Spider-Man Animated Series (video game)

Spider-Man
Packaging for the Genesis version
Developer(s)	Western Technologies
Publisher(s)	Acclaim Entertainment (Sega Genesis) LJN (Super NES)
Composer(s)	Fletcher Beasley
Platform(s)	Genesis, Super NES
Release	1995
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 1995, incorporating elements from the critically acclaimed 1990s Spider-Man cartoon series. 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.

Gameplay

The game is a side-scrolling action platformer. The game features six levels in the SNES version: a 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

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.^[1] 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."^[2] 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.^[3]

A different 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.^[4]

References