Hi everyone, I'm Moose
and this is ‘Playing With Powers.’
Last time on our ‘History of Spider-Man Games,’
we explored his early outings in the ‘80s,
but today, we’re looking at Spidey’s 16-bit swan songs
and his revolutionary leap to 3D,
So max out your carnage,
donate some plasma,
and watch out for the Watcher,
because this is
Part 2: 1992 - 2002
The early ‘90s were a strange era for Spider-Man.
James Cameron’s efforts to make a big-budget movie were dead in the water,
see our video about that for more info,
and in the comics, flashier heroes like the X-Men were stealing the spotlight.
Lucky for Marvel,
less so for Peter Parker,
the debut of Venom had injected some new blood into Spidey’s rogues gallery,
You'll see us everywhere. Even in your nightmares.
and in 1993, the two teamed up for their very own epic crossover:
Maximum Carnage
Carnage, eh? I like the sound of that!
Marvel rolled out all the stops for the second major appearance of the symbiotic slasher,
with a sprawling, 14-part storyline spread across the five different Spider-Man comics published at the time.
And, similar to what Star Wars would do with ‘Shadows of the Empire’ a few years later,
Marvel made ‘Maximum Carnage’ a multimedia event.
Its video game tie-in debuted on 16-bit systems with a massive advertising campaign,
music by the alt-metal band Green Jelly,
and special red cartridges that made them stand out on your shelf.
But for all the hype,
the game itself was only okay.
It’s a single-player brawler where you play as Spidey or Venom depending on the level,
But for a beat-em-up, the enemy variety is pretty basic,
and after destroying dozens of the same trenchcoat guys and ponytail girls,
it gets a little repetitive.
On the bright side, it’s one of the first true adaptations of a comic book storyline.
We’ve seen games use art inspired by panels before,
but never to the extent of incorporating actual dialogue, plot,
and crossover cameos from heroes like Cloak and Dagger and Firestar.
There’s even a post-credits stinger,
where you face off with Carnage in the final battle after the first fakeout ending.
‘Maximum Carnage’ was a massive hit,
so the next year, Akklaim rushed out a sequel called ‘Separation Anxiety,’
named after the 1994 storyline of the same name.
But the game has more in common with Venom’s original ‘Lethal Protector’ run,
with the introduction of the Life Foundation and the five spinoff symbiotes.
Not that you’d notice, because the comic cutscenes were replaced with text,
and the recycled gameplay and sprites make it even more of a slog to get through,
although the added co-op and ability to select between Venom and Spidey is appreciated.
As the ‘90s comics bubble burst,
616 Spidey would be mired in the controversial ‘Clone Saga’ for the next 2 years.
But lucky for us webheads,
1994 gave us one of the most awesome Spider-Man adaptations ever in
The Animated Series
Hot on the heels of their smash ‘X-Men’ show,
Fox followed it up with the excellent ‘Spider-Man.’
And while I’d rank it slightly below ‘X-Men,’
for me at least, it was a gateway drug into the wonderful world of the webslinger,
although the video game it inspired didn’t have nearly as much impact.
Released for the SNES and Genesis,
the ‘Animated Series’ game was yet another 2D platformer,
more simple and straightforward than the earlier ‘Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin,’
but with lush graphics inspired by the colorful cartoon.
It might not win any awards for innovation,
but it definitely didn’t lack in the villains department.
It featured over a dozen of Spidey’s rogues,
including baddies like the Jack-O-Lantern and… a Xenomorph who never appeared in the show.
Unfortunately, the game was released in 1995,
the same year the Sega Saturn and Playstation came out in America,
and immediately made the old gen obsolete.
The show itself would continue until 1998,
but it only received the one adaptation,
unless you count ‘Spider-Man Cartoon Maker.’
And by all means you should.
Help!
But independent of the animated series,
we were treated to a couple more Spidey games as the 16-bit era wound down,
like the Super Nintendo game called ‘Lethal Foes,’
which featured incredible animations, super-responsive controls,
and the first video-game appearance of Speedball!
Unfortunately, U.S. fans of superheroes named after deadly drug cocktails would have to wait,
since ‘Lethal Foes’ was only released in Japan.
Lastly, we’ve got ‘Web of Fire.’
and with it’s pre-rendered, Donkey Kong Country style graphics and animated backgrounds,
it’s an… interesting feast for the eyes.
Unfortunately, it was released for Sega’s 32X add-on after the company announced it was discontinuing support of the ill-advised accessory,
Thank you! SEGA!!!
and today the few copies that did sell are worths hundreds of dollars in today’s collector’s market.
Before we move on, I have to mention ‘Marvel Super Heroes,’
the first entry in Capcom’s long-running crossover series to feature Spidey,
and his iconic sprite that would be reused all the way until ‘Marvel vs. Capcom 2.’
But as for standalone Spider-Man games,
we’re about to enter a 4-year dry spell.
The animated series was cancelled,
lawyers battled over Spidey’s movie rights,
and, oh yeah, Marvel went bankrupt.
But once the dust settled,
the new millenium gave birth to one of my favorite games of the era,
simply titled:
Spider-Man
Developer Neversoft was best known for the legendary ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater’ series,
which featured Spider-Man as an unlockable skater in the second installment.
That’s not a coincidence,
because their 2000 ‘Spider-Man’ game came out the same year,
and runs on the same engine.
Freed from the bounds of the second dimension,
the polygonal Peter Parker faces a gauntlet of his most fearsome foes,
culminating in a climactic battle against Doc Octopus merged with the Carnage symbiote.
It’s an impressive effort for Spidey’s first 3D outing,
but Neversoft couldn’t quite land the combo.
In outdoor sections, you’re not allowed to touch the ground,
thanks to some toxic gas that conveniently covered up the low draw distance.
Also, as you swing through the sky,
your webs don’t actually attach to anything,
unless there are hundreds of conveniently-placed helicopters hovering just above the skybox.
These guys are serious!
Meanwhile, the cramped indoor environments and obtuse camera made combat a bit of a pain.
But I’m willing to forgive any gameplay foibles,
because the fanservice is second to none.
Neversoft’s ‘Spider-Man’ isn’t based on an animated series,
the in-development Sam Raimi movie,
or any particular run from the comics,
Instead, it’s a gushing love letter to the character,
his supporting cast,
and the entire Marvel Universe.
I mean, right from jump street,
Smilin’ Stan Lee himself narrates the whole game,
Welcome, true believers and newcomers alike! Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee here!
which is full of hidden comics,
Golden!
a cavalcade of cameos ranging from Captain America to the Punisher,
Something tells me we have the same objective here.
and even a whacky ‘What If?’ mode based on Marvel’s long-running alternate-universe series.
You already know the outcome of Spider-Man's battle with Doctor Octopus, Carnage, and the symbiotes.
But what if...? What if this time, in this timestream, events unfolded differently?
But my favorite aspect of Neversoft’s ‘Spider-Man’ has to be the bonus costumes.
As you played the game,
or entered the cheat code ‘True Believer,’
you’d unlock extra outfits that harkened back to some deep cuts in Spidey history.
like Miguel O’Hara’s suit from Spider-Man: 2099,
the cosmic Captain Universe costume,
and of course, the Bombastic Bag Man,
a spare Fantastic Four uniform from when Reed first separated Spidey from the symbiote,
Remember, this was well before Wikipedia,
and these costumes helped introduce me to all sorts of Spidey lore I had no idea existed,
kickstarting an obsession that led me to writing this very video.
Also worth noting, these costumes were all free bonus content,
but today, they’d definitely be paid DLC.
The Neversoft game was ported to most fifth-gen platforms,
and spawned a few sequels for the Game Boys Color and Advance,
as well as a 32-bit followup the next year.
‘Spider-Man: Enter Electro’ was basically more of the same,
although this time around, you could at least bring Spidey down to street level.
I’ll also give it props for this commercial that gave us a way more convincing Max Dillon than Jamie Foxx.
Shut up!
But the most interesting fact about ‘Enter Electro’ is how it changed as a result of the real life tragedy of 9/11.
Set to release on September 18th, 2001,
the game originally featured a final boss fight where you battled Electro across the twin towers.
Where would you go to be on top of the world? I'm coming Electro. Your power play ends tonight!
But, just like ‘Metal Gear Solid 2’ and ‘GTA 3,’
the game was delayed and heavily reworked to avoid referencing the World Trade Center.
Games weren’t the only Spidey media impacted by the attacks, however,
Sony also had to recall their upcoming movie’s infamous teaser trailer,
where Spidey catches a helicopter between the towers.
Still, Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man’ went on to smash box office records,
solidify a new era of comic book movie dominance,
and pave the way for the game that set the superhero standard.
Next time on ‘Playing With Powers,’
Why didn’t the first movie inspire an equally awesome adaptation?
How did its sequel embrace the open world revolution?
And why hasn’t any Spider-Man game been able to touch it in 14 years?