
	Platform Sega Genesis Genre Action side-scroller Developer Marvel Entertainment Group Publisher Sega Released 1991
Newsletter
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: Subscribe \| Unsubscribe

Spiderman

Spiderman is a consistently popular superhero character. He’s come to the consumer in just about every form imaginable: comic books, action figures, live-action movies, posters and t-shirts. He’s also had his share of videogame appearances.

Spiderman vs. The Kingpin marks the first appearance of Spiderman on the Genesis (or second if you believe he was in Revenge of Shinobi). For a side-scroller, this game is one tough mother to work through. The designers obviously figured that everyone has reactions close to or exceeding that of Spiderman. Precise timing and jumping is mandatory. There is only one correct path to reach the level exit, which is usually filled with annoying overhangs and guys that never run out of bullets. There are little advantages though. Spiderman can cling to ceilings and walls, shoot webbing and spin a web shield, not to mention able to jump, punch, kick and swing on a web line. Some of the levels can be blasted through by simply swinging to the end and facing off with the boss. Some of the bosses are simple – learn the pattern and defeat them. Other bosses are a pain in the ass to overcome. For instance, to defeat Sandman you must activate a fire hydrant to turn him into mud. It sounds easy but the window of opportunity to perform the action is about one second. On top of that Venom is usually bouncing around causing all kinds of havoc. The last level pits Spiderman against all the boss characters one after another, which is a cheap way of extending playtime. This is especially cheap because if you proceed too far another boss shows up. Try taking on Electro, Venom and the Lizard and tell me if it’s a fair fight. Then there’s the Kingpin himself, who is the toughest damn

Advertisement

end-boss I’ve ever fought. You have to fight him while gumming up the machinery that is slowly lowering Mary Jane into a pit of industrial waste. Then there are the unforgiving controls, where each button tap counts. All this wouldn’t be so bad if there was some way to save your progress, but there isn’t even a password feature. (Heck, there are a strict number of continues as well!) Playing from beginning to end in one sitting will numb your butt.

Advertisement

To string all this action together is a standard story – Peter Parker is made out to be the villain by the powerful Kingpin who is holding Parker’s girlfriend, Mary Jane, and a bomb that will destroy New York. The Kingpin, in his wisdom, has given the keys that can disarm the bomb to five underlings – some of Spiderman’s biggest foes. To top things off, there’s a strict time limit that constantly runs. If time runs out the bomb goes off and it’s game over. To work through the story Spiderman has a limited amount of web fluid and life energy.

Life energy can be replenished at any time by returning to Parker’s apartment or finding heart containers. Web fluid must be purchased at the conclusion of each level. The funds for this purchase come from selling pictures of your exploits. (No, not those exploits!) Taking a picture of Venom will give you $150 to spend while a picture of a run of the mill henchman will net $25. You get exactly 3 exposures in your camera so every photo must count if you hope to keep your web fluid levels up.

Graphics are actually pretty good. Things are big and detailed enough to allow instant recognition. The environments look good, even when they repeat themselves.

The sound and music are okay for the Genesis, nothing outstanding.

- Omni