Spider-Man: The Video Game is a 1991

1991 in video gaming

-Notable releases:*Microprose creates Civilization, Sid Meier's most successful game .*Electronic Arts releases James Pond 2 and Road Rash for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, starting a series of games that were popular in the 1990s....

 arcade video game developed by Sega

Sega

, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...

 based on the Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 comic book character Spider-Man

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...

.

Gameplay

The game was released as a coin-operated arcade

Arcade game

An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...

 title based on the Sega System 32 hardware. The game can be played as a single player game or up to a four players cooperatively. Each character can do a special move related to their super power which reduces their health.

During levels the game changes from a side-scrolling beat 'em up

Beat 'em up

Beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and a large number of underpowered antagonists. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical or fantasy themes...

 into a platform game

Platform game

A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...

 as the camera zooms to a far-away view of the characters in miniature. Later it zooms back in for the much larger and more detailed characters to continue the brawling.

The game was divided into four acts, meeting various villains, including Venom

Venom (comics)

Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as Venom...

, Kingpin

Kingpin (comics)

The Kingpin is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . Kingpin is one of the most feared and powerful crime lords in the Marvel Universe. The character is a major adversary of Daredevil, the Punisher, and Spider-Man...

, Doctor Octopus

Doctor Octopus

Doctor Octopus is a fictional character, a supervillain that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics since 1963. A highly intelligent mad scientist, Doctor Octopus is one of Spider-Man's greatest foes...

, Electro

Electro (comics)

Electro is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a supervillain and an enemy of Spider-Man who gained the ability to control electricity after being struck by lightning while working on a power line. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, he first...

, Lizard

Lizard (comics)

The Lizard is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe and enemy of Spider-Man. The Lizard first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #6 , and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko...

, Scorpion

Scorpion (comics)

MacDonald "Mac" Gargan is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He originally appeared as the villain Scorpion, and then years later bonded with the Venom symbiote to become the third incarnation of Venom...

, Sandman

Sandman (Marvel Comics)

Sandman is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. A shapeshifter endowed through an accident with the ability to turn himself into sand, he eventually reformed, and became an ally of Spider-Man...

, Green Goblin

Green Goblin

The Green Goblin is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 ....

, Hobgoblin

Hobgoblin (comics)

The Hobgoblin is the alias of several fictional characters that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and best-known Hobgoblin is Roderick Kingsley. He first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #238, and was created by Roger Stern and John Romita, Sr...

, and finally Doctor Doom

Doctor Doom

Victor von Doom is a fictional character who appears in Marvel Comics publications . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Fantastic Four #5 wearing his trademark metal mask and green cloak...

. High scores are separated by character; so a high score on Spider-Man may not be a high score on Hawkeye or Black Cat.

Spider-Man: The Video Games soundtrack is also partially comprised from tunes from Sega's 1986 arcade game Quartet

Quartet (video game)

Quartet is a 1986 arcade game by Sega. Quartet allows one to four players to guide a set of characters through a base taken over by an army of robots. Players control either Joe , Mary , Lee or Edgar across a number of sideways-scrolling levels...

. Notably the tunes "Oki Rap" and "FM Funk" (For instance, "FM Funk" appears in the second stage in Spider-Man is the third stage them in Quartet).

Characters

The game allows the user to play as one of four heroes: Spider-Man

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...

, Black Cat

Black Cat (comics)

The Black Cat is a fictional character, a superheroine in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Keith Pollard, she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194 ....

, Sub-Mariner

Namor the Sub-Mariner

Namor the Sub-Mariner is a fictional comic book character in the Marvel Comics universe, and one of the first superheroes, debuting in Spring 1939. The character was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for Funnies Inc., one of the first "packagers" in the early days of comic books that supplied...

, and Hawkeye

Hawkeye (comics)

Hawkeye , also known as Goliath and Ronin, is a fictional character that appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Tales of Suspense #57 and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Don Heck. Hawkeye joined the Avengers in Avengers Vol. 1 #16 Hawkeye...

. Unlike many games of this type which assigned a certain character to a certain joystick, any player can choose any character (as long as another player isn't already controlling them).

Reception

The game was reviewed in 1992 in Dragon

Dragon (magazine)

Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...

 #177 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.

External links

• Review 8of10 at Game-Art-HQ.Com
• Review at DigitalMonkeyBox.com
• Satirical novelization of the game at Progressive Boink