Welcome dudes and dudettes to another edition of 16-Bit Beach, where the best games of all time retire in glory… or do they? If there was one Marvel superhero that was prominent in the 16-bit era, it was certainly Spider-Man. There are five games featuring the Web-Slinger for the Genesis alone, ranging from basic plaformers, to beat-em-ups. This week we look at perhaps the most overlooked, and often disliked of the bunch, Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Does this one swing into glory, or does it deserve to be squashed? Let’s swing into action and find out.
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1995
PUBLISHER: ACCLAIM
GENRE: Action Platformer
Following the massive success of X-Men, Marvel would bring their beloved web-slinger and give him another shot at the animated world. In November of 1994, Spider-Man: The Animated Series would debut on Fox Kids. The cartoon, mixing live action, with some weird CGI animation, and that wonderful techno theme, proved to be a massive hit for the network.
And of course, with any massive hit comes a video game adaptation, especially in the 90’s. In early 1995, Spider-Man The Animated Series was released for both the SNES and Genesis. Spidey was no stranger to 16-bit games prior to this release. There were four other games released for the Genesis alone. Spider-Man Vs. The Kingpin (also just called Spider-Manon the box like this game), Spider-Man/X-Men in Arcade’s Revenge, and the two beat-em-ups Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage, and Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety.
This game would be the last major Spider-Man game for the 16-Bit consoles (though there was a 32X game known as Spider-Man: Web of Fire). It would gain some critical flack, and is often considered a rather bad licensed game. Though considering the fact that it’s licensed by Acclaim, that is easy to see why that assumption would be made. Even I remember hating the game after renting it from Blockbuster back in 1995. But do I still hate it, and is it as bad as most say? Let’s find out.
COVER STORY
I really like this cover. Some issues aside, I always liked the art of the animated series, and this displays some of the major villains from the show in full detail. I love the Spider-Man face in the background, and the fact that they went this way instead of just being a cover with Spidey on it only. Plus, Venom being front and center in the gallery of villains is awesome. This wasn’t the only Spider-Man game to not feature Spidey on the front, as Maximum Carnage did the same. It’s a definite eye-catcher cover, and one of my favorites for sure.
STORY
A wall crawler’s job is just never done. All of Spider-Man’s iconic villains manage to escape from Ravencroft prison, and are wreaking havoc all over New York. The only one who can put them back to jail and save the big apple is our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man… and a little help from The Fantastic Four. Can he save the day?
GAMEPLAY
This review will look at the Sega Genesis version, which differs in controls, levels, and enemies from the SNES version.
Spider-Man: The Animated Series is a one player action platformer. You control Spider-Man as you go through 5 levels taking on some of his greatest villains. Spidey can move with the D-Pad, as well as duck and crawl when holding down and the left or right buttons. He can punch with the A button, jump with the B button, and shoot web/grenades with the C button. The six button controller is not required for full play.
Other moves Spider-Man can do is a ducking kick by pressing A while holding down, a jump kick with B and A, and a web swing by pressing C following the B button. Spider-Man can also climb on walls and ceilings by pressing the B button when touching the area.
Spider-Man can also use several items to help him. First are blue webbing, which can stun enemies, and is needed to swing with. Orange web will do more damage to an enemy. There are also two grenades, the common blue grenade, and the far more powerful orange grenade. Other items are red Spider-Man icons which will restore health, yellow icons that will give extra lives, and blue icons that will give you Spider-Armor, that will help you withstand damage for a short period of time.
The game is broken into five levels, each with several bosses to face as you battle your way through. First is the laboratory with robot cannons, ceiling lasers, and traps that can take you out easily. The main boss is Doctor Octopus, who can destroy you quick with his mechanical arms. After that is Coney Island, a level filled with dangerous carnival games, fire breathers, and snake men. This stage features several classic enemies such as Rhino, Scorpion, Mysterio and the main baddy of the level, The Green Goblin.
In the Deconstruction Zone, as you battle your way up elevators, and steel beams, you’ll battle with Owl, Wrecker, and the ultimate Spider-Slayer Alistair Smythe. In the city streets, fighting with many armed guards is definitely in your future, as well as avoiding cars that can take half your health (Tip: Don’t jump down to collect health icons on the street), after which you’ll face the alien spider-slayer. So many creatures trying to slay one spider.
Finally, inside Ravencroft, you’ll deal with rematches with Mysterio and Shocker, while trying to avoid Beetle and Jack-O-Lantern. Survive that, and it’s the ultimate final battle with Spider-Man’s greatest foe, the alien symbiote Venom. Venom is a beast who seems near indestructible, as everything seems like it doesn’t work. But if you can hit him with 25 jump kicks, you will win the day.
Another level that is a sort of bonus stage is the sewers. Found in the first four levels, Spider-Man will enter an area filled with items, but also filled with bats, enemies, a slime monster, and the main baddy of the level, The Lizard. Collect what you need, find the exit, and continue the level you were on. The most important items you’ll need to find in the sewers are the Fantastic Four icons. Collecting each icon will give you a different memeber, which will do different things.
Mr. Fantastic will drop off some items for Spidey to use, Invisible Woman will give you armor and extra items. The Thing will destroy enemies on the screen, as will The Human torch. These can be useful against some of the game’s tougher foes. Though they certainly don’t work against Venom unfortunately.
You can start with anywhere from one to five lives, and can hold up to 9 at one time. You have three continues, and no passwords/level select tricks (I’ve seen one online, but never got it to work). The game has some stiff controls and a bit of hit detection issues. Sometimes your web swing will miss, or your punch won’t hit at the right time. The jump is okay, but it can take some time to get used to. The difficulty is definitely high in some areas, but if you practice, you can survive to save the day.
GRAPHICS
The graphics are pretty good. Nothing extremely special. It uses the limited palette of the Genesis to the best of its abilities, and the game doesn’t end up looking muddy because of it. All the characters look like their cartoon counterparts, which is a major plus. While there are no other cut scenes other than the one in the opening, this doesn’t hurt the game. You’ll love the look of this adventure.
SOUND
If there’s one thing that this game has that’s amazing, it’s the soundtrack. Every track is epic, and gives an action packed, and sometimes pure creepy feel. From the creepy laugh after completing a level, to the freaky noises of the Coney Island fun house, or the just pure bad ass level three tune. Not to mention a pretty sweet (though scratchy) version of the Spider-Man theme, which is epic.
The soundtrack was worked on by Fletcher Beasley, who has worked on many mediums, including cartoons like Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Kids, and Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated. He also worked on another Marvel Genesis game in X-Men. So, there was definitely a qualified composer on hand. And it works for what I feel is an underrated soundtrack for the Genesis.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Spider-Man: The Animated Series is an average at best action platformer, and doesn’t do much different than most in its medium. The controls could have been fixed up a bit more, and the difficulty certainly could be a bit more balanced. But the graphics and sound are definitely the strong points. One thing is for certain, it is definitely one of the better Spider-Man games on the Genesis. But that may be my decision. The issues the game has will definitely not fly with many players. I’d say at least give it a try to see if you like the swing of things. For me, it’s definitely one of those games I liked more the 2nd run around than I did the first.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: Thumbs in the middle