see what you’re doing without any hassles. In the end, though, the graphics do fall a little flat.

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On the other hand, the sound and music is as good as ever. The web slinging has that swooshy, splooshy sound that one would expect Spidie to make. Musically the tunes do feel appropriate for what’s happening on screen without standing out too much. Voice acting is a mixed bag however. Doc Oc is pretty good, as are some of the incidentals, but Spider-Man and a lot of the other main characters are blah indeed.

Spider-Man remains a very fun game, even when played with the

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clunky, awkward Dreamcast controller. Our hero is plenty responsive, so there’s no need to scream and yell at the screen with "I said go left! No! No! No! Shoot! Shoot!" The missions are varied instead of being stage after stage of punching, smashing, and blasting. While punching and thumping is what lies at the core of Spider-Man, there is enough variation to keep it interesting. Sometimes you can just waltz in and pound the tar out of the bad guys, other times you’ll want to sneak about so that the hostages don’t get killed. The only other problem is that the game is a tiny bit easy; most players like zip right through the game. Whatever the case, it makes for a good time.

While Spider-Man does not perform as well visually as we’ve come to expect from the Dreamcast it still makes for a fun game. If you haven’t got around to playing any of the previous versions of the game yet and have access to a Dreamcast, this is one to take for a spin.

Reviewed by Mr. Nash