Spider-Man In Video Games

 

27626433966_37bb1f23e4_bSpider-Man is a pop culture icon. Created over fifty years ago by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, he has become a character ingrained within the human conscious. The popularity of Spidey is evident wherever you go. It can be difficult to go into any shop without seeing his likeness on a product. It’s not just comics and movies where you can see him. Toys, food, clothes (both adult and children sizes), stationery, party products, CDs, bedding, lamps, posters, cartoons, backpacks, wallets, jigsaw puzzles, toothbrushes and more than any could collect or count feature Spider-Man, showing that he’s so popular he can sell anything.

 

It’s natural that video gems based on and Spidey. The wall crawler has had dozens of video games based on him. His first game appearance was in 1982, on the Atari 2600. The game, simply titled Spider-Man, focused on his wall crawling as he defused bombs and webbed up villains. Spidey would go onto team up with Captain America in 1989’s in Spider-Man and Captain America in Doctor Doom’s Revenge for Amstrad and ZX Spectrum, etc. Spider-Man would have an unauthorised appearance in Sega’s The Revenge of Shinobi in 1989. Many side-scrolling beat ’em ups would follow in the 2D era, with some notable games being The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin for Megadrive, Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge for various consoles and the popular Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage for Megadrive and SNES.

 

Once games hit 3D Spider-Man had the chance to embrace what fans had always wanted. Web swinging, exploration, combat and more all became possible. Spider-Man for PSX would be the first such game and be followed by the acclaimed equal Spider-Man: Enter Electro. A series of games based on the original Spider-Man movie trilogy would go onto to be popular, especially Spider-Man 2, known for having the best swinging mechanics in any video game. Many other games would appear over the next few years with different takes, including Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Spidey is set for next-gen with the upcoming untitled PS4 exclusive.

 

Spider-Man has made appearances in various types of games. The Marvel Vs. Capcom series are some of the most popular fighting games of all time and Spidey has appeared in each instalment. The Lego Marvel games have featured the web-slinger alongside Lego versions of dozens of his fellow Marvel cohorts. If you want to play Spider-Man pinball, you can do it with Marvel Pinball. He’s in the action RPG Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and it’s sequel, he’s playable in the MOBA Marvel: Contest of Champions. The Spider-Man licence can be used anywhere and somebody thought of making it into a slot machine game, appearing in official online slots by from Microgaming on Lucky Nugget’s site.

 

Wherever you look, you’ll find Spider-Man and if look into video games, you’ll discover a treasure trove.

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5 Comments

  1. I been a big Spider-Man fan and I played Spider-Man video game for a long time from now I even have a lot of comic books of Spider-Man as well as video game’s I would like to play the new game when I get one I seen the game a lot and I wish I can get it Spider-Man been my favorite marvel hero when I was a kid growing up in queens new York

  2. Having played Batman: The Telltale Series, I would love to see Telltale Games do their own take on Spider-Man for their upcoming Marvel. It might run the risk of being too much like their Batman game, given it would have the same double-identity Superhero dynamic, but what hero is more defined by their choices and the consequences of them (a Telltale staple) then Spider-Man?

  3. My favorite is Spider-man Lethal Foes for the SNES. Only released in Japan. It featured Mark Bagely art for Spidey and all the villains. Truly a jem for the time.

  4. Maximum Carnage, absolutely PS1’s Spider-Man, and to a lesser extent Ultimate Spider-Man on the P22 are the only Spidey games I really liked now that I think about it.

    I’ve played those three in addition to Web of Shadows, Spider-Man on Sega Genesis (with art from the 90s Animated Series), The Amazing Spider-Man on the Game Boy, Spider-Man 2 on the PS1, Separation Anxiety.

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